Say “No way” to Smooooth Legs
On my most recent trip to Los Angeles, I stopped by the Santa Anita Shopping Mall to do some leisurely retail cruising. It’s amazing how fast the latest trend can trickle throughout the mall at all price ranges.
I also like checking out the little pop-up carts and the fun wares they have to offer. I’ve found the most random things in those small shopping mall carts.
As usual, one of the carts caught my eye. A friendly sales girls was demonstrating Smooooth Legs (yes, they really spell it with four O’s) the painless hair removal system.
I’ve always been curious about the product but never wanted to send away for it. The thought of giving my credit card information to some random stranger I learned about from TV gives my credit scores the creeps.
So when I saw the cart and the friendly salesgirl doing a demo, I had to stop.
According to the packaging, it is “Europe’s most popular and fastest hair removal system.” Knowing how hairy Europeans are, I thought that was quite a selling point. Smooooth Legs works with “superfine crystals that quickly and gently remove hair.”
The sales girl tried it on a patch of hair on my shin and a little light rubbing in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions easily removed the hair. At $29.99 for a kit with four small and four large replacement pads, I thought it was a steal!
Sadly, it was a steal and I was the one that was robbed. Even before I had a chance to use Smooooth Legs on my own at home (it sat in my suitcase for a few weeks), I noticed that the small area the salesgirl buffed away was no longer “smoooth.”
Right in the center of my right shin was this scaly, dry, uneven patch of irritated skin. For a few weeks, I thought it was just a random dry patch of skin. I moisturized the spot with heavy creams, greasy body oils, regular hand lotion, scented creams and even near-therapeutic stuff found at the dermatologist’s office.
Unfortunately, none of the typical moisturizers worked.
I finally busted open the Smooooth Legs package and used the large pad on the same small area on my left shin (I figured if I matched, it would be less awkward). Although the de-fuzzed area looked fine at the time, a couple of days later a small dry patch with the same qualities appeared.
Upon closer inspection of the Smooooth Legs pads, I realized what they really were — super refined sand paper. I’d been sandpapering away my leg hair! No wonder my skin was scaly and irritated.
As a beauty blogger, I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t catch on sooner. But honestly, the Smooooth Legs pads glided over skin so easily and didn’t hurt at all.
After the second patch of scaly shin skin appeared, I tossed the box. Although shaving with a razor is just as abrasive as using a small piece of sandpaper, I’d gladly shave more frequently to avoid the harsh affects of the Smooooth Legs pads.
The lesson here is “Caveat Emptor” or “Buyer Beware”. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.
How about you? Have you ever been suckered into a beauty product with the promise of amazing results, only to be disappointed? If so, which product was it?
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On November 10th, 2009 Cucumpear said:
I tried something like that years ago and it took ages to actually remove a few hairs. And speaking for my fellow hairy Europeans, we usually just shave or wax. *winks*
A couple of years ago the SA at a Clinique counter convinced me that their Thermal-Active Skin Refiner would clear and minimize the pores on my nose. Yeah, right. It smelled horrible, was so thick I could barely get any out of the tube and didn’t do anything.
On November 10th, 2009 Fresco Phyrra said:
Yeah when I saw that being advertised it looked like sandpaper to me, which I KNOW irritates skin. Sorry that you had it used on you ;(
On November 10th, 2009 Monique said:
LOL! Sandpaper! I’m not surprised…I’m sorry you had to have this experience but thanks for sharing it with us. You’ve saved the rest of us some pain!
On November 10th, 2009 Lisha said:
Quite the horror experience D=
(By the way : I’m a European girl and I’d never heard of sandpapering your legs. She lied to you. Boo!)
On November 11th, 2009 Karrie said:
That’s a shame about this product.
I’m always wary about those stands in the mall.
I’ve seen stands for flat irons, clipless irons, and makeup.
I think those stands are too-good-to-be-true items.