Actually, I feel disheartened that I had to write all this to justify myself. When the whole history is there in old posts.
Since joining this forum I have tried to be as helpful as possible. I have had very good treatment for both Laser and electrolysis (doing all my own “hardwork”, had no forum recommendations to go on) and want others to be able to have the same.
Hi:
Just because they haven’t been mentioned on this board or you haven’t come across them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
There are loads of people out there who need electrolysis, especially transwomen who need a ton of it, so I assume they are going somewhere for it. I’m sure some of those women have found
competent electrologists in the UK who work outside of the NHS.
Again the biggest obection is to that statement regarding electrolysis and scarring. I’m sure it can happen, but its not
the rule but rather the exception.
Alicia
Well I would then assume that some would have found this forum.
And for the record, I come from an ethnicity where most women suffer from excess facial hair. No one I know (my ethnicity or otherwise) goes for electrolysis other than myself. They will quite happily try Laser with failed results but not electrolysis. That should give you some indication of the situation electrolysis in the UK. Not that they won’t try it because it’s not good, they are just uneducated about it and see it as something outdated and slow.
Secondly, when most of the electrolysis in the UK is offered at beauty salons along with waxing treatments etc from beauty therapists who have had a few hours training during their beauty therapist course, can you understand why I made that remark? This is the kind of treatment a regular person walking into a salon for some electrolysis will receive. They have no idea that is is worlds apart from electrologists who have spent hundreds of hours training and taken courses.
My electrologist recently told me that the BIAE has made their exams easier to encourage more people to become electrologists. She said that increasingly, they do the electrolysis part of their beauty training without any enthusiasm and fewer and fewer students are choosing to do it once the basic training is over.
Hi:
Women don’t tell other women they are seeing electrologists,
mainly because of embarassment. It’s been discussed elsewhere on these boards.
I think this board is more north american oriented since it was born and bred in the USA.
Electrologists are the paupers of the hair removal profession unless they also do laser, which is where the easy money is.
I truly believe there are lots of electrologists in the UK who
don’t have to advertise or perhaps do so on a small scale in trans and CD newsletters or word of mouth.
I wouldn’t go to one that works out of a beauty salon.
I had a friend in the UK who took electrolysis training but then went back to the big bucks she used to make in the pharmaceutical industry since she liked both bling and being able to buy a range rover, plus that thatched house in the country that only millionaires can afford over there.
Alicia
I haven’t read this thread properly but I am Asian, I go to Parkside Beauty Centre (like stoppit, she recommended me to go there) and have a lot of hair, loads altogether in one area. I can say from my experience that I see a visible reduction in the areas she has treated me, and it is going great. If i had the guts to do it all at once from her I would because she seems to be getting better at electrolysis every time I see her.
Alicia, actually we are quite open about how we tackle this. I know what all my cousins, friends and even friends of friends are doing, whether it’s waxing, threading, laser or IPL. Sadly, no electrolysis other than me and my sister.
I am also on another forum for my ethnicity and in the beauty section women are constantly asking/discussing what they can do about their facial hair. I am a lone voice there, telling everyone to try electrolysis and passing on what I know as to what is good electrolysis.
I actually refereed someone here a few weeks ago who has found an electrologist in her are as a result of James’ recommendation. Very lucky for her.
Anyway, I know I have done my homework and I know I’m doing the right thing for us.
Good luck to us all.
Well after reading some of these posts, I feel pretty hopeless right now 
I can understand someone recommending James because hes obviously very good at what he does, but what some people here are failing to understand is that I do NOT have the money to travel to the states from England every month for a year or longer. ‘then we might not be as similar as I thought’ that remark is just silly, but obviously true. Just a lil bit of info about me - I have family problems and live miles from them - so no help from them. Renting here is very expensive, I live on my own and obviously have to pay all rent and bills myself. I work more than full time hours with barely anything left over, I also study. I do not understand why some people here seem to think I’m not taking this seriously because I cant afford to travel all the way to the states! I mean seriously, what am I meant to do? It would not be possible for me to save that kind of money, it would take years, I cant deal with this hair for years. And its not possible for me to get a loan. It takes HOURS to get to London, and then there’s two flights to where James is, then theres getting from the airport to James. I’ve mentioned in other posts, I can ONLY afford electrolysis if I work my ass off - its going to be hard enough as it is. It would be great to have James do the work, but it isnt possible and I dont understand why two people on here seem to think that makes me less serious. Also, who said I dont care about scarring? I was posting a question on here about the one touch, I’m still very new to this and it was just a question. Thankyou for the supportive posts, sorry if I’ve not addressed them, I’m just in shock.
