Connor's Electrolysis Journey

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hello!
My name is Connor, and I’m from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) in Ontario, Canada.

I’m seventeen years-old, currently a junior (gr11) in high school. I’m of French Canadian and European (right terminology?) descent, and I personally believe I host an excess of hair on my arms, chest, abdomen, legs, etc (basically everywhere).

A little history of my electrolysis: I have been going to electrolysis for about two and a half years now because my mom has been going. I did in between my eye brows with amazing results (sometimes I do have sporadic growth with a few thick hairs, but they’re taken care of easily), my lower neck (basically finished it, I’ve been on it for a year now) also with awesome results. I’ve just recently (April 28th) started my fingers, hands, and arms.

I’m going to be capturing my hair removal journey from here on in. I plan on getting 4+ hours on both of my arms just for a good reduction, and then getting touchups as I see fit to maintain the desired amount of hair. I plan on then working on my stomach/chest in order to achieve a complete removal, and then following suite with touchups (as I do know I will produce more hair since I’m still growing.)

My electrologist charges $55/hour. I will track the amount of time I have spent on both of my arms/body parts and how much money I have spent in total with each updated post.

BEFORE ARMS TREATMENT #1: 0 Minutes, $0 spent

Left Arm:

Right Arm:

This picture was about 30 minutes after I finished the treatment. I will try and be steady with when I take the pictures.

ARMS TREATMENT #1: 60 Minutes, $55 spent

Left Arm:

Right Arm:

Any questions/comments, leave them below. :slight_smile:

Thanks!
Connor

#2

Good luck on your journey!!

#3

Word of Caution:

At the tender age of 17 you absolutely have not grown in your full chest pattern. Most guys finalize the pattern at 30 to 35. At your age, you might (probably) have a patch of hair in the middle of your chest. If you truly remove all the hairs in the center, later when the full pattern develops, you will be left with a bare patch in the center. Of course, you may be planning to have treatments for the next “decades” in which case that will not be a problem. As the hairs grow in, you can remove them.

I am always extra cautious with “youngsters” to not maim them or give them something they will regret later. Again, just a word of caution and I’m sure your electrologists is also extremely aware of the potential difficulties. BTW, I was a certified gorilla and removed “everything” and I never had one regret. Now that I’m an old guy, I would now have long grey hairs all over my chest and back … YUCK! I’m totally bare and enjoy getting tan and “slipping” through the water (I’m a dedicated ocean swimmer). Best Wishes Kiddo! What I wouldn’t give to be 17 again! Hell, I’d like to be 50 again!

#4

Thanks a lot, gamer chic! :slight_smile:

Yeah, that’s what I currently have, Michael. Thanks a lot for the encouragement, it’s really great to see someone as reputable as yourself supporting my goal. What areas does “everything” entail? And how long did it take? I’d love to get full-body done (aside from legs!!), but right now it does not seem feasible working with a student wage, haha!

#5

Good luck. Nice to see your progress and story here.

Two things to keep in mind:

  • If your stomach and chest hair is coarse, laser would be a quicker solution. You can read edokid’s posts. He’s done this and he’s also in Toronto.

  • You’ll be developing new hair into your late 20s. So you’ll likely need a lot of touchups until then. You may want to wait and see what grows in and do the work later. Though starting now is fine too - just be aware that it may seem like you’re not getting results because new hair is growing at the same time as you’re killing the other hair.

#6

Thanks for the support LAgirl. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I have looked into laser, and I’m sure I’d be fine doing it. I just don’t have dense growth, and it’s not too coarse. My stomach/chest hair is no doubt there and dark, but it’s sparse and it’s very fine. Just the fact that it is there is what bothers me, because it’s almost like I can never get a clean shave + depilatory creams really irritate my skin.

I completely understand, and my mom has spoken to me about this. I’m just gonna take the plunge now and remove it all, getting touchups when I’m older and staying on it hard until I’ve stopped growing hair altogether. I know this does seem impractical, but I’m sure anyone here can relate that this “problem” has plagued me for some years now, and I’ve finally built up the courage to start eliminating it. Thanks a lot for your reply!

#7

Connor you made me smile again: that at 17 years old, "this problem has plagued me for some years now … " Awesome!

#8

I don’t find it impractical at all.

When I was in school, a 17 year old swimmer with a bear suit of hair came in, and his mother said she would pay for as many hours as he was willing to sit for to remove his full back and shoulder hair. He said that when that was done, he planned to spend his own money to keep it going to clear his arms and legs, for the swim meets.

Of course, student work being paid at $20 per hour made it more reasonable to attempt, but he still had to submit to the tender mercy of student work, and be on the table day after day.

I have also cleared many a chest and back in my day as well.

#9

Haha yeah, I’m not too sure why it bothers me; I’m sure if it was blonde or light brown I’d be way more accepting, but since I get really pale in the winter and my hair doesn’t, it looks like a lot! The red dots have subsided and my wrists/hand look naturally free of hair; it’s such a relief. When wearing long-sleeved shirts, I don’t have to worry about any dark hairs that would creep out of my sleeves. Can’t wait till I can say that about my entire arm!

