MSRP
$149.99

CHECK PRICE

Used and promoted by Victoria Secret model, Alessandra Ambrossio, we were looking forward to reviewing the Philips Satin Perfect HP6576 epilator.  This is Philips top of the line epilator. It comes with all the bells and whistles and includes multiple heads, a brush, shaver, traveling case, and even a pair of illuminated tweezers.

What makes this epilator special? This is the only epilator currently on the market with ceramic tweezers. Philips claims that the ceramic tweezers gently remove hair. Was it gentler than other epilator with metal tweezers? How does it perform? Find out in our hands on review.

What’s In The Box

The box opens from the top. When we first opened the box, we were surprised at the gigantic fold out instructions that came with the epilator.

The instructions are horrendous especially for beginners. They are needlessly complicated and poorly organized. There are a ton of attachments that come with this epilator and the instructions fail to describe why you would want to use one or the other. Luckily, it is not hard to figure out.

Along with the instructions, it comes with 3 different epilating caps and a razor with trimmer. There’s also a cleaning brush. We were surprised that it also included a pair of light up tweezers. Everything fits in the little white traveling case that is included. It also includes a 2 year warranty and a 45 day money back guarantee. So you can try it out and send it back if you don’t like it.

Inside the box, you will find:

• Philips HP6576 epilator
• Instruction manual
• Basic epilating cap
• Optimal performance cap
• Active hair lifter with active massage
• Shaver with trimmer
• Cleaning brush
• Illuminated smart tweezers
• Storage pouch
• 8 foot charging adapter

Design

When you first take the Philips Satin Perfect HP6576 out of the box, you will be drawn to its beautiful feminine design. Its beautiful female shape helps to differentiate it from a men’s razor. The epilator body is mostly white and it has a beautiful floral design on the front. We loved the cool see through plastic that covers the design. Compared to other epilators, it definitely looks classy and high end.

Like all epilators, it is made out of plastic which makes it light and comfortable in your hand. In your hand, it has a nice middle ground. It would have been nice if Philips included a rubber grip on it. However, since this is not a wet and dry model, it is very unlikely that it will slip out of your hand. Because it is not waterproof, this particular model is not designed to be used in water so you can’t use it in the bath or shower. However, the detachable head can be rinsed under water.

The epilator comes with a variety of different caps for the epilator head. To switch the caps, you simply press on the ridges located on both sides of the cap and lift off the cap. Then you pop on the new cap. You can also covert the epilator into a shaver by pressing the little button on the side to release the epilator head. Then you can pop on the shaver head.

Although the power adapter is pretty large, it is very lightweight. Provided you have the correct plug adapter, this epilator can be used anywhere in the world as it is compatible for 100-240V. You can even lock the epilator from turning on by holding the power button down for 3 seconds. That way you don’t have to worry about the epilator embarrassingly vibrating in your luggage when you go traveling.

Tweezers

There are 32 ceramic tweezers included on this model, which is a nice balance. Currently, the Emjoi Ap-18 Emagine has the most tweezers with 72. All other epilators use metal tweezers. This one uses ceramic tweezers. Typically, ceramic is made out of powdery clay like substance. It is heated to harden it. This process can make ceramic harder than steel, making the tweezers less likely to go blunt.  We found that the ceramic tweezers felt slightly more comfortable on skin than metal tweezers. The ceramic tweezers are coated with hypoallergenic silver-ion which prevents the growth of bacteria.

The tweezer head has a slight curve to it, which is designed to follow the contours of the body. It also helps to ensure that the tweezers won’t snag the skin.

Battery

This is a fully cordless epilator. We love the ability to use it anywhere without having to fight the cord. Before you can start epilating, you have to fully charge the battery. To charge the battery, you simply insert the charger adapter into the bottom of the device. The plug should click into place. A white battery light on the front of the epilator will come on. It will flash on and off and disappear after a short time. It took our epilator about 1 hour to be fully charged. When the epilator is fully charged, the battery indicator will be light up white. On a fully charged battery you get around 40 minutes of use. When running, it is normal for the epilator to get warm.

We would have like to see a longer charge, but you can use this model while it is plugged in. When the battery is low, the battery indicator will flash red. Once the battery is fully drained, the battery indicator will light up red. Unlike wet and dry models, we love that you can simply plug the cord in and can continue epilating while it is plugged in and the battery is charging. Since it can be used corded or cordless, you can take as much time as you need.

