depressed. pictures included

SadK - laser won’t provide any reduction on fine hairs, even if the clinic tells you it’s worth a try. And you risk stimulating more hair. Bleach and electrolysis is the way to go!

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Sadly any desire to help others flies out the window when a high monthly rent is due. And people become electrologists because it seems like the best option for them, just like with any job. We all have to fit into the economy somehow. Electrologists are often people who don’t work well following other people’s rules, and like to obsessively groom.

It’s best not to forget in this life that everyone acts according to their own interests, and it’s best not to idealize others’ motives.

If electrologists like you describe existed, I would love to go to one, but actually it seems that they’re all the same. I book more and more treatments in the hopes that with more time they will finally clear all the hair, and then they slow down to make sure that I keep coming and they can count on the steady income, and give bullshit excuses like that I cut the hairs too short for them to treat when I hadn’t cut the hairs at all. Meanwhile I go around with holes in my clothes and shoes because all my money goes to electrolysis and exactly the same amount of hair grows back within a few days of treatment as I had last year.

Candela, I just want to say I sympathize with having to go around with clothes with holes and other similar sacrifices made when you’re broke (and the few pennies you have go toward one specific expensive thing, like electrolysis or a house payment, or food, or vet bills).

I’m really sorry you made such sacrifices to invest in something that is disappointing you. That’s all I wanted to say, I’m in the same boat and I empathize with you.

If your electrolysis provider has all kinds of high overhead to pay for things that do nothing for the job of providing you good service (high rent office in a medical park, high fees for state mandated so called continuing education classes and so on) then, that person may have a lot more financial pressure on them than the practitioner working out of a low overhead situation (spare bedroom of the house, with no money paid out to anything that doesn’t directly go towards your treatments) then you may be more likely to find someone who can and does put more into helping the clients than looking at you as an annuity, or a representation of a certain portion of their monthly magic number before they have a dime to eat off of.

I know of many electrolysis providers who really do work hard to finish the clients as fast as possible, even though this means making less money from the client. We look at it as a way to create happy clients, who then go and tell others that good work can be done and finished in a reasonable amount of time. That is the best advertising we can hope for.

I personally tell my clients that it is up to them to replace themselves, as good electrolysis workers lose all their best customers… because we finish the job.

Sorry to hear that Candela. I know mine certainly puts clients above her own gain which is why I said good electrologists. If they don’t prioritise the client, to me, that is not a good electrologist. She’ll never be short of business because happy clients like myself recommend her to anyone that will listen.

I’m doing all I can to personally pass on advice to new electrologists that contact me for help. I focus on the human side quite a bit. I find these kind of posts so helpful as a practicing electrologist. It helps me to remember to emphasize to the new electrologist, that depressed people enter our lives and we can truly help them become a new person. Electrologists that did not live through the cost and sacrifice of having hair removed seem to be the least compassionate. I was told by a client recently that she asked the last electrologist she visited if she ever had hair removed per electrolysis and the response was, “No, it hurts way too much!” (Idiot!)

When we remove the hair properly, we literally can change peoples self image. This must be done properly - and speedily whenever possible. This costs real money and when a client is laying on the table, they are observing or feeling everything. They want every minute and every insertion to count. I feel for those of you that are depressed about your situation and all I can say is keep looking. Keep trying. Keep talking about your expectations with your electrologist if you comfortably can. Some will not take it so well and some will be grateful for the feedback. Candela, dear, come here whenever you need some special mommy hugs. I wish I could grab you through the computer screen and take a look.

Dee

I was so unhappy giving her the money for the treatment today because I really didn’t feel it was worth it. She leaves so many hairs on my face and wasted so much time looking for hairs that you can’t even see on my body. She goes slow like this and then every few months when it’s time to make a new set of appointments she works so fast clearing a bunch of hairs. I would change electrologists if it would make a difference but what electrologist is going to work fast when they could make hundreds more stalling? I’ve been 9 months with this electrologist so I should have seen results by now even if the electrologists I saw the first 5 months were completely inept.

I just found on Yelp another person who says that they went to my electrologist for 9 months and didn’t get any results. This electrologist had all glowing reviews at the time I went to her. So it’s not just me, and that means I’ve been wasting almost a year of my life and thousands of dollars. And even if I found another electrologist who was both skilled and ethical, it would take at least another year to get rid of the hair. As I said before, I need to leave the country for a place where I don’t think I’ll find electrologists. So this means I’ll be back to threading and plucking…almost $3,000 down the drain. It’s unbelievable. Plus my self-esteem eroded from having to look at the hair as it grows out.

