Smooth Away Hair Remover: Review

Smooth Away offers a new technique for unwanted hair removal using micro-crystals to painlessly and effortlessly buff away hair. The company touts it to be the most popular women's product in Europe. The Smooth Away product comes with 5 small and 5 large pads that have the super-fine crystals. There are 2 mitts for each size of the pad that can be held in the palm and rubbed on to the area of skin that needs to be cleared. Smooth Away claims that their product provides an added advantage - it exfoliates as it removes hair. Two packs sells for $14.99 + shipping and handling on their website. It is also available at stores like Bed Bath and Beyond for $9.99 a pack.

It is to be used by rubbing the mitt in a clockwise followed by a counter-clockwise direction in a region on the skin. Unwanted hair breaks off from the upper layer of the skin. It works best on short hairs. Hair over ¼" long take more effort to come off. Smooth Away is not designed to work at the level of the roots but it gives a fairly close to the skin. When used properly, it does not abrade the skin.

But the product falls significantly short of its claims. After trying Smooth Away, the only point for which I would give it credit is that it does not seem to use smelly or harmful chemicals. It is not messy like using wax or a hair-dissolving depilatory cream which can leave behind skin irritation or an allergy. It is also easier to handle than a shaver.

There is also a mild exfoliating effect with Smooth Away. But as claimed in its insert, the ash colored powder that comes after rubbing the mitt is not from the dead skin cells. It is definitely the micro-crystals from the grayish pads. You can see the ash powder even when you rub the pad against paper or cloth.

The list of Smooth Away's negatives is quite long. Unlike what is claimed by the manufacturer, the product neither gives weeks of smooth skin nor reduces the rate of hair re-growth. Expect results similar to those from using depilatory creams or shaving.

Clearing up both arms needs up to 2 large Smooth Away pads. Expect to use up your whole pack to do the legs. At such a consumption rate, it is at least 10 times more expensive than a pack of Veet wax strips that come for $8 and last for several months.

You have to be careful not to rub too hard on the skin. In delicate areas, you can leave bruises or marks which usually heal quickly and disappear but look unsightly.

The time it takes to work with Smooth Away is quite comparable to that it takes with shaving. The Smooth Away pad tend to work less efficiently once much of its crystals are used up - at this point, it takes longer to clear up the skin.

If Smooth Away sells at a tenth of its price, I will consider using it. Otherwise it is just a waste of money.