Electrologists lying about their experience?

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

I’ve had four electrologists total in my four years of beginning hair removal. I’m mostly having removal done on my face, after laser reduced almost all of the dark, coarse hairs.

Anyway, it’s been my experience that most electrologists lie about their experience to gain a new client. They’ll say they’ve treated transgendered clients before, but that those clients didn’t want their names to be given as references, but they’ll give you non-transgendered clients names for references. When you ask if they’ve achieved a full clearing on a male-type facial hair pattern, they’ll sort of evade the question. I’ve yet to find a single one who didn’t do this.

I’m looking at a new electrologist in my area, and she said all the above same things. She’s using a Proteus 1000, which I was not able to find much information on that machine on the web. She says it has good results. I’m not convinved, but I go in for a free consultation and test patch on July 7, so we’ll see.

Anyone ever used or had used on them… the Proteus 1000 or any Proteus machine?

Also any experience with electrologists lying about their experience and qualifications?

2

Congrats on the laser working for you, I am trying the same with some mixed results, but a nice reduction at least.

The best way to find an electrologist that is skilled enough to do male facial hair is to find an individual who has had work successfully done and get a referral. Barring that, if you have a local TG support group, ask someone there.

I can recommend James (as well as my own current electrologist) because I know people personally who have gone to them and had great results. I hope it doesn’t offend anyone but based on what I have seen from others, not all electrologists are skilled at doing male facial hair, especially extremely heavy beards like mine. A friend went to a nice local GG electrologist, was a CPE and all, positive referrals from GGs she had worked on, but in the end little was actually accomplished, and my friend was disappointed.

The Proteus is an older unit. TES sells replacement parts but I don’t believe they are still in business. Occasionally a Proteus shows up on eBay, they look late 80s-ish by the design but I could be wrong.

3

I would look for someone skilled that has a powerful, newer computerized epilator who uses the correct size probe to match the hair diameter. Finding both someone who is skilled with the best equipment is very hard to do in some locales, which makes a trip to James a better bargain.

4

Hi Sara:

I think transgendered clients tend to be more secretive of their identities
than other clients, partly because some are either still in the closet
or may be stealth. I would hope that the electrologist would get the
clients permission before using them as a reference.

I agree with the other poster who said that the best thing to do would
be to check with the local clubs for references. Somebody was making
a list of electrologists who work on transgendered clients,
and you can find that string in the transgendered section of this website.
I listed my electrologist on there.

http://www.lauras-playground.com/transgender_electrologist_list.htm

Alicia

5

This is where I would normally crack a joke about most people being willing to lie at a job interview when tens of thousands of dollars are possibly at stake. Since I don’t know how to make that joke without someone getting offended, I will just not and say that I did. Everyone laugh now, as if I pulled it off.

Now, as for the clients, well, they are clients. On the one hand the electrologist SHOULD take before, during and after pictures to track progress, and cover her or his bases, to make sure that no one can accuse him or her of doing damage he or she is not responcible for. On the other hand, the client is in a practitioner client priviledge position and no showing of those pictures without permission, nor releasing of personal information is ethical without the client’s permission. More telling to me is the fact that NONE of my straight male clients who have had beard shaping, or beard clearances has ever allowed me to use their photos. Be glad that the brave few TG girls who have signed for me to show you their pictures exist.

This is one of the things we discuss regularly here on HairTell. Just as a for-instance, I have treated a large number of TG clients from start to finish, and others for some shorter duration and yet, only a select few have every granted permission for use of their photos, or written recommendation letters, or posted here. A good point to make is that even among the people who have posted here, very few have given permission to use their pictures, and or facilitate any contact with others for the purpose of discussing said treatments and results.

For privacy purposes, most clients perfer that any contact with others to discuss treatments be done either via email, phone (where you offer your number to be given to them, and they call you back) or everyone meet up at the office of the electrologist, or some neutral place like a restaurant.