Unfortunately this review posted 2 months ago if I had just checked:

1 star rating

I’ve been going to Vera for 9 months and did not see much improvement at all. The hair grew back just as thick or even thicker and it does not lessen. What she will tell you is that the hair will never go away but can get much lighter and less thick. Not true! I’ve had other electrolysis tell me it should go away completely!

Her machine is not the newest or top of the line and I find that it takes much longer to remove the hair therefore you don’t get much removal in the appt time. She also charges for what you normally go in for if you miss an appt! What a rip!! She is really anal about you arriving on time and rushes you out when your time is up so she can see someone else. However I was even early once but she took so long with a customer that it cut into my appt time. She was just chit chatting away even though she knew I was waiting outside.

I’ve since changed electrolysis and saw a drastic improvement within 2-3 months. She has a digital machine which looks alot better than Vera’s old machine and removes hair alot quicker therefore less painful as well. I don’t want to sound like I’m advertising so message me if you want to go to someone more effective.

(end of review)

It was so stupid of me to continue to go to this electrologist after she messed up my eyebrows, which STILL haven’t grown back enough 6 months later. An ethical electrologist wouldn’t have done that. I had a lot of other problems to deal with at that time and didn’t find anyone to go to during my search back then. God I wish I could have my money back from yesterday…and all the rest.

Ever thought of messaging that reviewer for the referral she’s offering to a better electrologist?

Post your review on yelp as well, maybe it can at least help someone else before they get into your boat. :frowning:

I did message her, but how much difference will it make now even if that person is good if I have to leave the country by fall or sooner? All I can do is hope. I don’t want to go back to plucking 1/2 an hour every morning.

Hi Candela,

I know you most probably don’t want to rush into electrolysis again right now and it’s probably not the best idea without thoroughly checking out the practitioner.

But if the referral for the better electrologist is genuine she he/she is really a good one and you can put in the hours for about 2 clearances on your chin before fall, you should be able to achieve enough results that you don’t feel you need to pluck and can get away with shaving.

The reviewer claims a drastic improvement after 2-3 months - and yes that is typical if the work is being done properly.

But I would still advise a couple of short appointments in a small, concentrated area (which you can monitor) to ensure the treated areas are experiencing slower/finer regrowth, as should be expected if the hairs have been treated proeprly.

The thing about my chin and upper lip is that I still get a few coarse hairs every week. So going in about every 2 weeks I can get a full clearance on my chin plus other areas as long as the electrologist isn’t trying to sabotage my progress, which unfortunately is hard to find. So say I got 2 clearances on my chin in the month of June. I would still probably get coarse hairs every week after that. It’s not worth it to me to shave everyday for coarse hairs, as I end up cutting myself and feeling horrible. If I only had finer hairs I could shave. But if I keep getting coarse hairs I might as well pluck and not have to worry about never being able to shave or cut them close enough and having to pile on makeup to cover the stubble.

But yeah, I’ll hope that I’ll be able to get to a point where I won’t have coarse hairs if only the new electrologist is good.

On this site it would be helpful to have a sticky post describing the progress people should be seeing as time goes by and warning signs that they aren’t making progress and should switch electrologists.

What I think I’ve learned is to listen to my intuition, even if others on this board are trying to say it’s all in my head or my hormones are the problem, and to be very clear with the electrologist that I will stop going to them if they try any bullshit and if I don’t see results within a few months.

I think if you go regularly to first clear, then to zap hair as soon as it starts growing back (go every week for short appointments if you can), you will eliminate most of the coarse hair in about 3 months. At least to the point that you can trim them and they won’t be so bothersome.

You get those little facial hair trimmers, some of my cousins use them and really like them. They cut really close.

Also, I’m not sure if sabotage is the right word. It sounds like she’s just not a good electrologist. Unfortunately, there are a lot of those about.
A good electrologist has no reason to sabotage the treatment as there will always be hair to treat and and more clients. When I started, I was only going to do my sideburns! I’ve added so many more things along the way because of my confidence in the process and her work.

Candela, even one full clearance can make a permanent difference of 25%. Two clearances can make a serious dent for sure. I say go for it. Fall is still a ways away, and if this electrologist is good then I think you will see the results you are hoping for. Of course, that’s easy for me to say since I am not the one in your position. I know you’re discouraged, but I think you can find a better electrologist (maybe not perfect and altruistic, but at least professional and hard-working, and willing to do fast treatments in order to get you to give her good word-of-mouth advertising).

