Back hair removal (pic included) - Indian male

The hair is dense but I can’t tell if it is coarse?

I would just do the back with Laser and not the shoulers/upper arm. Even with the back, there is only any point treating where the hair is thick enough but I don’t know if you can convince them. Technically, they should not treat where you don’t want to be treated and reduce the cost accordingly.

As JMISR mentioned, I would start Laser and electrolysis simultaneously if you want to be more or less hair free in 18 months. It’s more than long enough. It’s not about the difference in cost but it’s about what will get you results. £400 might not seem like a lot but if it gets you close to no results then it’s a lot to waste. But let’s say you only do Laser before you go. You can always carry on with the electrolysis when you come back.

Have you followed the ‘Diary of a European Guy’ thread? Even one electrolysis clearance with the right electrologist should reduce the amount of hair dramatically, moreso than one Laser session.

I wouldnt do laser, your skin is dark and the hair isnt as dense and it isnt thick enough - you could stimulate more hair and very unhappy like I did - had less hair like you do and after maaany laser treatmnts I stimulated much dense and coarse hair allso on neck front and back were before was none!

Istead save the money and find some competent electrologist, or maybe would be worth asking depilationelectr on this forum - she is wonderfully fast and effective - you can check for yourself, she has fotodocumentation on this forum…

Hi guys, thanks for all your responses. It’s been really interesting read all of them. I think my plan is to get laser on the big patches of hair on either side of my back and in a ‘T’ shape too. Will also start electrolysis on my shoulders and upper arms to ensure no hair is induced as its not nearly as thick/coarse as my back.

Did a quick yellow pages search and found a lady who does electrolysis home visits and charges £30 p/hour. Sounds a bit too good to be true! Come monday I will ring around a few more places to get a better idea and take it from there. Hopefully for the laser the price can be adjusted according to the areas I need treating. I’ve seen a few price lists which state ‘upper back’ and ‘lower back’ so fingers crossed I can come to some sort of compromise about the area I need treating. Definitely not getting conned into having parts of my back lasered that aren’t suitable.

Hi divingin,

Please check the BIAE directory for electrologists in your area.

I think collectively, HairTell members have tried all the registered electrologists in and around the London area. Have a read in the electrolysis forum.

One thing to note is that I don’t think anyone has an Apilus and does micro or pico flash thermolysis like our HairTell electrologists.

Allso if you do areas you have dense and coarse hair - on the border to nonthick hairs you could slowly treatment after treatment extend the coarse area… But you could maybe post pictures of your treatment with time and will see in one and a half year if it did help.

30 dollars are cheap, I dont think that any proffesional would do it for that money - you could just end up plucking hairs or doing 1 hairs per minute - and if you maybe find someone who does 15 hairs per minute and effectively for 60-90 dollars, it would be much cheaper in the end…It is possible to remove more than 1000 hairs per hour if you find enough experienced person - not one from yellow pages…

I’m with Miro on this one. Sounds far too cheap. I would check the credentials for sure.

The cheapest I have seen, working from home, or outside London is £36 an hour. I will pm you.

15 hairs a minute is probably a bit optimistic (unfortunately). You need someone who is doing quick thermolysis and I don’t really know anyone who does this. Manual flash thermolysis has a bad rep here. Perhaps 10 hairs per min, which is still okay.

But still half the speed our Jossie can do on the body.

It would be worth a bet to see if just one of those electrologists in or around London got an Apilus Platinum or Pure and learned how to use it (not difficult), just what would happen to their business. IF more hairs per minute could be removed, leaving skin looking as if only something minor has happened, with tolerable sensation, that electrologist would probably be busier than she/he has ever been to the point that they may want to hide.

If only, Dee! I have been persuading my electrologist (in a salon, 4 registered BIAE electrologists working there) for the past 3 years to upgrade. So all they did was upgrade from their old epilator’s to Sterex SX-Bs. Sigh! Apparently the salon owner does not see the point. I don’t think she realises what a formidable operation she could have on her hands if her electrologists retrained.

Thanks to the BIAE and their cosy relationship with Sterex, electrologists here don’t see to realise how far electrology has come. When I first started speaking about it, I’d get funny looks and comments like ‘flash is outlawed by the BIAE’, ‘you can’t possibly do that much work in one go’ blah blah blah!

