Italy's competition authority has closed its investigation into Procter & Gamble's advertising for the Braun Skin i-Expert pulsed light epilator after the company agreed to change its marketing and extend its refund guarantee.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) opened the probe in February. It examined whether certain product performance claims for the device were exaggerated or inadequately substantiated, according to Reuters.

P&G has committed to remove one claim in particular: that the device could leave users free of body hair for two years. That assertion sat at the center of the regulator's concerns.

The company also agreed to extend its 100-day full purchase-price refund guarantee for a further six months, through the end of December. The extension gives consumers a longer window to return the device and recover the full price.

What does the settlement change?

For consumers, two concrete outcomes follow from the AGCM's decision.

• The two-year hair-free claim disappears from Braun Skin i-Expert marketing in Italy.
• The 100-day money-back guarantee runs through the end of December, six months longer than before.

The commitments apply to the Italian market, where the AGCM polices misleading commercial practices. P&G resolved the case without an admission of wrongdoing and without a fine, based on the regulator's acceptance of its undertakings.

Why the case matters for device makers

The case highlights increasing regulatory scrutiny of performance claims for beauty and personal care devices. Home-use energy devices, from pulsed-light epilators to at-home lasers, occupy a crowded claims space where efficacy language often outpaces published evidence.

For dermatology practices, the episode is a reminder of the gap consumers may perceive between device marketing and clinical reality. Claims such as "hair-free for two years" carry a precision that regulated medical devices typically substantiate through controlled trials. Regulators in Europe have shown willingness to test whether consumer-device advertising meets that same bar.

The AGCM's action reinforces the need for manufacturers and brands to ensure advertising claims are supported by sufficient evidence and communicated accurately. Companies marketing light-based hair removal in the EU can expect continued attention to durability claims, treatment-count promises and before-after imagery.

For P&G, the closure removes a legal overhang on one of its device brands while resetting the marketing baseline for the Skin i-Expert in a major European market. Whether other EU regulators follow the AGCM's lead on hair removal claims will shape how the category advertises in 2027.