Speed Settings

There are two speed settings. At its top speed, the Philips HP6576 reaches 1360 tweezes per second. The tweezer head rotates 42 times every second. Speed 2 is recommended for larger areas with thicker growth. Speed 1 is recommended for fine hair and bony areas. You have to experiment with the speed setting that works best for you. We found that speed 1 gave us the best results, though it can be slightly more painful.

To turn on the epilator, you have to push the on button in the center of the epilator. We found the button to be completely unintuitive and a poorly thought out design. For some reason, Philips has decided to map both of the speeds to this one button. The epilator starts on the 2nd speed, which is the fastest setting. In order to switch to the lower speed you have to click the button again. When you click the button the 3rd time, the epilator switches off. Sound overly complicated? It is.

We found that every time we wanted the slower speed, we would have to push the button twice and we weren’t always sure what speed we were on. The sound difference between the two speeds is not that apparent. Philips tried to compensate for this by including an indicator on the front of the device. Still, you find yourself constantly looking at the speed indicator to ensure you are at the correct setting. It’s annoying. We would have preferred to have a switch like on the Philips HP6401 Satinelle epilator where you slide the button up and down to the desired speed.

Opti-Light

When you put the epilator on, the Opti-Light comes on. The Opti-Light makes it easy to see the tiniest and lightest hairs that you missed. Even in a well lit environment, it is incredibly useful. The light is fairly bright yellow and covers a decent area. However, sometimes it can create a reflection on the skin.

Shaver Head

This epilator can instantly change into a shaver. The shaver head is a nice addition. You simply press the button on the side to release the epilator head. Then you pop on the shaver head. It’s not as good as a dedicated shaver or blades, but it is more than serviceable. The shaver head does a reasonable job of shaving hair and the trimmer is useful for trimming hair to the correct length for epilation. The trimmer is also great for keeping sensitive areas such as the underarms and bikini area neat.

We could see someone using the shaver for a quick cleanup if you don’t have time to epilate. It has a pretty small surface area, so it is not particularly fast. There is a little tray to collect the hair but it gets clogged pretty quickly and the hair begins falling everywhere.

Noise Level

When we switched on this epilator, we were immediately intimidating by it. The scariest part is the scary blender-like sound it makes. It can make you hesitant to use it. At 80 decibels, this is the loudest epilator that we have tested. It is as loud as a men’s electric razor. We recommend first placing this epilator on an area with no hair to work up the courage to use it.

Illuminated Tweezers

Although it is kind of misleading, Philips advertises this model for the body and face.  The actual epilator should not be used on the face as it is too powerful. Instead, we were surprised that Philips has also included a separate pair of illuminated tweezers that come in cool lipstick-sized tube. The case is easy to carry in your purse for tweezing on the go. The tweezers can be used to remove hair from the facial area such as the eyebrows and even stray hair.

You don’t even need a mirror. When you open up the case, it comes with a small mirror on one side which is useful for touching up the eyebrows. It is a little difficult to see the full shape of the eyebrows with it. However, we found with the mirror it was easy to locate stubborn hairs that you often have to go close to your bathroom mirror to see.

The coolest part is the LED light on tweezers. Although it is a bit bright, the LED light helps highlight the hair in the area pretty well. The tweezers work decently at pulling out long hairs but don’t work that well with smaller hairs. While the actual tweezers are not the best, they could come extremely handy when you are traveling or on the go.

Body Areas It Can Be Used On

Philips recommends using this epilator only on areas below the neck. This is not an epilator for the face. It is pretty powerful and not designed for the sensitive skin on the face. If you are not careful, this epilator can pinch skin or bruise skin.

The extra wide head makes it difficult to epilate curvier areas like the underarms, ankles, and bikini line. We wish Philips included a separate head or precision epilator to make it easier to epilate these areas.

Though it works the best on the legs, the epilator can also be used to remove hair on the underarms and bikini area. Both these areas are particularly sensitive to pain and are not recommended for beginners. For the bikini area, it is best to wax first and epilate the re-growth or trim the area with a good bikini trimmer.

Compared to shaving, the underarms look great once they are epilated. Though possible, the underarm area can be difficult to epilate with this epilator. Due to the wideness of the head, it can take several passes from different angles to get all the underarm hair. It can be very hard to get the smaller hairs out.

Though very painful, even bikini line hair can be removed. It is helpful to add shaving powder to dry the area. When bikini hair is removed a little bleeding at the hair follicle is normal. Discomfort should be expected. It is best to do this area in small sections. Some women have used this epilator for a brazilian though it can be very difficult. In this area, it is best to wax first and use the epilator every week to pick up stray hair.

Caps

There are a number of epilation caps that you can put on this epilator, depending on your experience. Oddly, none of these caps are designed for specific areas of the body. Instead, they are designed for how experienced you are.

If you are new to epilation, try the optimal performance cap or active hairlifter cap. Our favorite cap was the active hairlifter cap. Both of the caps help you keep the epilator at a right angle (90 degrees). They also minimize the pain slightly.

If you are used to epilation, they are not necessary. It can be a little harder to get hairs with them due to their bulkiness. For more experienced users, the basic epilation cap will give you the most efficient results. For shorter hair and curvier areas, we found that it was sometimes necessary to use the basic epilation cap.

Here is what we thought about the different caps.

Basic Epilation Cap

When you take the epilator out of the box, this is the cap that is already on the epilator. We found that this basic cap is great for anyone already used to epilation. We don’t recommend beginners start with this cap. It doesn’t help with keeping the epilator vertically close to 90 degrees or help much with pain. If you don’t hold the epilator correctly, hair might break instead of being plucked out. However, sometimes it is necessary to use this cap around the curviest part of your body to remove shorter hair.

Optimal Performance Cap

Philips suggests that new users start with this cap. This cap helps stretch the skin as it pivots with the skin. It has rollers on both sides which are supposed to massage the skin. When you turn the epilator on, the rollers spin around. They help minimize discomfort slightly.

We found optimal performance cap a bit bulky. While this cap helped keep the epilator close to 90 degrees, it was very hard to pull out short hairs with it. You have to let your hair grow out a little bit more to use this cap.

Active Hairlifter With Active Massage

The active hairlifter with massage is easily our favorite cap. We found it relatively comfortable to remove a large amount of hair with this cap. We liked that it seems to pick up shorter hairs than the optimal performance cap. On one side, it has little teeth on the end of it. The teeth pull skin taut and pick up hairs to a straight position so the epilator can remove them. The other side of the cap sort of vibrates to help minimize pulling. We were surprised that it minimized the typical pulling sensation a bit.

It’s not going to be painless, but it is relatively comfortable considering it’s actually plucking out hair. It’s great on the legs where the hairs tend to lay flat. For beginners, it really helps speed up epilation because you can sweep across skin without too much of discomfort. However, sometimes we had to take this cap off and use the basic cap around the curvier portions of the body to pick up smaller hairs.

Performance

We were amazed at the power of this epilator. It is the most powerful cordless epilator we have tested. Normally, we would expect this amount of power only on a corded epilator. It is also the only epilator with ceramic tweezers on the market. It was more comfortable to use than epilators with metallic tweezers especially with the active massager cap.

It removed the majority of hair in a single pass. We found that the wider head enabled this epilator to pull more hair per pass than most of the other epilators we tested, which can speed up the process. Even though it has fewer tweezers than the Emjoi Emagine, it removed hair as fast as the Emjoi Emagine with far more precision and less hair breakage.

While it pulled most of the hair effectively in the first pass, it was a little trickier to get the shorter hair on the curvier parts of the body. It won’t remove the smallest hair. The Braun Silk Epil 7 was a slightly more effective on shorter hairs.

As with all epilators, this epilator will not be able to pick up stubble. Hair does not grow at the same rate. You will always have to do touch ups. An epilator can only grab hairs when they are long enough. While your skin may look smooth, it might not feel smooth. On days you want perfectly smooth skin, it can be helpful to shave off the additional stubble.

On speed setting 2, although we were able to remove hair quickly, we did have a few hairs that broke instead of being pulled from the root. However, when we switched to the speed setting 1, we found that the problem disappeared. The reason for this is because on speed setting 2, the tweezer head rotates too fast at 42 times per second. It can help if you add a bit of talc power on the skin prior to epilation to allow the tweezers to grip the hair better. Also, lightly exfoliating everyday seems to minimize the amount of broken hairs and prevent ingrown hair from developing

If you have very very fine hair, you might not need all this power. The Braun Silk Epil 7 may be a better option since it has a slower rotational speed at 34 rotations per second.

You have to experiment with the ideal length of hair. Compared to courser hair, finer hair has to be a bit longer but not too long. This means if you shave every day, you are going to have to let the hair grow out.