I do say sabotage, because that’s what my intuition tells me. She had these glowing reviews on Yelp, and now people don’t get results after 9 months? Plus, it seems like she left hairs for months before removing them like she was waiting for them to go into the wrong cycle–like she goes after the telogen hairs instead. And then she slows down so that I’m forced to come week after week, and then the day I have to book more appointments she works so fast and clears the whole face. And then she wastes time on hairs I don’t want treated, like when I was doing my eyebrows obviously you’d start with the unibrow area first right if you want to please the client? And it should have taken her 5 minutes max to treat the strays, which was all I wanted. Instead she spent 20 minutes tweezing my brows into a horrible unnatural shape. And then last treatment when I told her I had hardly any hair on one nipple she acted annoyed and spent a bunch of time on that side anyway treating little hairs I don’t care about, especially when she could have used that time to treat coarse hairs on my face. And then she wasted all this time feeling around for hairs on my feet and turning my feet to different angles in the light and asking if I saw any hairs. She’s never done that before but just wanted to waste time. And if you can’t see hairs on the feet, who would treat them anyway?

You are right that electrologists have no reason to sabotage as there is always more hair to treat, especially on people with dark hair and light skin like me who care a lot about our appearance. I would have definitely moved on to other areas if she had made progress on these ones. But maybe she thinks people won’t in this economy, and so she’s dawdling on the areas where the hair is socially unacceptable and I’m forced to come in almost weekly. Or maybe she is having trouble finding clients because of the economy and the competition in the Bay
Area. Or maybe she thinks I’m an easy mark because I never complained or ended treatments like I should have when I didn’t see results after a few months.

It seems that a few years ago she made her clients very happy and they all recommended her on Yelp, and now she’s riding on her reputation and drawing treatment time out. Or maybe 2 years completion time in the standard in the Bay Area? While for some reason 1 years completion time is the standard with the electrologists on this board? Maybe she’s drawing out the treatment time in order to receive the fee she thinks she deserves?

I will definitely try to get as far as I can in the remaining time, if I have enough money still, but it just doesn’t make sense that by fall I won’t get anymore coarse hairs. The facial trimmer idea is good, but it’s depressing that after $3000 I’ll still have to trim hairs everyday, and some of the hairs are so coarse that you can’t trim them close enough with anything. I’d rather tweeze than waste time trying to trim them and covering them with concealer everyday and still feeling self-conscious.

All I can do is hope. At least a lot of the hairs are fine and a good electrologist should be able to clear my face quickly.

And you are right stopit, if I had a good electrologist they could clear my face completely in an hour and then I could go in weekly for short treatments to get the coarse hairs, assuming they didn’t stall to get me to pay more.

I’m thinking it’s a huge mistake to make frequent appointments up front, as then the electrologist will stall to force you to come in that much. But then, if they want to stall, they’ll stall no matter how little time you book.

For everyone in the Bay Area:

(Update to review)

“Update: I’ve been going to someone new for 10 months and I would have never gotten the results I did if I were to stick with Vera. My results have gotten better and I wish I came here in the first place instead of wasting all that $ at Vera’s. Alot of you have messaged and told me how helpful my review was. I’m glad I could share my experience and help prevent yours because I would have saved so much $ if someone had told me otherwise.”

Wow Hairybegone I feel your pain, looking at your pictures is like looking at myself. Laser is not a good option cause the hairs are too fine, but not baby fine that they’re not noticeable, they’re dark. So we’re the lucky ones that need to do electrolysis :’( I’m not saying electrolysis doesn’t work or its not worth it, because I’m doing my facial hair and BOY have I noticed a difference. But to do body parts is gonna take forever, unless you find someone who will give you longer appointment time and clearance faster! I hope one day to remove most of my body hair, even if I’m left with fine baby hair that is soft and isn’t noticeable 2-4 feet away I’ll be so happy.

There is an electrologist in LA who has a lot of Yelp reviews as well and I always questioned them because I know other electrologists who know she just finished her classes. Yet, the reviews made it seem like she rendered all these people hairless. I think half of them are likely fake. I would be careful about any reviewers who have under 15-20 reviews on that site.

I hope you posted yours there.

desperate 18, I want to do body hair too but I don’t think it will be too terrible as long as you find someone with an Apilus who actually USES it. Body hairs don’t regrow as fast as facial hair and it’s not necessary to remove every last one to see a big improvement in how it looks. Anyone with experience can weigh in on that though as I’ve only done areolas and feet so far with a Clareblend.

LAgirl, the bad thing with this electrologist is that there were the glowing reviews and then even on Yelp messageboards people always said she was so great when people asked for recs for electrologists. But I’ve gotten wise to the fact that people do glowing reviews in exchange for a discount from the electrologist, and I usually think this is what is happening when you see a review that mostly reiterates the details of a person’s practice.

Yep, that’s a good point. I almost wanted to visit that electrologist just so I could post about the sign she had offering discounts in exchange for reviews.