ROAD TEST: 3 women with 3 very different hair types trial Schick's new hair removal device.

It's 2021, and frankly, it's about time we all stop spending hundreds of dollars on expensive hair maintenance, and start doing what we can ourselves.  

Of course, we were suddenly forced into this reality last year, when everything closed and we were left with nothing but an old pair of tweezers and a razor to fix.. everything.   

For many of us, it didn't go well.  

My eyebrows? Unruly. 

Bikini line? Untouched.

Facial hair? Fuzzy as ever. 

But oh. Is that going to change...

When Schick's Hydro Silk Perfect Finish landed on my desk this week promising a quick and easy solution to my many (hair-related) problems, you bet I jumped at the chance to give it a road test.

Retailing at $49.99, the Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish is a multi-purpose trimmer and styler with interchangeable heads for your face, eyebrows, and bikini area.

It's created so even the most inexperienced of beginners can catch on quickly and stop wasting money and time on those pesky salon appointments. 

So, two of my lovely co-workers and I decided we'd give it a little run for its money to determine if it's the life-changing product you need in your beauty routine. 

Here's our verdict.

Emma, 19

You know how I said earlier it was the pandemic that interrupted my hair maintenance? Yeah? 

Okay, I was never quite 'on track' in that respect.

If I could describe my facial hair, I'd call it light, thin and fairly sparse. As for my bikini line, well, it isn't on display 90 per cent of the time, so it becomes less of a priority until I'm heading to the beach - but more on that later.

I suppose that's why I leapt at the chance to give Schick's 3-in-1 electric trimmer a try. I'm looking for a quick and easy solution to my hair situation.

Face

I don't have a particularly hairy face.

The hair I do have is peach fuzz - light and blonde, so using the facial hair attachment with the Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish served as a bit of an experiment on applying makeup to smooth, hair-free skin, as opposed to the visible difference that may come with darker facial hair.

I learned all about this from Mamamia's You Beauty podcast, and armed some top tips, I was apprehensive that facial hair removal might be a rather intrusive and irritating process for my very sensitive skin. 

It turns out, a lot of that irritation comes from using the wrong products.

Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish glided over my skin like a dream and left me feeling like a silky dolphin with absolutely no irritation or redness. It's a miracle.

Eyebrows

The eyebrow attachment was a SCARY thought for me.

As mentioned, I don't go near my own eyebrows much (at all) and there's not a ton to work with as is.

So, putting a trimmer near them made me a little nervous, but I took the plunge and trusted in the process. 

Now, while "trusting in the process" isn't the only advice I'd offer (you know, take your time, start with the 4mm attachments etc. etc.) I'm shaky as all heck, and managed this spectacular job, so I bet you can do pretty well too:

Image: Supplied. 

I know, I know, they don't look hugely different, but check out that right eyebrow! This has put my eyebrow waxer (my boyfriend's mum) out of business!

On my second try, I'll take a little more risk, but I was pretty impressed with myself.

Bikini

Okay. The bikini attachment for Schick's Hydro Silk Perfect Finish is an absolute game-changer.

I feel like this product has been the world's best kept secret so do indulge me for a moment while I scream my praise from the rooftop.

Without getting into all the juicy details, my bikini line is typically fairly unkept, basically because I'm lazy and don't have thousands of dollars to throw at laser.

On the best of days, I'll whack on some shaving gel in the shower and meticulously follow all the tips I've read from my co-workers (thanks Charlie!), and I'll still end up with an uneven shave and plenty of ingrowns. 

On a typical day though, you'll find me hurriedly running a dry razor through my bikini line while my friends wait outside to go to the beach which ends about the same way - just SO MUCH WORSE.

Well.

That's where the Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish comes in. 

Dry-shaving? Hell yeah! You can use this trimmer in or out of the shower, which is a huge time saver. It's also super quick, clean and easy to use. I'm a little fast and loose when it comes to shaving my bikini line (I know, scary thought) but I received zero nicks. 

I recommend using the trimmer while dry and trimming against the hairline. No need to press down, this works best when you barely hover over the skin.

Eleanor, 24

Allow me to explain my hair type with a small yet unforgettable anecdote from my childhood. When I was in Year 5, my crush told me I had a hairy monobrow. In a bid to secure his love, I stole my sister’s razor and attempted to shave it off. Only I kept on trying to ‘even them out’ and ended up with no eyebrows at all. Safe to say love was not secured. 

Also safe to say you should never listen to boys when it comes to your own body hair and what to do with it.

As someone with a Greek background, I’ve definitely always been on the hairier side of things. I have dark, thick hair which has meant that I’ve tried every hair removal product under the sun over the years. Waxing, laser, threading - all professionally, and hair removal creams, epilators, razors and tweezing - at home. 

It can get quite annoying switching between so many different tools, especially when they’re all basically designed to do the same thing - remove hair. Which is why I secretly (not so secretly) JUMPED at the opportunity to try this 3 in 1 tool from Schick. 

