We asked one of our testers to compare the Braun Silk 7 epilator with the Philips Satin Perfect.
Here is my comparison review of the Braun Silk 7 and Philips Satin Perfect Epilator. Although this particular Philips model does not have the same amount of accessories to compare fairly (that model was only available in the UK at the time), I will compare side by side what is common in both models. The Braun Silk Epil 7 would have been the equivalent to the Philips. One of the main points of interest in this comparison is the wet vs. dry and the ceramic disc vs. the metal disc tweezers and how they perform in regards to pain, efficiency and ingrown hair.
As a note: The comparison was reviewed by a Caucasian female with different hair types: legs and arms (fine blond-dark blond hair), underarms/bikini (coarser dark brown), no facial hair. I was shaving before this review, and had some laser treatments, which made my hair more fine and sparse. I have tried sugaring/waxing and some epilating with an older Braun Silk-épil (baby blue, corded) epilator in the past. This review will not include tips on epilating or describing the product with all the accessories, as these types of information are readily available on the Internet. I am also not associated with Braun or Philips; this comparison was created and written by me alone out of my pure interest. Additionally, I know this is subjective, but I have a high pain tolerance and currently have sparse and finer hair then at the time when I waxed or used my old epilator, but will try my best to give a fair review that rather compares the pain between devices.
Both products were newly acquired, opened, used for the first time at the same time for the length of 30 days:
Philips: RIGHT side of the body (leg, bikini, arms, underarms)
Braun: LEFT side of the body (leg, bikini, arms, underarms)
Wet -bath (day1):
- Bathtub/ fully submerged: overall great especially for the first time
- Pain: comparatively it was less painful than the old epilator (dry) I used or waxing
- Efficiency + time: didn’t seem much different (but harder to see)Accessory Caps:
- Massage cap (1st time use): I used the massage cap on both for my first time around, but I don’t think they were quite equivalent (Philips seemed to be a more like a half massage/ half efficiency cap, Braun is a double roller massage cap). The Braun efficiency cap will therefore also be reviewed (2nd time around).
- Philips – Ceramic: This is a bit of a beast of a machine. Very efficient, even with the massage/efficiency attachment on legs and arms. Not so gentle on sensitive areas: it had a hard time grabbing the hair in the bikini area (maybe I was slightly hesitant without a appropriate cap since it was a bit aggressive), no issues on the underarms.
- Braun – Metal: A quiet and gentle machine. The double massage cap was great for arms, good for under arms and bikini, but inefficient for legs. I need to try the efficiency cap to give more of a fair evaluation in regards to legs.
- Pain: I barely felt anything on legs and arms (5/5). Underarms were good (3.9-4.1/5) and bikini uncomfortable (2.8-3/5).
I even used the massage caps on the underarms and bikini – a bit scary for the first time. Using the sensitivity cap by Braun did reduce the pain a bit (3.2-3.4/5) on the bikini, Philips had nothing equivalent to compare.
Efficiency + time: The Philips is more efficient but not gentle on sensitive areas. Braun is gentler and therefore a bit slower with this cap, which is inefficient on the legs but preferred on arms, underarms and bikini (excluding the face and sensitivity cap).
Dry (day2):
- Dry: overall great
- Pain: there was a lot less hair but I thought it was still less painful than the old dry epilator I used or waxing
- Efficiency + time: more efficient as it is easier to see
Accessory Caps:
- I tried different caps for the Braun to find an equivalent to the Philips
- Philips – Ceramic: Performed very well dry. It’s a great epilator for large areas such as legs and even arms.
- Braun – Metal: I tried the efficiency cap on my legs dry and it was good.
Pain: I barely felt anything on legs and arms (5/5).
* Side note (as Philips does not have this attachment cap in this model): I did use the face cap (as I don’t have facial hair) and redid my bikini. I removed maybe 30% of the hair wet the day before and removed another 35% dry. The pain was way less (3.9-4/5) as I was able to see better and keep the skin taught. The face cap and the 1 speed setting also contributed.
Wet -shower (day16):
- Shower: not great at all (3rd time use). The visibility is reduced due to shower curtain and my leg hair being blonde and therefore efficiency is not great. The shower causes the hair to stick to the skin reducing efficiency. For epilating coarse hair I would suggest the bath as you can keep the shower curtain open and the hair seems to be more floating rather than stuck to the skin.
- Pain: there was a lot less hair but I thought it was still less painful (5/5) than the old dry epilator i used or waxing.
- Efficiency + time: couldn’t see much even with the light and wet hair is sticking to skin.
- Comments: I really prefer the dry option, definitely even more now that I have already epilated two hair growth cycles and the hair is growing thinner and finer. The visibility equals efficiency to me, as I do not have much hair. If there is lots of hair one could just get most of it done and then the touch ups later. But I still suggest bath over shower, as it seems more efficient and also more environmentally friendly.
