Smooth Away yields some hairy results
Posted: Thursday, March 05, 2009 8:12 PM
By Anna Chan, health editor
What it is: Smooth Away ($14.99 plus $6.99 shipping/handling from www.getsmoothaway.com)
What it claims to do: Buff away unwanted hair and leave skin “so soft and incredibly smooth.” According to the Web site, the Smooth Away pads are covered with superfine crystals that easily, safely, painlessly and quickly remove unwanted hair and exfoliate dead skin cells.
 |
| IdeaVillage Products Corp. |
My experience: I hate to admit it, but I’ve been a girl of the more hirsute sort since I can remember, and my excess hair caused me great embarrassment as a child. I tried many hair removal products in my teen years, hoping to find something cheap that would remove hair painlessly. The products I tried usually caused me considerable amounts of pain (from waxing) or pain and very irritated skin (from smelly depilatories).
So when Smooth Away arrived at my office, I was eager to try this new miracle hair remover, which the Web site claims is the “fastest selling, most popular women’s product in Europe.” As I grabbed the gray pads that would supposedly remove hair, I noticed the very prominent 3M logo plastered all over the back. But what was even more interesting was that the pads felt a lot like smooth sandpaper.
At this point, one might put the product aside and reconsider rubbing sandpaper-like pads all over delicate skin (especially while at work), but as a desperate hairy person, I didn’t care. I removed the protective backing, stuck a large gray pad to the big pink applicator, made sure my skin was clean and rubbed the pad on the back of my left wrist as instructed, gently buffing in circular motions – first clockwise, then counterclockwise -- with slight pressure.
The result after the first six circular buffs? A little bit of hair was certainly gone, but not much. Still hopeful, I repeated the motions as instructed, but by the time much of the hair on my wrist was gone, my skin was feeling a bit tingly, and I saw that the hair was certainly not well removed. Some small spots were smooth, while in other areas, the hair was barely there, but still visible if a bit shorter.
A few minutes later, it felt like I had major razor burn and my skin was quite red. As instructed, I applied moisturizer, but that didn’t help. (I missed the tip in the instructions about treating irritated skin with a milk-soaked cotton ball for a few minutes.)
After that, I lost interest in Smooth Away for a few days. When I picked it up again a few nights later, I decided to test it on my stubbly left leg. (Hey, it’s winter!) The experience was similar to the wrist, with a few differences. First, it took me at least a half an hour to remove what seemed like enough hair for me to be somewhat satisfied. Second, my skin was so covered in fine white “dust” (Smooth Away tells me this is exfoliated dead skin cells) by the time I was done that I couldn’t even see how much hair had been removed. Third, my skin wasn’t irritated at all this time, despite the lengthy removal process.
After a quick shower (and a shave of my right leg for comparison), I saw that not very much hair had been removed from my left leg at all. In fact, there were areas that appeared as if no hair had been removed, and my skin didn’t feel smoother from the supposed exfoliation. Meanwhile, my right leg was silky smooth and hair-free after a mere minute of shaving.
The next day, my left leg had even more stubble, while my right was still fairly smooth. Clearly, my razor won that contest.
Still curious about the pads, I went to my local home improvement store with one of them in hand. After touching countless sheets of sandpaper, I happened upon a 600 grit ultrafine sheet that felt incredibly similar to the Smooth Away. A quick test with the sandpaper (after purchasing, of course) removed more hair on my other wrist with just a few strokes than the Smooth Away did, and without any irritation. Winner this time? Sandpaper!
What the expert says: “It is a good idea for a product, but should be viewed with caution,” said Dr. Fiona Blanco, a clinical instructor of dermatology at Columbia University’s Department of Dermatology who has not tried Smooth Away. She’s not sure whether the goal of Smooth Away is to twist the hair off at skin level or whether it aims to remove it at the root, but explained that the instructed circular motions could be for snagging hairs and pulling them out by the roots.
As for the crystals the Web site mentions, Blanco said that her concern was skin irritation. “Crystals would probably exfoliate the skin, but I don’t know what the crystals are composed of so they might cause contact sensitivity,” she said. The dermatologist also noted that crystals are used in dermatology for microdermabrasion, which could explain the product’s exfoliation claim.
When I mentioned my sandpaper experiment, Blanco warned that if Smooth Away is in fact sandpaper, and we don’t know whether it is, using the product could exacerbate preexisting skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, increase risk for infection and worsen dry skin. “If the pads are very abrasive, then they could very easily cause traumatic irritation, erosions and burns to the skin,” she explained.
But even those without any skin issues should be careful, especially in the winter, Blanco said. “People tend to have dry skin in the winter secondary to decreased humidity and it may be tempting to exfoliate these dead skin cells, but this may only aggravate the condition by increasing cell turnover and irritation resulting in eczema.”
Bottom line: After experimenting with Smooth Away and sandpaper, I’m sticking to my razors, which Blanco said could probably scrape off dead skin with a close shave anyway.
But if you really want to rid yourself of excess hair, Blanco recommends laser removal, which aims to destroy the hair follicle to prevent regrowth. “That’s the best way to remove hair,” she said. “Then just moisturize and you won’t have to worry about doing anything on a weekly or biweekly basis.”
