Anybody still here?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Good day, evening, week, month, whenever you’re reading this. I’m new to electrolysis, and I’ve been reading these topics to get a feel for what I’m in for. Quick “about me”: I’m 32, dark skin, dark hair, hormone problems (PCOS diagnosis which I strongly suggested before the docs finally gave in). My hairs are thick and coarse. I plucked for almost twenty years (from 14 until just a few months ago), until the hairs became too numerous to deal with. I shave now, every few days. I’ve never lasered or waxed. No sugar, no egg whites, but there was that one time about 10 years ago I tried to Nair.

I just decided to do this last week. I’m not too much about wasting my time, so I’ve had two consultations and I have another next week. There are three AEA certified electrologists in the state and none in the next state over, but I’m calling everybody. What’s a certification, really? There’s so much information about electrolysis that I’m starting to think it doesn’t matter how much I ply myself with. I have hair on my face, I want it gone safely and efficiently, the end. Instinct might help me more in a case like this.

First electrologist I visited yesterday was in a hurry to get to work on me and brushed off my questions. She told me she’s 68 and has been practicing for 50 years. Her equipment is older but she said the equipment doesn’t matter; it’s insertion. I was a little put-off by this, but she’s older and maybe older people are really just about their business and don’t have time for small talk. “I can show you better than I can tell you” types. She pretty much shooed me once she heard I had another consultation. She told me to come back if they don’t work. On my way out the door, she said she thought the woman I was having my second appointment with had left the business. She said she had taken in some of that electrologist’s clients. Shade? Maybe. lol

Contrast that visit with the one from today. This outfit was in a plaza, sharing space with a salon. Brighter, shinier, newer. Then again, I’m older too, so I’m not impressed by shiny things. This lady also couldn’t wait to get her probe on my chin. I asked about her machine too. She just told me it’s “the latest.” And by the way, “equipment does matter.” Well okay then. I let her talk me into 15 minutes just to try it out.

She stayed in one area the whole time, moving about sporadically so my chin wouldn’t swell too obviously. It’s a little red and itchy, but I expected that. I could feel the probe going in and didn’t mind it. I also didn’t mind the slight shocks. My issue is this: I could feel her tug on darn near every hair she zapped except maybe two. It felt like she was plucking them. She’d pull lightly, with no give, then she’d snatch them out with another pull. Some took three tugs. With the very first insertion, she zapped me twice. With the others after that, she only zapped me once then commenced to pulling them out forcefully. Is that normal? I know some hairs are resistant, and my hair is just the type, but this felt like what I used to do on myself for free. It was more painful than the shocks! She also didn’t have any tips on aftercare–I asked specifically–other than to keep my hands off my face.

My own unlearned instinct is telling me to eat that $40 like a grownup and move on. But I’m asking the experts. What other information do you all need to help me determine whether I should keep on her on the short list? I have two other appointments for consultations–tomorrow and next week.

I had more pictures but looks like the forum can’t handle my phone’s awesomeness. I’ll be back with them. These are of a few minutes after I left the session and the hairs she took out that ended up on my clothes. ha. Do they look how they’re supposed to look?

qwerty Attachments

WP_20160518_009.jpg

WP_20160518_006.jpg

#2

The AEA certification is utterly meaningless. Some of the best electrologists don’t bother with the CPE and some of the worst have it.

Having old equipment isn’t necessarily a bad thing. An electrologist’s equipment and their skill with it matters more than having the latest fancy machine. That said, modern machines do offer electrologists more tools and can be a benefit, but they aren’t required to do a good job. What matters most? Proper settings and insertions.

Like the AEA certification, how many years of practice someone has is also meaningless. There are a lot of people that are young and hungry to do a good job, and a lot of older people that are lazy and complacent. The longer someone has been in business, the busier they probably are (and thus the less they need any particular new client) and the more gruff they probably are about being asked the same questions for the billionth time. Not every seasoned pro is like that, but it honestly can be draining at times. I know I’ve certainly been less active here lately since, after doing 10 straight 70 hour weeks, I just don’t have the patience to answer the same questions right now for random people on the internet. I DO take the time to be patient and thorough with my clients anyway, sometimes spending as much as 90 minutes with them instead of my usual 30.

Tugging should be minimal and it shouldn’t feel like plucking. The hairs you showed are missing the sheath and that’s likely due to undertreating (not all hair will come with a sheath). If a hair doesn’t come out on the first zap, a second zap or a higher setting should be used, it shouldn’t just be plucked to get rid of it. If the hair feels like its being plucked, it’s being plucked, not killed.

As far as aftercare goes, it’s a minor skin wound. Keep it clean and dry. If you need to touch the area, wash your hands first and, if it gets dirty, just mild soap and water is fine (use a clean towel). Aloe or witch hazel is fine, as is as much ice as you want to use. Anything more than that is just likely to cause problems.

Ideally, an electrologist should be confident enough in the quality of their work to give you a free consult with some trial hair removal. Some of us encourage our potential clients to try out other electrologists too and to only pick us if we’re the best. Don’t look for meaningless credentials or worry about how many years they’ve been at it, judge them on the quality of their work, especially on other people that you know have gone to them and the work done on you by them. I’m not a big fan of asking an electrologist for reference clients, as it isn’t all that hard to get a couple friends to vouch for the electrologist even if they’ve never had any work done at all.

#3

EVERYTHING Emancipated Elect has stated is spot on, most noteably the information on feeling tugging and the lack of root sheaths on the hairs. If a hair does not come out, then the solution is NOT to tug harder. I know even I have been guilty of this a few times, but consistently, absolutely not. The right approach is to retry and use better insertions, the right amoount of energy, and watch that sucker slide out like it’s lubed!

In my opinion you are doing ALL the right things in your search. Ignore AEA credentials, they hardly mean anything. Try out all the electrologists you can ( which you seem to be doing) and pick the one you are most comfortable with and have the smoothest extraction of the hair possible.

Good luck on your search!

#4

Thanks so much for the replies! I believe she turned it to a lower setting after I flinched with the first insertion. She was very insistent on making me comfortable, but beauty is pain, right? lol. I heard the zaps after the first one rather than felt them. She talked so much throughout the session I started thinking she was trying to distract me from the fact that she was charging me to pluck my chin. She was nice and all, but she’ll be okay without me.

I’m not going to edit my original post, but I made an appointment for a consultation tomorrow while I was writing. That’s why it reads differently at the end than at the beginning.

Thanks for the clarification on certifications and “time in service.” As it happens, I’m from the next state over and I’m home all the time, so I may extend my searching there if these next couple of appointments don’t work out. I’m anxious to get on a schedule with my electrologist of choice, but I want to do this right. What do you all think about visiting electrolysis schools for this? Too risky?

#5

I’ve had laser, and about 12 hours of electrolysis performed at a school. I actually though the electrolysis was not completely horrible, but the laser definitely was. The thing about schools is the students will often be much slower, and not always is that made up for bby cheaper rates. For sure the skill will vary dependng on how far along in the program theyare, and of course you’ll get some really good students, and some, who should never touch a probe.