OK, here's an intro to the epilator!
I had tried one years ago & hated it so when I bought this one I truly thought I had been suckered in by the advertising & was prepared to send it back if I didn't like it. It is about half the price of the normal sized ones & came with a definite money-back guarantee so I don't think I would have tried epilating other than happening to spot this. Being a small travel-sized one it is not as scary as the full-size ones. However, I think the bigger ones have improved a lot recently & I may invest in one later. An epilaltor basically has the rotating head with rows of little pincers, but they are not sharp pincers, and they do not pinch the skin despite the fear they will! You can run it over the back of the hand or even your face & you won't feel a thing.
The noise can be scary, as it is motorised so it has a loud machinery type noise which is not nice. Again, this is minimised on my small one. The way to use it is to run it across the skin a few times and the hairs disappear! You can feel it but soon get used it and I find that I get more involved with using it, moving on to the next area & seeing the smooth skin left behind that any discomfort is not noticed. I'd say it is a shade less uncomfortable than waxing. It is continuous so easier to get used to the sensation.
The main advantages are that it's all in one handheld device (mine has batteries so is cordless) so no faffing and grow back is slow, but I guess it may vary from person to person. It can be used on really short hairs and I find I don't get any redness afterwards. With waxing sometimes the odd hair is missed which used to drive me mad but not a problem with my little device! I think if you are prone to ingrowing hairs from waxing you would probably get them with epilating too though. I use it all over (although I don't do a lot on the bkini area) and it is great, especially for underarms. It can even be used on the face too for women that may have facial hair from hormone issues.
Well, I didn't think I'd have so much to say on that subject!! I don't think I know anyone else that uses one but I guess there might be quite a few as there are loads available.
Btw, I did have a few sessions of laser hair removal a few years ago as I thought it would be a good investment. It was soooo painful so I soon gave it up. Just remembering what it was like makes me shudder