Bikini area electrolysis: your input and stories?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

I looked around in this forum for existing topics with a similar theme but I didn’t see any (aside from one-user electro diaries, which I still appreciate!) and thought it wouldn’t hurt to start a new thread. Please forgive if this is retreading old territory!

So my goal is the electrolysis equivalent of a brazilian, so everything front to back, upper thighs, labia, peri-anal. I’ve gotten waxed a few times (which, I’ve just discovered on this board, means I’ve made the electrolysis job that much harder–lovely!) and this most recent time convinced me to try electrolysis, because the bare period of time is so delightful but even waxing requires a lengthy growth period and still leaves me with almost as many ingrowns and red bumps as shaving.

Here’s the thing: I’m still scared and embarrassed because it still involves hours and hours of subjecting a stranger to my hairy bum. And it’s embarrassing to wax at only 15-40 minutes a session for a full brazilian, but I’m not sure I can withstand hours and hours. I would love to do laser reduction, but the hair ranges from white/blonde to light brown at darkest, so I figure it would be a waste of time that would just add to the number of people who have to look at and then remove embarrassing hair on my naked body. :cry:

I was wondering if anyone could tell me their experiences with any kind of bikini-region/genital electrolysis, from just the bikini line to completely bare, regardless of gender. I would love to know, particularly:

  1. how many hours you’ve put into it to date/how many hours it took for one clearance/how many hours it took until complete hair removal (I know these answers will vary for a ton of reasons, but I’m still interested in individual experiences as case studies)
  2. how much money you put into a complete clearance
  3. how you spaced the sessions (could you withstand 2-3 hours of electro at a time? I’d love to get it done quickly, but the pain…)
  4. how it compared, pain-wise, to waxing (or any other reference)
  5. most painful regions for you and whether ibuprofen/lidocaine was worth it
  6. whether you preferred one modality over another
  7. any tips, advice, or other information that you’re willing to share

Also, a couple of questions specifically for the electrologists here:

  1. is it worth telling an electrologist that I don’t care about removal of vellus hair and they can just leave it or would that make things too complicated?
  2. do you prefer it when your clients stay as quiet and still as possible or do you like having conversations during the sessions?
  3. Is there a certain hair length that is easiest to work with?

Any input is appreciated, and thanks for reading!

#2

Have you checked out the “Mature Section”? There’s a bunch of threads in there in case you didn’t see it.

I’m also doing a full Brazilian right now and also have a diary. I’ll comment and answer your questions below:

This is completely normal but don’t be! Remember that professional electrologists do this type of work all the time. Especially on females, this is a pretty common request. For males, it’s a lot harder because unfortunately many electrologists choose not to work on males in that area.

1) how many hours you’ve put into it to date/how many hours it took for one clearance/how many hours it took until complete hair removal (I know these answers will vary for a ton of reasons, but I’m still interested in individual experiences as case studies)

You can check out my electrolysis diary but it’s kind of hard for me to nail down time on the Brazilian specifically. The reason why is because I am also doing other areas and all the time kind of blurs together. I can tell you that it took roughly 13 hours to really hit 100% first clearance on everything. For me, this includes: Underarms, <10 Facial hairs, ~40 Leg hairs, Some nipple hairs (maybe 40?) and full Brazilian. However, keep in mind that I was going 2 hours weekly and that each session she would start by going over areas that had been done previously and then starting new area after that. So really, I’ve gotten cleared multiple times in some spots at this point. The work is progressive… if that makes sense?

If I had to guess at how long first clearance could be done in one shot… I don’t know… somewhere between 6-8 hours for the Brazilian alone? That would be a pretty loooong day, though…

Other people have asked a similar question and I recall other people saying that their Brazilian took about 4 times as long as their underarms. My underarms were less than 2 hours for first clearance, so that’s about right.