Some people find these measures to be suspicious, as they wonder why the electrologist doesn’t just let them pick a random client file out of the drawer and call that person, but when you think to yourself how you would feel with some random person calling and asking about your treatments, I am sure you quickly understand.

To magnify the point, I know most people expect that any good electrologist should have a list of people on hand, ready to sing their praises, but in reality, most only want to do private, “invitation only chorals”, not “HBO on-demand” when they perform their “praise singing concerts” :wink:

Have I gotten my humor groove back yet?

6

I’m a former Proteus user. I now have an Apilus. The Proteus is a true workhorse. Never out of service. And I did get good results with it. It was a tough decision to shelve my reliable friend of so many years and go with a machine with many buttons (so many opportunities to breakdown).

The Proteus will get you results, but it is a “hotter” sensation than the Apilus.

7

I noticed that when I upgraded to an Apilus too. It feels more like a warm tickle or vibration instead of a slowly increasing (RF) burn and/or (DC) sting. It still really smarts once in a while though but overall it is more comfortable (and much less redness and scabbing, James was right of course :slight_smile: )

8

Where are you located?

9

Me? I am about 3 hours east of James.

10

I meant Sara. We may be able to provide recommendations for electrologists in her area if she states where she is located.

11

Hi:

I think James covered a lot of ground regarding the practitioner’s responsibility to safeguard the clients privacy.
He also managed to make a good joke too.
Did it hurt? No, just in the wallet!

Seriously though, to me the cost is insignificant compared
to the satisfaction of having no facial hair to worry about.

I think most people who go for electrolysis whether they be women, men or transgendered tend to keep that information to themselves. I know women with facial hair who are ashamed of it,
so they don’t tell anybody they have to go for electrolysis.
The majority of electrolysis clents are women but they are
usually pretty secretive about it.

I think it makes it difficult for the practitioners to advertise
their services and to have examples. If a client stated their
satisfaction on the practitioners website,
even anonymously there would be those who doubted that the statements were even real.

I think that boards such as this one allow for those of us who have had success with hair removal to tell others about it.
Here we can do so somewhat anonymously and hopefully those who
are not chronically cynical may believe us.

Alicia

12

You are so right about the recommendation thing. On the one hand, I have clients who write me letters and offer to talk to people on my hehalf, show their pictures and they even offer that I can post their full names on my web site along side their recommendation (because they are finished, and confident that they don’t need to see me anymore other than to enjoy my effervescent personality). Others write or post recommendations and yet want those to be listed under initials, or a screenname or email address, and in one case, a celebrity client wrote me a glowing recommendation, but ended it with a line that said something like, “but sorry James, I can’t let anybody know who I am, so I am just signing this C.C. from somewhere on your radio and TV dial.”

I don’t know if I should even use that, as it would only get me more questions attempting to get me to violate my confidentiality agreement than it would get me future client trust. I can’t even answer the question is CC the initials for this person’s name, or the name of a character, or a stage name. It was a heart felt letter about going from looking shy and standoffish in public to becoming more outgoing an confident at personal appearances, and is great for that point, though.

After all, your fans don’t know that you are looking down at your feet because you don’t want them to see what’s going on below your chinny chin chin.

One more thing on the lying about your experience thing. It actually works both ways. For instance, I have a friend who says that when she started out, she had the newest equipment, and had spent much time, effort, and money on her education, and was giving more comfortable and faster treatments than many in her area. She found, however, that when she was honest about her experience, people would not even take a free sample treatment with her, so she told people she had ten years experience. Now, here is the funny part (and the part that I identify with) as she has watched the odometer of time flip to zeros and start over again, when people ask how much experience she has, she tells them… TEN YEARS! “Hey, why should I tell them the truth, when that blows my chances of passing for a hot babe of 30 years old?” :grin:

Once I made peace with my balding head, I had a much easier time telling people that I have cough, choke, wheeze, over 20 years experience. I would hazard a guess that the only reason Fino ever told people how many decades he had been in the business was he got his silver hair so early. :wink: