Philips Epilator 8000 review: wet-dry skincare

Epilators are not new technology. They’ve been around since the compact torture device known as the Epilady first made it to the mainstream in the 1980’s—and by the way, they’re still around today. Epilators have a reputation as being painful, since they pull your hair out by the root. Kind of like waxing, only a few hairs at a time—so it takes longer, thus earning the reputation of making a painful task take longer. When I first reviewed the Philips BRE650 Satinelle Prestige Wet Dry Epilator back in 2021, I figured it would hurt, and I’d do it a few times for testing, then set it aside and never touch it again. So I was surprised when I found the device  not only not-painful, but really effective. The newest version of this Epilator is out now called the Philips Epilator series 8000. Let’s start Philips 8000 epilator review. I’ll tell you what it’s like to use, about the new swappable heads available for the epilator that makes it even more versatile, and whether I can recommend this gadget for you.

Watch my hands-on Philips Epilator 8000 review

The original Philips BRE650 Satinelle Prestige Wet Dry Epilator is a hand held epilator with a wide head.

The Philips Epilator 8000 is a hand held epilator with a wide head. The micro-ridged ceramic discs, as Philips calls them, are supposed to be gentle against the skin as they firmly grip even the finest hair. Philips says this device should remove more hair in a single pass and better remove even the short hairs) that waxing can’t get. New in this updated version is that Philips says it’s better able to grab shorter hair.

In my testing I found if very effective overall; depending on your hair’s length and thickness of course it may take a couple passes over a single area to get all the hair, but for the most part it gets everything. I used the epilator both wet and dry and found that while I can totally tolerate it on dry skin, a soak in the tub does make things a little less prickly.

What you get

Philips 8000 epilator also comes with some interchangeable heads; a skin stretcher which should make epilating easier, a cover that lets you narrow the epilator’s reach (great for bikini zone) plus a shaving head, a trimming comb, a body brush for exfoliating, and a rotating pumice head for smoothing rough spots of feet.
It’s cordless and rechargeable and doesn’t feel very slippery so you can use it in the shower or bathtub and the battery should last about 40 hours on a single charge.

How to use Philips  epilator 8000 Satinelle Prestige Wet Dry Epilator

Philips recommends you hold the epilator handle at a 90 degree angle for the most efficient hair removal treatment.

Does it hurt?

I tried Philips Epilator 8000 in the shower on my legs. Though you may be prepared for an excruciatingly slow progress and a painful experience, I found it didn’t hurt one bit.  No lie. It doesn’t hurt at all and in my opinion is no more painful than shaving.

When I tried it again on dry skin, I found it only mildly irritating, again, not painful at all, but not as nice as using it on wet skin. I did find that I needed more passes to use it dry and it seemed to have a harder time gripping the hairs.

On more sensitive areas like the bikini area and underarms, it is a bit more jarring and these areas can be more sensitive. While I did feel a bit more of a sting, it wasn’t enough to stop me from using the Epilator 8000.
There are two speeds; kind of a slower one and a slightly faster one, but they seem to be mostly the same, if I’m being honest.

Using the accessories

This epilator also has a skin stretcher which should make epilating easier, a cover that lets you narrow the epilator’s reach (great for bikini zone).

When it comes to the other accessories in this kit, I wasn’t looking for them but a couple I quite liked…

The shaving head was pretty good as an electric razor, as mu husband Roger can attest. There’s also a trimmer. I really liked the rotating pumice stone, which was great at smoothing rough spots on the feet. It is a bit of a strange motion and kind of hard at times to hold in place since the spinning disc wants to kind of spin itself off the surface of your skin, but practice made improvements.

I was also excited about the brush, thinking it could replace my old discontinued Clarisonic… but when I tried it on my face it was awful… it was too rough and harsh and kept getting caught on my nose… That’s when I read more about it; turns out if for the BODY not the face, so mea culpa. When I used it in the shower it wasn’t much better though; also spinning itself right off the skin. It’s also pretty small. Not a winner for me.

Another feature on the Eplilator 8000 that I actually found very helpful is a built in light and it definitely helps you see what you’re doing so you can grab stubborn hairs.

Watch my Original hands-on review of Philips Satinelle epilator

Overall Philips 8000 Epilator review

Overall, I’m a huge fan of this gadget and even since my first review of the original version, my mind has been completely changed by how well this device works. It’s fast and easy and doesn’t hurt on my legs, and even on more sensitive areas it’s only mildly stinging. The battery life is long, it’s portable, and rechargeable. There’s really nothing I don’t like about it… even thinking back to my original epilator version which I’ve been using for two years. I can definitely recommend the Philips Epilator 8000 and all its helpful accessories to you. It sells for about $63USD/$99CAD or up to $109US with a full suite of attachments, from places like Amazon, London Drugs and more.

*A note about Affiliate Links: Occasionally I will include affiliate links in my reviews. I do this partly for convenience of the reader (since I’ll almost always include a link to the company website or similar anyway) in case you want to read more or purchase but I also may get a small commission from the click, which helps me keep the blog running. If you chose to use this link I thank you greatly for supporting the blog. There’s no obligation or cost to you for using this link.