Are you searching for the best epilator for men? More and more men these days are looking into their options for unwanted hair removal. Men are, after all, the hairier of the two sexes and so should have a number of choices available to them.
When we think about men and hair removal we think about shaving. It may be shaving of the face, the chest, or even the armpits. Some men even shave their whole bodies (swimmers for example).
What was surprising to me is that there really isn’t much information on the best epilators for men. So I decided to help out as best I could and compile the most up to date guide on which epilators to choose for males. If you are still not sure and interested in comparing hair removal options, be sure you check out our other post on epilating vs. waxing.
Can epilators be used by men?
Yes. Epilators are a perfectly acceptable way for guys to remove unwanted hair. But choosing the right model and features can help make the experience a lot better than just blindly picking the most popular one. While the devices were originally designed for women, most manufacturers have moved to make them gender neutral. But there are some differences across brands when it comes to suitability for men.
When looking for an epilator designed for guys, one of the key differences is the thickness of hair. So the number of tweezers and the locking design can play a big role. Also, for large body areas such as back and arms, a wider head can help speed things up.
Can you epilate your pubic area aka the boys?
NOOOOO. Seriously, don’t do it. Epilating in the groin area is very hard to do and is best avoided to avoid serious cuts and nicks. The skin tends to be looser and hangs which makes it easier to get pulled into the epilator head. It is also harder to see and maneuver so there is a real chance of getting too close to you know what.
Our recommendation is to stick to shaving and trimming especially when it comes to the pubic area. If you must epilate, keep the epilator head off the skin and try to stretch the skin tight before doing it a very slow pace.
With all of that knowledge, here is a our summary of the top epilators for men with detailed reviews below.
5 Best Epilators – Detailed Product Review
Braun Silk Epil 9
The highest selling and arguably the best epilator on the market. The Silk-Epil 9 (read our full review here) is a feature-packed whole body device. It is cordless and can be used dry or wet.
Don’t be turned off by the feminine appearance – this epilator is a powerhouse that will work just as well for men! On top of a very solid and well-built epilator, there are a number of features included that make this the all-rounder that it is.
Pro Tip: It has a pivoting head, making epilating any part of your body immeasurably easy. There is a smart light that illuminates any of those tiny hairs that may slip by unnoticed, and there is even a high frequency massager that aims to stimulate the skin and reduce pain.
This machine is perfect for beginners and pros. It has 5 included caps making it suitable for the whole body and uses 40-tweezer technology to make sure you’re as smooth as you can be.
If you’re looking for a reliable, multi talented epilator that is held in high regard by the beauty community, then this is the one for you.
Emjoi Emagine Epilator for Men
I think that even though there are so many epilators out there, pretty much all of them are marketed towards women. I found this one that’s directly designed for men, so it makes sense we take a closer look.
It’s from a reputable brand in the epilator game: Emjoi.
It has 72 tweezers (most on the market) and has a shaving and trimming attachment. This is important because hairs are most effectively pulled when they are shorter, especially in the case of having thicker hair.
Pro Tip: The differences between the female version of this epilator and the male one is the shape of the head and some parts of the head are made of metal instead of plastic. The results of these differences are meant to accommodate the male skin and hair thickness, but most feel these changes are negligible.
As the only epilator on the market designed for men, its actually a great epilator.
Braun Silk Epil 7
As we mentioned above: there are hardly any epilators marketed towards men. This has zero correlation to how great they actually are for men.
The Braun Silk Epil 7 is a perfect example of this. It’s one of the best epilators on the market and a huge number of men use it.
Most men will be new to epilating and so may find it to hurt like hell. Rest assured, it only gets less painful. The Silk Epil 7 is actually a ‘Wet & Dry’ epilator, meaning it can be used in the shower. This can be a huge advantage as the warm water soothes the skin and makes the pain less evident.
It’s one of the top sellers and the most well rated epilators money can buy. It will have no problems doing its job for men too!
Philips Satinelle
This epilator has been the number 1 seller on Amazon for a while now. It’s smaller than most but is an extremely well built device and has a nice large head perfect for larger surface areas such as legs, chest or back.
It has less tweezers so won’t be as powerful as some other epilators but it is also corded and will last for as long as you need it to.
It’s also one of the cheaper epilators out there.