I couldn’t agree more James! I, too, am a lifeguard/swimming teacher, and when I do have to get in the water, I sometimes find it embarrassing. I plan on working with the Police Department in Graphic Design in the summer of 2012, and I’ll be earning more than double minimum wage, so my “addiction” will be fed a lot easier, haha!

How many clearances/months did it take to completely clear a chest? Please do take into account that my chest/abdomen area are not that hairy at all; they host very sparse and sporadic growth, so it’s nothing too bad, but I still want it cleared too.

#10

You can usually clear anything in about 13 full clearances over 18 months. the problem is being able to clear it all each time. (the amount of time will reduce as you go along, but the first time will be a long time, and it will reduce from there down to an hour each time.

#11

An average electrologist removes 5-10 hairs per minute. You can estimate the number of hairs you have to treat right now to figure out how long the early clearances would take at each treatment. You’d need clearances about once a month for 12-18 months.

#12

Yikes! Sometimes there are tiny mistakes, and other times it’s brutal. LAgirl’s estimate is off by about a factor of six. “You’d need clearances about one a month for 12 - 18 moths.” Excuse me, but “holy crapola Batman!”

Almost nothing is more predictable than male hair removal. And, it goes like this — always. (Did I say “always?”) One full clearing, say, 4 hours. Wait 2 - 3 months for the second clearing and that will be 2 hours. Wait 2 - 3 months and the third (final) clearing will be about 1 hour. After that there will be a few “pick-up” sessions (usually 2) of a few minutes here and there. Then, no hairs for the rest of your life!

How do I come to this conclusion? Well — maybe 33 years of doing this? Counting “hairs per minute” is also pretty useless. It’s ALL about total time needed to get the job done. A technician may remove 100 HAIRS per minute — but, it’s actually about permanently removing FOLLICLES. I could just tweeze or even wax and remove lots of hairs. (I wonder if we’re every going to “get this?”)

I never comment on laser hair removal because I do not do laser myself (well, okay a few times for fun), and I do not have direct personal experience. Even though lasers are all around me, and we have one in our office I never comment. I limit myself to commenting on electrolysis: THAT one I know! Sorry LAgirl, I adore you, but this time I had to “spank” you … you naughty naughty girl!

#13

Michael, I completely follow you, especially since we have a shining example of such electrolysis on this forum with Josefa’s work and of course your own explanations of your work.

All the buts are contained within your post. Most electrologists do only ‘remove’ 5-10 hairs per min and from what I understand (from their own claims), the only ones they can permanently damage will be those in anagen. So basically, people do end up going regularly (once a month or more) for over a year to “get” all the hairs.
I had this generic electrolysis on my upper lip and was going every 3 weeks for about a 18 months, with the sessions decreasing in time spent on the table (down to just a minute or two) by the end. Obviously, we weren’t just treating ‘false regrowth’ but also hairs that had been previously ‘treated’ by that would make a reappearance.
My sister is having her whole face done by Josefa’s far superior method, so watch this space!

If only all electrologists could work like you guys on HairTell. I haven’t found such an electrologist in London, UK.

#14

Facial hair and body hair are two different universes. Totally different “animals.” Facial hair (women and hormones) — yes, lots of small treatment over a year or so. But underarms, bikini (all “non-hormonal areas”) are predictable and done in 3 clearings.

Amazingly, the most fantastic results are always with the most brutally hairy guys.

Oh, another myth that just will not die. Follicles can be destroyed in all growth phases — NOT just anagen. But, I already have a headache for the last 30 years trying to defend/explain this. So, well, what the hell! If they like the “myth” they can have it! I know better.

#15

Interesting. It’s so useful having you here Michael. I do wonder how my sister will progress then. She’s had one big clearing and will have another after a few months. It will be good to see how it responds compared to body areas.

The question is, if an electrologist thinks that they can only kill anagen hairs, is it a self fulfilling prophecy?

#16

“The question is, if an electrologist thinks that they can only kill anagen hairs, is it a self fulfilling prophecy?”

They’re killin’ 'em! Unless, of course they …

#17

There is an explanation for this. Originally, hair growth stage elimination studies were conducted with animals using ruby lasers. It was found that only actively growing and pigmented anagen hairs responded to treatment. For photoepilation in humans, the efficacy is not always influenced by hair growth cycles because there can be enough melanin to obtain selective damage to the follicle.

To the best of my knowledge, similar studies with electrolysis have not been conducted; however, permanent removal should be attained so long as sufficient energy is delivered to the follicle.

#18

Michael, my comments are based on average electrologists. Most people posting here can’t go to you, Josefa, James or Dee. For them, it’s important to get clearances on a decent schedule. Once a month for the body areas is not too often in my opinion. Plus, there is no such thing as treating too often anyway when it comes to electrolysis. With less than stellar electrologists, it’s better to treat more frequently because they kill hairs in anagen most efficiently.

#19

I just remembered - and I know you’re going to say that Laser may have changed things - but after my 6 laser sessions I had 10-20% of underarm hair left which I chose to finish off with electrolysis. I’ve had way more than 3 clearances… still have 20-30 hairs left per underarm that I’d like gone.

#20

Thanks for the “vote of confidence” LAgirl (is that what that was?) Seriously, I know tens of electrologists and their results are identical to mine — it’s all just standard.

But then, what the hell do I know? … stuck here in this funny little town.