Though it will pull shorter hair, we found that a little less than 1/4 inch (2-4mm) is the ideal length. In general, if the epilator is breaking the hair instead of pulling it out, hair may either be too long or too short or the speed setting may be incorrect. You have to allow the epilator to pluck hair at the root and not the tip. If you let your hair grow out a bit, the trimmer is fantastic for trimming hair to the ideal length.

To minimize breaking hair, you have to hold the epilator vertically at 90 degrees and very slowly move it across your skin. Both the Optimum Performance Cap and Active Massage Cap can help here though you have to allow your hair length to grow out a bit so they can pick up hair. Though not recommended for beginners, sometimes very fine hair can only be removed by taking the cap off.

There is a built in overload feature that stops the tweezers from rotating when you press down hard too hard. Still, always let the epilator do the work. Never forcefully push the epilator down on the skin even if it can’t get to the shortest hairs. Glide the epilator across the skin.

Pain

When you first start epilating, it will hurt. It sort of feels like someone is flicking you with a rubber band or poking you with a tiny pinprick. If you have tweezed your eyebrows, it is like that. How much it will hurt depends on your hair thickness and density. Before the first use, you should let the hair on your legs grow out and trim it down to the ideal length with the included trimmer. Epilating shorter hair tends to hurt less. If you have waxed before, you will experience less pain. However, if you have only shaved, it can be painful.

The Philips HP6576 includes two different massaging attachments, which we found helped reduce the pain slightly. You can experiment with which one is more comfortable. Some people like the optimum performance cap with plastic rollers on both sides. We liked the active massager cap  and found it slightly minimized the discomfort. The ceramic tweezers are slightly gentler with skin than metal tweezers leading to less irritation. If you stick with it through the first couple of painful sessions, it gets easier as hair grows in thinner and you will be epilating less hair.

After epilating, it is normal to experience red bumps in the beginning but this should clear quickly. If you have more sensitive skin, it can take longer. However, skin redness will be temporary and will disappear after the follicles are used to having hair plucked.

Cleanup

It can be helpful to place a towel or newspaper under you to collect that hair that is pulled out while epilating. For easier cleanup, you can also epilate in an empty shower or bathtub with the water not running. After epilating, the tweezer head can be detached from the body by pushing the release button on the side. It can be a little difficult to get the hair that is under the tweezers. There is a little cleaning brush that can be used to brush away any loose hair that has collected inside the tweezer head.

Although this is not a wet and dry epilator, the tweezer head and attachments can rinsed under water. However, the head must be completely dried before you can use the epilator again.

What Others Are Saying

The Philips HP6576 is one of the highest reviewed epilators by both customers and beauty bloggers.

Beauty blogger, Christina loved it. Her favorite attachment was the optimum performance cap. Regarding pain, she said that it wasn’t too bad on her legs but the underarms were painful. She loved the results on the underarms. She found that using this epilator made her hair grow back much finer.

Beauty Blogger, DarkEmpriss said it was more painful than she imagined. She tested the epilator vs a razor. After 3 weeks, she noted that on the leg that she used the epilator, hair came in sparser and lighter. She even recommends this epilator on the underarms. She says she is a fan of this product.

Anna from Prettymuchreviews said it can be intimidating at first due to the sound. She said that the sensation of plucking is a lot like waxing. She liked that you can do it in your own bathroom.

On Amazon, The Philips Satin Perfect is one of the highest reviewed epilators with a score of 4.2 out of 5 with around 200 reviews.

Summary

We were thoroughly impressed by the Philips Satin Perfect Hp6576 epilator. It’s the most powerful cordless epilator we have reviewed. Philips has struck a great balance between raw power and functionality. We love that it can be used either cordlessly or corded without any noticeable drop in power. Surprisingly, the added power doesn’t seem to affect battery life. You still get 40 minutes of use. It removed most of the hairs quickly and effectively on the first pass. In our tests, it removed hair from large areas in one of the fastest times due to its extra wide head.

While it is expensive, the deluxe model includes features that first time users may find helpful. It comes with different caps, a brush, and an electric shaver head. It also comes with a tweezer that lights up. Our favorite attachment is the active hair lifter helps lift hair perpendicular into the epilator while at the same time slightly minimizing the plucking sensation.

It is not perfect. The biggest drawback is that it is one of the loudest epilators. There are couple design issues with the power button and switching speeds. We found it tricky to navigate the curvier parts of the body with the extra wide head. Due to its power, this model can’t be used on the face. If you have very very fine hair, it might be a little too powerful.

Still, this is one of the best epilators we have tested and it comes highly recommended.