It’s a testament to the power of the epilator that the top review on Amazon is by a male who has tried a few epilators and thinks this one is the best! See our in depth review of the Philips Satinelle.
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Jim says
I bought the Emjoi epilator for men and had to replace it under warranty with the shaver shop as the sprocket in the tweezers head sheared after two uses. It looks like the replacement socket is also doing the same thing. I contacted Emjoi directly over this and they considered the tweezers head to be a disposable item that should only last a short time and replaced often.
You should advise everyone that if you buy an Emjoi epilator that the tweezers will need to be replaced after every two or three times and at a cost of about. $40 per replacement it makes for very expensive epilating. Did you factor in the high cost of Emjoi consumables when making your recommmendation?
asmoothlife says
Hi Jim!!
That is really good feedback. We were aware that the tweezers would eventually need replacement but two to three times is definitely too short. And makes for an expensive epilator. We will check to see if additional people are having the same issue and will update the recommendation.
Al E13 Plaistow says
Thank you Jim for that brilliant advice as no one mentions the head becomes ineffective after couple of use.
I thought it was my head only and was about to order a new head but now will instead purchase a different brand epilator altogether.
I used the emoji once and thought it was excellent. But in to my secound use the head would stop spinning so became useless to me. I regret spending that much money and I’m back to square one, in looking for another epilator that is good for men.
I checked the reviews many times and I didn’t come across anyone saying anything about the head but it is definately a real big factor people should be aware of.
Wayne Robson says
I actually use the Braun Silk-epil 5.
I use it on my very coarse black hair on my arms ns, chest, belly and underarms. Because it’s a corded model there’s no loss if power and it does the job well.
I’ve been using it for 6 months and it’s still in perfect condition.
Noah says
For men doing genital area. My suggestion based on years of epilating.
If it says “high speed”, take a pass. That means it get’s hot against the skin.
If it boasts it can handle the shortest of stubs, take a pass. That means the tweezer head is right against your skin and will pull out any skin imperfections (as in you will likely bleed).
If it has 72 tweezers, take a pass. You want a narrow head to easily adapt to changing contours.
Most of the advice being handed out is by women used to their long flat stretches of leg. We’re not built like that. One would think they might have noticed by now.
Mick says
I have been epilating my balls for over 20 years, My choice is the Panasonic wet/dry, I use it in the bathtub with soap. The sensitive skin head is a must or your skin will get pinched and bleed.I also recommend not going more than 3 days in between its less time and less pain. Hope this helps.
Mike says
I have been using a Remington Smooth and Silky model since late December (4.5 months). It has been pretty good and I love the smooth skin result. I am finding, just this week, that it is not as effective as it was originally. Just this morning, I worked over my chest and found that it hardly got anything. I was raw from all the tugging, but little was removed. I am thinking that maybe the pressure on the tweezers is reducing through use. I wash it after every use so that skin oils don’t get in the way. I will be trying the Braun Silk 9 per recommendation here.
Guys, if you are just starting to epilate, my recommendation if you are doing the “bikini area”, be careful as you move onto the looser skin areas. Pull the skin as tight as you can and do not touch the rotating head to the skin. The skin in your delicate area is so flexible and pliable it will get drawn into the tweezers. I keep the head .an eighth to a quarter of an inch off the surface. It means you have to wait longer to repeat, but it doesn’t rip the surface that way. I am finding in this area as well that as the hair pulls, it is pulling the follicle inside out (a good thing if you want to never see that hair again) but that is how it draws the skin into the tweezers.
Everywhere else, epilating does a damned site better job that shaving.
The most difficult place to get to is between your upper leg and, well, you know what is in the way there. Just go slow, keep the skin tight, don’t try to do too much at once. Wide open spaces like chest, lower abdomen, even below the bikini line but above the special skin area, you can cover a lot of ground easily and just move in slow sweeping motions.
There was a comment above about needing a smaller head for complex areas. I found that the narrow head option just made it hard for me to know where I was working. The delicate skin areas have the greatest contours and you are going to be going slowly and carefully there and you should be flattening and stretching the skin out as much as possible, so a smaller head is immaterial, in my view.
Thank you to A Smooth Life for these reviews and the ones on the ladies page. I have learned a lot in one evening of reading
Nikki says
Mike,
Thank you for your comments. These are some really great tips that will help our readers. We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with the rest of us.