Ok unhappygirl, i need to shut up. Please believe me when I say I never meant to make you upset.
The woman in London that stopit&tidyup has been recommending seems to have a lot of good feedback.
Good Luck.
unhappygirl, don’t feel hopeless. I am sure you will find someone who does a good job nearby to you. Just make sure they have good insertions. Treatment energy can always be adjusted/lowered, but someone with shallow insertions will always be risky.
Just make sure you follow good aftercare, and be very communicative with your electrolysis about any hyperpigmentation. You may get some red marks, but they aren’t permanent and should fade about as fast as a zit would. They are less obnoxious than the hair for sure. Most of these side effects can be treated (if they occur at all) with retinol or hydroquinone once the area has healed. It’s only actual scars (damaged layers of collagen usually) that are permanent or nearly permanent, and I think you can avoid those just fine.
Everyone here is just trying to be so helpful because it’s such an emotional issue. We don’t want anyone to make mistakes.
[b]Sorry, I didnt mean to seem ungrateful - I just wanted people to understand that if I could travel to get this work done by a specialist, then I would. This isnt because I’m lazy or dont care, this is really important to me.
Thankyou for the tips MPK [/b]
It’s true that i’m trying to help. Just doing a really crappy job of it.
As I was saying in the post before, the woman in london who worked on stopit&tidyup seems to be pretty good. If you went to her to get a test patch done and it didn’t result in any skin damage, you could be on your way to getting all of your hair removed. Also, as I think someone said on this thread(not sure), you should make sure to see if you have a hormone problem with your doctor and get it fixed before you start on electrolysis.
Please don’t give up!
unhappygirl: Can you do us a favor and continue to post here about your experience with your local electrologist? Part of the reason it’s so hard to find good recommendations is because people usually don’t come back and tell us when things go average or well. They only come back if there is another problem.
So you can help future girls in your area if you keep a hair-removal diary or update us on how it’s going.
Hi unhappygirl,
First off, where do you live more specifically?
Yes, my electrologist in London is very good. She will not scar you at at all. As I said somewhere before, there are now 6 hairtell users other than myself who see her.
I think you could make short work of it too. Blend on the breasts where the hair is coarser and thermolysis on the area with finer hairs. I had 25mins of thermolysis between my breasts a few weeks ago and she is really fast with it; she cleared a lot of the hairs. I could have easily gone on for another 30mins. The next day I developed about 10-15 pin point scabs on some of the follicles… this is an expected reaction. With good aftercare, they drop off after a few days leaving clear skin, and they did.
Blend only leaves the skin red and a little swollen for an hour or few (mine goes down within the hour).
If you could go to her for some longer session, I’m sure she could do a lot of work and then you wouldn’t have to go so often, meaning less money on travelling.
http://parksidebeautycentre.com/
In Dorking there is an electrologist, who a HairTell member “Pokka” sees. She mainly uses blend though.
http://www.epilsoft.co.uk/electrolysis_prices.html
There is an electrologist, Sonia, in Gravesend. No one has visited her yet but she posts here. I am thinking of checking her out just so we can have another electrologist to recommend.
http://www.electrolysisgravesend.co.uk/
There is also the BIAE directory, you may find someone closer to. In which case, go for a consult!
http://directory.electrolysis.co.uk/directory_all.php
Please do read around for what you should be looking for i.e. Insertions of the needle shouldn’t be felt, although the current probably will be; the hairs should slide out and shouldn’t feel plucked; hygiene issues; reaction from the two types of electrolysis, etc
As MPK has said, please do report back.
What machine were you using on your arms and how quickly did the burning feel resolve on your arms?