Braun IPL, Silk·Expert Pro 5, IPL Hair Removal for Women and Men, Permanent Laser Hair Reduction At-Home, 2 Heads, Pouch, IPL5137

Why it's worth it

The Silk·Expert Pro 5 reads your skin tone continuously and sets its own intensity, so there's nothing to misconfigure. It's the device we'd hand to someone who has never done this before and doesn't want to study a chart first.

You don't have to make any decisions. The SensoAdapt sensor reads your skin tone 80 times a second and adjusts each flash on its own. That sounds like marketing, and partly it is. But the practical effect is that you glide it along your shin without stopping to check a printed tone chart or second-guess whether level four is too high. For a first-timer, that removes the exact step where people get it wrong.

Braun's own numbers are the strongest in the category. The company documents up to 95 percent hair reduction in one month and up to two years free from regrowth after a full course. The protocol is modest: two sessions a month for three months. Braun also says you'll see something by the second use. Take any manufacturer figure with a grain of salt, but Braun publishes more of this data than most brands here do.

From our review of 7 ipl hair removal devices, by Sarah Wright, Editorial Associate

What we like

• +You don't have to make any decisions
• +Braun's own numbers are the strongest in the category
• +A full-body pass takes about ten minutes
• +It's a Procter & Gamble product with the support that implies

What to know

• –There's no cooling, and you'll feel it on the bikini line
• –The cord is a real limitation, not a nitpick
• –It's one of the pricier options here and it doesn't do everything