How to Make Epilating Less Painful | Prep, Technique, Aftercare

Epilation pulls hairs out from the root, so some sting is normal—especially the first few times. Most of that discomfort is avoidable. The difference between a painful session and a tolerable one comes down to a handful of choices you make before, during, and after you use the device. Here’s the full routine, based on guidance from Braun, Philips, and Panasonic’s own manuals.

What Makes Epilating Hurt, and What Cuts the Pain?

Pain during epilation comes from friction, tugging, and hair that’s the wrong length or direction. Fixing those three things eliminates most of the sting.

Braun’s guidance states that discomfort usually decreases with regular use as your skin adjusts. The first session is typically the worst; by the third or fourth, most people notice a real difference. That’s your body getting used to the sensation, not you “toughening up.”

Three factors matter most:

• Skin prep. Clean, dry skin epilates far more comfortably than skin with lotion, oil, or moisture on it.
• Hair length. Hair around 3–4 mm pulls out cleanly. Much longer and the device tugs; much shorter and it can’t grip.
• Technique. Angle, speed, and pressure shift how much pull you feel with every pass.

Prepping Your Skin Before You Epilate

Preparation starts a few days out, not five minutes before. Exfoliate the area the day before epilating to lift ingrown hairs and smooth the skin—Braun specifically recommends exfoliation for this. On the day itself, keep the routine simple.

Start with a warm bath or shower. If your device isn’t waterproof, a warm shower beforehand still helps—just dry off completely before you begin.

Your skin must be clean and entirely dry, with no creams, oils, or lotion. Philips manuals state this explicitly: skin should be free of grease. Moisturizer before epilating makes the device slip instead of grip, which means more passes and more irritation. Save the lotion for after.

Trimming matters just as much as cleaning. If hair is longer than about 5 mm, shave it and wait a few days for regrowth to hit the 3–4 mm sweet spot.

The Right Technique While Epilating

Hold the device at a 90° angle to your skin—both Philips and Panasonic manuals specify this. Tilt it even slightly and the epilator can’t grip hairs consistently, which causes skipping and extra passes over the same spot.

Use your free hand to stretch the skin taut. This is the single most effective in-the-moment pain reducer because it lets hairs stand upright for a clean pull instead of bending under the device.

Move slowly, against the direction of hair growth, with light pressure. Panasonic’s manual is specific: press gently and move slowly against the grain. Pressing harder doesn’t remove more hair—it just increases friction and irritation. Work in small sections rather than long sweeps.

Use the device’s speed settings. Low speed (setting “I” on Braun models) is meant for sensitive areas like underarms and the bikini line, while high speed handles legs and arms efficiently. Start on “I” for your whole first session, then step up where it feels comfortable.

Keep passes to one or two per area. Repeatedly going over the same spot is a leading cause of redness and ingrown hairs—Conair’s guidance notes that slow, single passes reduce irritation.

For your first session, pick a small test area with light growth. Braun also suggests doing your first full session in the evening so any redness has overnight to fade before you’re out in public.

Aftercare, Ingrown Hairs, and When to Expect Less Pain

Post-epilation care is short but non-negotiable. If you feel stinging or see redness, Panasonic’s manual recommends a cool towel over the area to calm it. Skip moisturizer for the first day—skin is sensitive right after—but if it feels dry two days later, a gentle lotion helps.

Ingrown hairs are the main long-term annoyance, and the fix is regular exfoliation. Panasonic also suggests massaging with a body puff a few days after epilating to help hairs break through the skin surface.

If you’re considering which device handles sensitive skin best, our tested picks for sensitive-skin epilators compare models by head design, speed options, and wet-dry capability.

Expect discomfort to drop steadily. Braun’s guidance is clear that repeated use reduces it—most people find sessions noticeably easier by the second or third week. If you consistently hit sharp pain that doesn’t fade, stop and check your technique: angle, hair length, and skin dryness cause most problems, and a reaction that worsens warrants a break.

Braun’s guide to painless epilation covers the same prep and technique steps in detail.