Ah, the horrors of shaving. The razor burns, cuts and the awful, time-consuming task.

With Smooth Away all those worries are gone, or so it claims.

The Smooth Away system includes: a travel case, one large and one small applicator and five flex-crystal replacement pads for each.

Discovered in Europe, Smooth Away’s box says it is safe and effective for all areas of the body, including upper lip, bikini line and armpit area. Its claim to fame though is how it “removes hair instantly and pain free.”

I hate everything about shaving. I hate how much time it takes and how by the time I’m done shaving, my hands and feet are pruned from taking 15 minutes to completely finish my legs and arms.

To add on to that, I have quite possibly the most sensitive skin on this planet. Every time I shave I feel like my skin is being peeled off, layer by layer. There has been more than one occasion when my pores have literally bled after shaving. For the reasons above, during winter I rarely shave my legs and they get to the point where my legs could compete with a man’s for hairiest leg.

This grosses most people out, especially my boyfriend, and when I saw the Smooth Away commercial on TV, I deemed it could be the absolute perfect tool for me. The commercials made it look so easy. All you had to do was rub it over your skin a couple of times, then bam! Hair was gone, no razor burn or bumps and all for $9.99 at Walgreen’s.

I rubbed clockwise three times, then counter-clockwise three times, as the directions told me to . but there was still hair on my arms. So, I tried it for a bit longer, and the hair was gone! I continued until all the hair on my arm was removed. Then, as the directions stated, I used the smaller applicator on my elbows as stated, but this task was far more difficult and didn’t catch all of the hairs successfully.

I went through the same process again on my legs and had just about the same results. It took a lot of time to get every area of my legs, and it was even more difficult with my knees.

Trying my armpits was terrible, however. It felt like I had a super dull razor, and the hair was literally being pulled out. It also left the skin on my armpits red and blotchy.

Although the process was for the most part successful, it was far more time consuming then a regular razor, and I couldn’t get all the hair on my edges. It also left my skin looking very ashy and feeling a little burnt.

I had a halfway success with Smooth Away. On the positive side, I had no razor burn or bleeding pores, and I could definitely tell that my skin was softer.

However, Smooth Away is pretty much a low-grade sand paper, and my skin felt like it had been sanded down by the time I was done.

Unless I was going somewhere where I showed exceptional leg, I don’t think I would take the extra time needed to use Smooth Away.

While I give them kudos for no-razor burn and for smoothing my skin, I just don’t have the time in the day to spend 20 minutes shaving my legs and arms each.