The purpose of the Smooth Away Hair Removal System is to rid one’s self of furry follicles from the extremities by way of a “crystallized smoothing pad”. The main advantages are: removal of said particles without the need for a razor; without water; without soap; without waxing; without pain; and (if you read some product reviews), without success. But others swear by its performance.
I was interested in the device that had polarized so many people’s opinions. About half said it worked perfectly and another half said that it did not work at all; the reviews were usually to either one extreme or the other. What did The Gadgeteer find?
First, the Smooth Away system ($14.99) comes with a set of replaceable smoothing pads and holders, one set for larger areas and one for smaller patches. The smoothing pads at first glance look like they would remove money from your wallet before they could possibly remove even dust from your skin, let alone fuzz. It seems like it could not possibly work.
The instructions are to swirl the pads against your skin in a circular motion, ten times clockwise and ten times counter-clockwise. This does not do anything but take up time. However, if you increase the dosage of the orbit by ten fold, meaning rotate the pad a hundred times, some results can be achieved. Not all areas responded well to the hundred or so buffs with the pad; certain parts of the dermis turned angry red and made my yoga moves fairly painful later in the day. So clearly the product must be deferred for certain defurring. But the results that I did see made me wonder how those magic crystals worked (yes, not very well of course, but…). So I decided to experiment with the product for several weeks and then re-assess.
I had to quit the experiment after three days because all of the pads wore down. They (the advertisements) do not expose the fact that the pads erode so quickly and you need refills. Refills, I found, although rife on the internet, were expensive, the postage usually exceeding the cost of the product. But having gotten some success with my one-hundred orbit solution, I was still intrigued and wanted to continue with my experiment. So I ordered a few refills from Amazon.com, thinking that it was at least worth a try.
Here is where the story takes a twist. The refill pads were from a different manufacturer. While the originals had been clearly marked “3M”, the refills had no such identification. Upon peeling back the adhesive paper from the refill pads, a surprising (to me anyway) set of mysterious hieroglyphs appeared: “1500c Silicon Carbide Waterproof Abrasive Paper Electro Coaeted”.
Mysterious hieroglyphics on the rear replacement pad
DOH! It’s not made of magic crystals – it’s just sand paper. Oddly enough, though, the refill pads worked much better than the originals. It removed flocculent protrusions much better and left the hide very smooth. But the refill pads wore down just as quickly as the originals, but then again — eh, at least these made the product useful, and I didn’t need any water. If I were stranded on a desert island and needed to wear my Stilettos in an emergency I could do well by these.
So, does the Smooth Away work? Yes, with certain grits of sandpaper, er, I mean, uh certain sized magic crystals, and yes it works for certain areas of one’s surface.
Does it cause pain? Yes in certain locations.
Is it worth it? I think so in the sense that it can be used without the need for water or other accouterments. Not a bad thing for hikers, travelers, and (hairy) hermits off the grid.
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Product Information
| Price: | $14.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Smooth Away |
| Pros: |
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Next time, use a DeWalt quarter-sheet sander and about 400 grit paper. It’ll work right quick. Also good for removing calluses, bunions, tattoos…. A stiff brush will clean the gunk out so it will sand a little longer.
@Keith owwwwwwwwwwch!
What’s next ? Laundry balls maybe ? Veg-a-matic ?
@1hen2ducks Actually, we already have a dryer ball review
http://the-gadgeteer.com/2007/10/08/nellie_s_dryerballs/
Well, I remember buying an epilady many years ago. She figured it would be better than using 2 disposable razors when she shaved. As I recall, it was attempted 1 time. After that, it disappeared.
She has looked at these, and I will pass on your review. Thanks!
Who has kidnapped Julie and taken over the site? Volume of uninteresting way up – useful info way down. Sorry to see a great daily visit required site become so run of the mill. Please bring back the high standards and quality posts that is the Gadgeteer.
I’ve just read a review of sand paper!
Thanks for the balanced review – not wasting money on personal care products that don’t work so well means more money for sweet gadgets.
Yessssssssssssssssss.
Years ago I bought this same product (or a very similar one) and tried it for the upper lip. I thought it sort of worked but thought that wax strips worked better. Now, due to age, hormonal changes and having been ill recently with the need to take the medication Prednisone for several months, I developed a fuzzy face in addition to other unpleasant medication effects. When I used the wax strip for the upper lip, I thought I looked silly, because the rest of my face was peach fuzz except for the upper lip. To me, it was a noticeable difference. I thought how strange to have more hair all over my face than other parts of my body. I saw the commercial and thought I would give the product a try. I am lucky that I am fair haired and that the facial fuzz is blonde; otherwise, I’d look like I’d need a shave! People didn’t notice my fuzzy face as they were not scrutinizing, and I was wearing makeup, but a few times I had my picture taken and the flash from the camera “lit up” the considerable hair/fuzz on my nec. It looked like a haze on the skin of my neck. When I went to enlarge the picture, I did not do it as you could then tell that the haze was really hair – I mean like hair on a forearm! It distressed me because I knew I would not shave my neck and didn’t feel good about myself. I even have fuzzy blonde hair on my forehead, temples, sideburn area and even a slight amount literally on my cheeks. Today, I got the Smooth Away and I think it is the same product as I tried years ago, but the ‘crystalized’ paper seemed finer in texture. In essence, I think it is like sand paper, but I gave it a try because I could not think of anything else that would work on the neck, jawline, temples and cheeks. I found that this product worked really well, and you do have to do more circular motions on heavier hair growth. As for redness, I believe that is to be expected. If you did circular motions just with your fingers on your face, your skin would get red or pink, so with the exfoliation, I feel the pink colour is to be expected and then it fades after a bit. Just don’t press hard so you get a rub burn. If you get a facial or use facial scrub, your face would get a bit pink also, because the skin is being handled or stimulated. I personally liked the ‘pink glow’. This version of “Smooth Away” worked even better than the version I tried years ago. The texture of the treated paper was smoother and did not pinken my skin as much – it was a light pink for a short while. It was a strange thing to feel my neck was smoother and that the facial fuzz was gone. I did a light ’swipe’ over my cheeks as well because I had hair there too. Maybe it was not visible to others, but I was shocked by how fuzzy my face had become and was happy to feel smoother facial skin and also see smoother skin. It’s pretty bad when you can see a hairy forehead and temples with the naked eye. I’m hoping that with having finished my course of medication, that the hair growth will diminish and stop, but I found the Smooth Away really worked. I do believe that it would not work so well on dark coarse hair, but for hair that is lighter and fine, I think it works great. I think makeup will adhere better and go on smoother too. It bothered me so much to have a hairy neck, and this sandpaper product, I don’t care what you call it, did the trick and helped me feel better about myself.
This is just gross. It’s like rubbing sandpaper on your skin. What’s the point? There was someone asking about this over on Factopo.
I’m guessing that the abrasive didn’t wear down. Silicon carbide is tough stuff. Instead, it’s likely that the pads became clogged with dust made up of skin and hair.