I apologize for my lack of brevity…I got passionate about this one:
I agree that it is necessary to try out as many electrologists as you can for yourself, but I also think that it is disheartening and defeating to the hairy,( and often depressed and self conscious consumer), who is taking the time to research and ask questions- to hear anything slightly resembling the notion that we should give up, shut up, stop asking pointed questions, and just head down the block to the closest practitioner listed in the yellow pages, who may or may not be charging $100 an hour for the electrology equivalent of some tin cans, some string, a car battery and a needle.
And if it’s annoying to you to answer any questions or honor any requests that concern modern technology- simply don’t answer and/or say it’s not your thing, and kindly scoot over to let a rock star sing. Just so you know, such questions may have the potential to give me or any of my hairy friends hope just in the mere act of writing it and anticipating an educated response from a professional. I remember, because I’ve been there late at night constructing the Q’s and then eagerly awaiting the A’s like Christmas morning.
A narrow perspective, as far as I’m concerned, is one that harshes on another professional’s combination of time, kindness, energy, knowledge of what’s out there, and kick-ass, efficient, comfortable equipment. Years ago I was the client asking the questions I formulated from hours of reading hairtell- and years ago I may have given up on electrolysis all together again after seeing the 10th electrologist who couldn’t see or wouldn’t work on my copious amounts of blonde hair and then coming home to read a negative post, lacking in hope, written by a professional in the field.
We, as clients, do trust the words and opinions of professionals and those words have power. In just as much power as Dee and James, et al, instill in us, others have the power to try and take away ( without intention, possibly, but none the less the negative energy and power is still there). Such power has the potential to do harm. I have always looked to hairtell for help, so encountering harm instead might feel like a huge set back. As I mentioned before, at one point in my past I may have thrown in the towel and stopped my search for the “good one” or even the “tolerable one”, bumped up the milligrams of my antidepressant, and gone back to plucking. Luckily for me- I was injected with hope from some of the “rock stars” on hairtell, and after seeing more than 20 different electrologists in various states, I have been fortunate enough to find one somewhat local “goody” and one three hour drive “Amazing-y”, whom I refer to as my electrologist fairy.
Now the fairy has all the good stuff- the total package. She’s got mad speed and bedside manner along with the latest equipment, designed for speed and comfort. But the “goody” is still great ( although not as fast). The local gal has an Apilus Platinum in Lakewood, Ohio and an older, not so tricked out machine in her 2nd office in Parma, Ohio. Her Apilus is clearly more comfortable and faster and she even says so herself, yet if I am unable to get an appointment at her Lakewood office, I voluntarily drive farther to the Parma office with the older, slower, more painful machine because my practitioner is great at what she does and has skills that can be used across the board…and she has eagle eyes. She admits that my thin, blonde hairs are annoying to work on and cause her eye strain, but she works on them because she knows how much they affect me- having them on my face. She met me when I was plucking for hours a day and clinically depressed. Both of my electrologists do me this honor out of compassion and a desire to excel at their jobs.
Neither of my electrologist angels get mad at me for asking questions about their equipment, modality, or ways of going about their (much valued by me) profession.
And my local lady isn’t offended that I prefer to visit her in the office with the Apilus Platinum, since speed and comfort are quite obviously important to me. I have seen some horrible, some mediocre, and 2 great electrologists in my quest for hair removal….and its taken me a lot of questioning, time, trial and effort (not to mention driving) to find my fairy and my local backup angel. Without the educated answers and advice gifted to me by the professionals on hairtell, I would not have felt motivated or confident enough to hit the road and venture down the trial and error path again. Those responses gave me the energy I needed and I thank every Rock Star for that. I am eternally grateful. Without them, I may have given up for good and never have met my wonderful practitioners.
If you wanna be the lady who gets defensive the moment I ask what type of machine and modality you use, then so be it- and good riddance. I have not called back or gone back to countless people. But if you want to be kind and explain to me in a friendly tone how you are fast and skilled with your particular machine, then I will drive great distances to try you out and thank you for your work, regardless of what type of machine you have. But don’t shame me for seeking efficiency and comfort when I have electric probes shooting in and out of my face for hours twice a month and I’m paying a large percentage of my income for it. Welcome to capitalism. Speed matters. Comfort matters. Client satisfaction matters. If you don’t want to upgrade your equipment then either get really, really crafty with what you’ve got or find a new profession. But either way, if you don’t have something productive/constructive to say- staying quiet is always an option.