2021 is the year I’m going to simplify my beauty routine, and this seemed like a great place to start. 

Face

My first impression of the tool is that it’s really chic. I love the intuitive design and how each attachment easily clips onto the body of the tool - so satisfying! I started with the face trimmer and from the get-go I can say that it was an absolute pleasure to use. 

I’ve done threading and epilating on the sides of my face before and I’ll never, ever do it again because of the pain. I can’t believe I had never thought about a trimmer before. Perhaps I thought there was something masculine about using a trimmer on my face but WOW I was so wrong. This was the most gentle and effective method I’ve tried so far. 

Using little circular motions and pulling my skin taut, I moved the trimmer over the sides of my face and onto my chin and removed all that ‘peach fuzz’ that I have. The instructions said I could go over sections more than once, but I found the first time did the trick just fine. It left my skin feeling so smooth!

Just keep trimming, just keep trimming. Image: Supplied.  

Eyebrows

My initial opinion of the eyebrow tool is that it looks like my preexisting facial razor, only on steroids. But like, good steroids. The type of steroids that vibrate, and remove hair. 

Honestly, this is the most high-tech face razor I’ve seen and I was super excited to try it out on my thick brows.

I started by using the larger trimming size (4mm) on the underside of my eyebrow - against the direction of hair growth. It worked so well to get rid of a large surface area of hair, quite quickly. I then swapped over to the 2mm time to do some cleaning up on the top and on my forehead. It was so precise, I could get super granular and up close and even found myself being able to target one specific hair at a time! Game changer!

The concentration! Image: Supplied. 

Bikini

As someone who suffers from ingrown hairs on her bikini line, I was stoked that this trimmer seemed delicate and gentle and wasn’t going to irritate my skin. After applying a shaving gel, I started out by trimming by using the comb attachment and then once it was shorter, took it off and used the trimmer on its own. It was super soft and didn’t feel harsh at all when it was removing hair. It removed the hair easily and got super close to the skin within causing any irritation.

This time you want to shave in the direction of the hair. I feel like for me this is the perfect tool for touch-ups and in-between laser sessions. For others - it can do the whole job for you if you don’t get anything else done!

Chelsea, 28

My hair does this annoying thing where it’s thick where I’d like it to be thin, and thin where I’d like it to be thick. But no matter where it is, it’s fast-growing and therefore requires a lot of time and effort.

I’d been looking for an easy alternative to shaving, waxing and/or threading for a long time now - one I could do quickly and at home, because let’s face it, that’s still where I’m spending most of my time, so the Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish sounded ideal. 

My first impression upon opening the box was that 1. It’s super chic, and 2. It looks simple enough to use. I wasn’t wrong.

The Schick Hydro Silk Perfect Finish in all its glory. Image: Supplied.  

Eyebrows

I absolutely adore my eyebrows. They’re great friends, not sisters, but they serve me well and I take great pride in them.

But, confession: I haven’t had them done professionally in an entire year! Not long after my last threading appointment, we were in the midst of coronavirus restrictions. I used lockdown to ‘grow them out’ out of curiosity, and honestly, I love them big and bushy. 

I’ve been tidying them with tweezers in the months since, but that’s fiddly and a bit painful - so the Hydro Silk Perfect Finish styler was a welcome change.

I didn’t want to just go gung-ho, so took a bit of time to get used to handling the styler. I’m left-handed and generally awkward at holding everyday items, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. 

The dual side trimmer meant I could get super precise with shaping and the comb attachment got them looking all uniform and cute. I had successfully shaped, trimmed and banished all the rogue hairs below the brow within minutes, without the redness that comes with tweezing.

Before and after. Image: Supplied. 

Face 

I have a terrible, scarring teenage memory involving my upper lip and hair bleach, so suffice to say that when it comes to grooming facial hair, I have trust issues.

I’m not being hyperbolic when I say these worries vanished in two seconds with the Hydro Silk Perfect Finish’s face attachment. Like, genuinely. Two seconds.

I found this styler the most intuitive to use. It has a flat head, and glides across your face smoothly and gently, taking any unwanted hair with it the first time around.

What should I do with all my free time?!

Bikini

The fact that the Hydro Silk Perfect Finish can be used on dry and wet skin is a revelation to me. It means maintenance can happen whenever you want it to, without needing a full shower situation.

I found the bikini trimming styler simple to use. It works mostly as you’d expect, with you pulling the skin taut with one hand as you go. The best part is that when trimming, the styler can go against the direction of the hair growth without leaving you with any irritated skin or bumps. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

Obviously, everyone has different preferences so I also really like that there are four adjustable comb lengths between a close 2mm and a longer 8mm trim.

So there you have it - three very different women, with very different hair types, on Schick's Hydro Silk Perfect Finish. At least for the three of us, it's a gamechanger.