Well, when my sister is free of exams, we’re going to show our electrologist here what was achieved in 6hours in one go.

What do you think, Michael Bono?

I wouldn’t even consider touching those upper arms with laser. Not coarse enough and very prone to induced growth. I’d only consider those patches on the back and back of shoulders.

That’s what I’m thinking LAgirl, last thing I want is more hair there! Few others on here have recommended the same thing and that electrolysis would be better. Went away and did a bit of research on electrolysis too, and found a couple of places.

Firstly a lady whom I found on the BIAE website - offers electrolysis for £30 for up to 1 hour. Sounds incredibly cheap! On her site she also states what equipment she uses…

“I use blend, thermolysis (a.k.a. diathermy) and very occasionally flash electrolysis. My machines are the Silhouet-tone VMC and the Clareblend Multi-needle Nova 2000. My opinion is we are all individuals and one type of electrolysis is not always the right choice for everyone. For this reason I offer a free consultation and free sample treatment, with no obligation to book an appointment. Electrolysis requires a lengthy commitment so it is important to understand the treatment and how it works.”

…all sounds legitimate and I think its worth a shot.

Also linked from her site was another salon. A few members on here have spoken about the Apilus Platinum and I’ve found a place in Reading that uses it. Up to £42 for 45mins which sounds consistent with electrolysis prices generally.

Finally, would any members recommend using the Alex laser at a low fluency be better then yag at a higher fluency? Found a good laser hair specialist who recommended this but who only uses Alex.

Any advice would be much appreciated as always. Cheers guys!

My aunt has treatment with one of her old students (the £30 lady).

Apilus place sounds good too. The website says it’s the senior II, which I’m sure is fine.

Good luck!

She has a few former students listed on her site, what’s her name, and is she somebody she would recommend?

Also, what’s the ‘senior II’ that you referred to?

Here’s the site for the place that uses the Apilus machine incase anybody else needed it:

http://www.skinwise.co.uk/prices.html

Oh sorry, I thought it was the this salon, linked in the former students bit: http://www.essentiabeauty.co.uk/
They mention the Apilus Senior II, not the platinum.

Skinwise just say they use an Apilus, not which model. It might be something basic like the Cleo Blend.

My Aunt goes to the former student who’s now based in Gravesend, Kent. I believe she mostly uses a slow Blend.

I guess go to as many consultations as you can and compare.

You need a laser at good aggressive settings. There is no point of using an alex if they’re only able to use it on your skin type at low settings to avoid burning you. If you can’t handle high settings on an alex safely, Yag is your only option.

Whilst I agree with just about everything LAgirl says, on this I disagree. It is possible to achieve good results on a lower setting with an Alex. I have numerous clients that have permanent long term reduction using as low as 12joules (18mm dg), some with as few as 3 treatments.

As long as the hair sheds and the hair free period is reasonable - around 6 to 8 weeks - then you will get results.

For those that might question my experience, as a registered Nurse, I have been using Candelas Gentlelase for nearly 13 years, longer than anyone else in the UK (trained at Wallys Lasertrolysis in Florida, staff trained with Judy Adams)

You will get results at a lower setting and far better than a Yag

Hi. I think I remember you from Kitty’s consumer beware forum. Welcome to hairtell.

Thanks Dee. That was a long time ago, good old days eh?

Low settings don’t necessarily disable the hair permanently. We don’t recommend doing that if you want definite good results. The hair needs to absorb enough heat to disable it permanently and not just stunt it for a while.

As a professional who has carried out Laser hair Removal treatments with the Candela gentlelase for 13 years, I can tell you that it is possible to disable the hair permanently - not just stun it - at fluences as low as 12.

You are right that low settings dont necessarily disable the hair permanently, but does using a fluence of 20 guarantee that it will? No, it doesn’t.

I do get slightly concerned that there is a blanket attitude at times of pushing the joules. Of course people want value for money and want to complete their treatments in as few sessions as possible but there is a lot more to it than just turning up the joules

Just my opinion of course, but it is based on years of experience