Maintenance:
I decided to epilate as often as possible as it keeps the discomfort in the sensitive areas to a minimum and it’s summer now. Once the finer hair appears and we get into fall I will stretch out the days but at the moment I will keep on top of it.
- Dry touch ups (day19) legs, bikini and underarms
- Dry Touch ups (day25) underarms only
- Dry Touch ups (day30) underarms only
General Comments
- Ceramic vs. Metal Disc Tweezers:
- Pain: Don’t seem to make much of difference in regards to pain
- Efficiency: The Philips with ceramic disc tweezers might be more efficient. Possible reasons: stronger motor, ceramic discs are slightly more successful at grabbing hair.
Ingrown hairs: exfoliated twice in the 17 days with a surgical brush. There were some ingrown hair but few (bikini and underarms). It’s better compared to the old Braun and not exfoliating but I also did not have any hair on my legs (only a few strays) after 17 days. I was unable to see a difference due my lack of hair growth. The bikini area had the almost all ingrown hair but it wasn’t too many
- Philips – Ceramic:
- Accessories: epilator+1 cap, shaver +trimmer cap – recommended for veterans that have been epilating for years (3.5/5)
- Light: slightly better (4.5/5)
- Speed: 2 speeds, seems more powerful and faster but louder (76db), 17discs/32 tweezers, pulling actions/sec speed 1: 1173, Pulling actions/sec speed 2: 1360 (4/5)
- Charge: half the body (legs, arms, under arms, bikini) no problem (4.5/5), plus next day touch ups – seems to be plenty to do all hair in one session
- Skin Reaction: a bit more (4/5)
- Shave with trimmer: great (4.5/5)
- Clean-up: wet – ok (hair is more sticky when stuck in the gaps) (3.5/5), dry – easy (just brush it out) (4.5/5)
- Pros: no cord means you can be epilating anywhere
- Cons: The massage cap did pop off (possibly my fault), and the epilator also pulled my skin at the knee a bit (it was my fault for not being taught, did not hurt though).
- Braun – Metal:
- Accessories: epilator+4 caps, shaver +trimmer cap (some of them might be less needed after time) (4.5-5/5) – definitely recommended for newbies/irregular or for moderate experience in epilating
- Light: good (4.3/5)
- Speed: 2 speeds, less loud (70db), 40 tweezers (4/5)
- Charge: half the body (legs, arms, under arms, bikini) no problem (4.5/5), plus next day touch ups and a lot more bikini – seems to be plenty one session
- Skin Reaction: less (4.5/5)
- Shave with trimmer: great (maybe a tiny bit slower) (4.3/5)
- Clean-up: wet – ok (hair is more sticky when stuck in the gaps) (3.5/5), dry – easy (just brush it out) (4.5/5)
- Pros: no cord means you can be epilating anywhere
- Cons: epilator also pulled my skin in the bikini area a bit (it was my fault for not being taught, did not hurt though)
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- Old Braun Silk-épil – Metal:
- Dry is the only option
- Pain: 3-3.2/5 (on legs)
- Efficiency: ok
- Accessories: shaving head + trimmer attachment, epilator head + massage attachment (3.5/5)
- Light: none (0/5)
- Speed: 2 speeds, loud (3.5/5)
- Charge: no charge – corded, loud (3.5/5)
- Skin Reaction: more (3.5/5)
- Shave with trimmer: great (4.5/5)
- Clean-up: better (maybe because its dry) (4/5)
- Pros: corded (never runs out of battery)
- Cons: corded, loud
Overall Score
I gave the Braun a slightly better score, as it is gentler and more versatile in regards to different body areas. The accessories are really useful and needed for a full body epilation. Philips has a similar model as well (in the UK) and it comes with a battery operated small metal disc epilator for sensitive areas, which I would say is needed as I found the Philips harder to use on sensitive areas with the head being this wide (+ the lack of caps). The Braun Silk-épil 7 would have otherwise been the equivalent to the Philips in regards to accessories. I would still give it the same score for the head shape and gentleness. One could still attempt to use it on more sensitive areas vs. the Philips. Philips can be the right model for somebody with a high pain tolerance and regularly epilating hair in the sensitive areas, assuming they can make it work with that type of head. I hope I have not been too generous on the pain factor but like I mentioned before I have a lot less hair now.
Philips – Ceramic: 4/5 – only for body – legs/arms (not for sensitive areas as there is no attachment caps)
Braun – Metal: 4.5/5 – body + sensitive areas (accessories included)
Old Braun Silk-épil – Metal: 3/5 only for body – legs/arms (not for sensitive areas as there is no attachment caps)