Keep in mind that I’m Asian and have coarse hair but relatively low density. For example, I do not have ANY hair on my inner thighs and my “happy trail” was like 5 hairs total. On my legs I had a total of ~40 hairs last session and most were on my knees.

2) how much money you put into a complete clearance

Try to get an estimate of hours from the electrologist and then just multiply by the hourly rate. Some electrologists have discounts for packages. Some electrologists are more able to provide a rough estimate up front than others. Some may need to complete a full clearance before they feel comfortable estimating time remaining. Some will not be willing to provide an hour estimate at all…

The [Fino] Gior Brothers website has some time estimates although I’m not sure if their entry for “Bikini” means full Brazilian or what…

3) how you spaced the sessions (could you withstand 2-3 hours of electro at a time? I’d love to get it done quickly, but the pain…)

I do 2 hours at a time. I’d say I could stand up to about 3 hours on average if I was using numbing. Even with numbing, I just get bored.

4) how it compared, pain-wise, to waxing (or any other reference)

If you can handle waxing/tweezing then electrolysis should not be an issue. I’d say it’s a bit more painful than either of those things. The main concern with electrolysis is just the duration. At least with waxing it’s over relatively quick.

5) most painful regions for you and whether ibuprofen/lidocaine was worth it

For males, the shaft and “creases” (like along your thigh) are the worst. The perianal area closest to the anus were difficult too. For me, the pubic mound area was almost a non-issue, though.

I was told that for females the worst were the lips.

6) whether you preferred one modality over another

My electrologist uses various forms of thermolysis. I don’t really have a preference between them. The practitioner should decide what is working best for them.

7) any tips, advice, or other information that you’re willing to share

Most importantly, find a good electrologist.
Secondly, relax and let them do their job.
Third, take a couple ibuprofen before your session.
Fourth, if you still have significant pain use a liberal amount of 4% lidocaine 90-120 minutes before your session.

[u]Also, a couple of questions specifically for the electrologists here:

  1. is it worth telling an electrologist that I don’t care about removal of vellus hair and they can just leave it or would that make things too complicated?
    [/u]

Yes, you can tell most to focus on the more visible hairs and ignore vellus hairs if you want.

2) do you prefer it when your clients stay as quiet and still as possible or do you like having conversations during the sessions?

I’d try to not move the area being treated because it can mess with their insertion. But for Brazilian, it’s less of an issue (compared to your face for example).

3) Is there a certain hair length that is easiest to work with?

Responses to this varies by practioner.

All that I will say as a consumer is that it’s probably best to find a good electrologist and just let them do their thing and go along with whatever preferences they feel most comfortable with.

Electrolysis: Estimates of Time for Various Areas of the Body
#3

Wow, no, I didn’t see the mature forum before at all. That’s probably why I didn’t see so many threads in this forum. Maybe it’s not visible to people without accounts? I did all my reading before my account was approved. I’ll revisit the rules to make sure this thread is okay…

Thanks for the responses! I saw and appreciated your thread, as well.

Just so it’s clear, I wasn’t expecting a definitive answer on any of these things, just wondering about people’s experiences and how they differ. I forgot to mention that I’ve already seen an electrologist for one half hour session just to try it out (and she only worked on my thighs with thermolysis so far, which was nearly completely painless), so my questions are partly asked out of curiosity about other people’s experiences and partly out of nervous impatience–I know I’ll get there eventually but I’m thinking about them noooowwww, haha.

#4

The Mature section is vastly overlooked! I think its shoved down to the bottom where most people don’t go. There is lots of info in that section too. It used to get posts all of the time. Now very few. So sad. Its my favorite section!

#5

Here’s the link for the time estimates published by the Gior brothers. Looking at the times, I’m pretty sure that “bikini” just refers to people who are doing some of their bikini line (definitely not full Brazilian) since the time they list is less than underarms.
http://electrolysisinformation.com/costs.htm

Also here’s a direct link to the Mature topics section:
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/15/1/Mature_Topics_%28Must_be_18+%29.html