Braun Silk Expert 5001 IPL Review - 6 Months On

When the Braun Silk-Expert IPL BD 5001 Hair Removal System was on sale during 11.11, on Lazada, last year, I was so excited to give this at-home IPL system a try! The price was pretty good too, in comparison with whatever is out there on the market.

Afflicted by dark, persistent hair on my legs since young, I took to shaving it regularly every other week — it was neither particularly effective nor sustainable. I was also not too keen on professional IPL in your salons like Musee Platinum, because they felt too time-consuming (I'm lazy to travel down so regularly :P) and pretty expensive for larger areas like my legs, which were definitely my main concern.

(Oh, in case you are not very sure... Basically Intense Pulsed Light, or IPL for short, is a hair removal technique which zaps light into your skin in attempt to remove hair permanently from the folicles itself.)

I've been on it for about 6 months now on mainly my pits, arms and legs, and I LOVE IT! I barely even touch my legs right now, and only very occassionally do touch-up IPL sessions. Disclaimer - they do say the effects are strongest on dark hair + fair skin, which I think I fall in.

There are a total of three different intensity settings you can set with a straightforward button. Holding on to the button activates a regular pulse of light, which you can then drag through your skin — this makes it a little easier rather than having to press on that IPL button all the time. 

When I first started, I did it once a week using the highest setting. Is the Braun Silk Expert IPL system painful? Yea, to be honest, a little. Like a constant ant bite, but really, nothing unbearable. After about a month to two months, I already noticed that my hair production was really pretty low and switched to only 'maintaining' it a couple times a month on the middle intensity now. 

I still see some random strands of leg hair here and there, and I do feel that it's not a 100% cure since I do see the need to still 'maintain' it once every couple of weeks. But the hair growth is significantly slower and lesser, and there are even parts that aren't even growing anymore. 

Nonetheless, it's so, so, soooo much better than having to shave every other week!!!

5/5, for sure.