With a cost of around £300, the Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 is one of the pricier home IPL hair removal devices you can choose. It has plenty going in its favour, but is arguably a less advanced product than the similarly-priced Philips Lumea Prestige, which we’d also recommend considering.
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Pros
Designed to last 400,000 flashes
Skin sensor adapts settings to your skin tone
Precision head adaptor bundled in
Cons
Not cordless
Poorly rated companion app
The Braun Silk-expert Pro 5 is the top-end IPL hair removal machine from Braun, costing a little more than its sister model, the Silk-expert Pro 3. The main difference between the two is the number of flashes (and therefore, lifespan) – the Pro 3 gives you 300,000 flashes, while the Pro 5 gives you 400,000.
It’s worth noting, neither model is in fact a “laser” hair removal device. The Silk-expert Pro 5 and Pro 3 are both IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) devices, which are more common than laser for home hair removal. IPL can work effectively, and a session of treatment can be faster than with a laser device, too.
Breaking Down the Manufacturer Claims
With the Silk-expert Pro 5, Braun claims you can see “visible hair reduction within four weeks”, based on tests it conducted on test subjects who used the device on their legs, bikini and underarm areas.
We’d caution that such a claim can never be taken as a blanket guarantee of results. With home IPL usage, various factors will determine your own success rate: your hair and skin colour; the body parts you are targeting (and how coarse your hair is there); how effectively you follow the recommended treatment routine, and what stage in its growth cycle your hair is at.
Above all, we’d emphasise not to expect your hair removal to be complete within four weeks. With any home IPL device, you’re likely to need to continue treatment for at least three months to see effective results.
Is Laser Hair Removal Permanent? See our full explainer guide
One claim we’d take issue with is that Braun states that its SensoAdapt skin sensor is “the only laser hair removal technology that automatically adapts to your skin tone”. First, a quick reminder that this device isn’t laser hair technology at all (it’s IPL). Second, skin tone sensor tech is quite commonplace – the Philips Lumea range, for example, also has this.
Features and Extras
The Silk-expert Pro 5 comes with a precision head adaptor, designed to better target trickier areas including hair on the face. That said, Braun cautions the product isn’t designed for tackling male bear hair, and must never be used anywhere near the eyes – so don’t attempt to thin out your eyebrows with this (or any!) IPL device.
There’s a companion app you can install on your smartphone to go with the Silk-expert Pro 5. But, with wall-to-wall 1-star reviews on the app store, you may as well not bother. At the time of writing, the app appears to be unsupported, and users complain it is effectively non-functional.
Skin and Hair Type Suitability
The Silk-expert Pro 5 is best suited to the same hair and skin types as most home IPL devices. That is to say, if you have light skin and dark hair, you’re the ideal combo to see results.
Braun cautions the Silk-expert Pro 5 won’t be effective on light blonde, red or grey hair. It’s not suited for dark skin tones, either, unfortunately.
Verdict - Should You Buy It?
The Silk-expert Pro 5 isn’t our top recommendation for an IPL machine, though it’s a solid device from a trusted brand. For the cost, it’s unfortunate that the Silk-expert Pro 5 isn’t cordless. Plus, some of the claims are getting dated next to the competition, and the undersupported companion app suggests Braun has taken its eye off this product line of late.
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