equipment question

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
1

I’m in Canada. What’s the most effective/fastest/least painful equipment my provider should have? (listed in order of importance). Details to follow if you’re interested.

I have seen two electrolygists in my life: they both had the same ancient equipment. I’m currently thinking of looking for a new electrolygist since I’m unhappy with results from my current provider.

Right now I’m having her treat my “beard” area (I’m female with naturally blonde super fine hair which is dense and long). I don’t feel we’re making any progress.

Anyhow, in my search for a new provider, I think I’d like to ask what equipment they’re using. I’d like to find something that treats effectively, preferably with less pain, and faster would be a definite plus. I have more hairs per square inch than most men I know and they’re hard to see since they’re so fine and blonde. It’s pretty much the hardest situation for electrolysis.

When I had my legs and my armpits done I actually dyed my hair to make it easier to see/treat. Clearly that’s not an option for my face.

2

We say this often on hairtell, to get the hair off the fastest way possible, one needs a modern electrologist, using the best computerized epilators available today in microflash or picoflash modes, with no footswitch, using the best probes to match the diameter of the hair and quality magnification so one can see the hair to make accurate insertions. Proper magnifications also serves the purpose of allowing the electrologist to work for hours on areas with copius amounts of hair so as not to throw her neck and back out so she can’t practice electrolysis anymore. Quality magnification gives the electrologist an intimate view of the treated skin so she/he can actually see hairs the client can’t see yet. Magnification allows the electrologist to see any slight skin changes that may lead to scabbing, and thus she can readjust her intensity, timing, depth of insertion and even probe size. Blonde hair IS NOT hard to see with medical grade magnification. Beside the magnification, there are special ways that we can highlight those hairs even better. Dyeing your facial hair black is NOT one of them. It just isn’t necessary and you don’t want to bring attention to your problem. Shaving 3-7 days before a treatment would be the best because the growing hair just pops right out saying, “Here I am. Just go ahead and kill me!”.

You need someone with this set up. Will you find someone that can remove beyond 500 hairs per hour without this set up? Maybe, but doubtful, at least in some communities. You have a lot of blondies. Every blondie does not have to go. With this amount of hair, we are talking about thinning the hair. We can’t and shouldn’t aim for full clearance and I don’t think that’s what your goal is either. Every woman needs some fine, light hair on her face. It is actually appealing if it presents as the right amount, size and color.

With all that said, you can run a search here on hairtell for electrologists in Ontario, Ottawa, etc. or do an internet search. Look for all of the above. Make sure the office is clean and that the electrologist practices hygenic measures like hand wahsing and uses sterile probes. Ask her/him to explain what they do in accordance to disinfection and sterilization. Price shopping is the last thing you want to compare. If I have invested thousands of dollars in my training and continuing education and I am using an Apilus Platinum as oppossed to a thirty year old knob job, and… I have invested in quality surgical magnification in a hygenic office and… I can remove hair at a fast pace of over 500 hairs per hour that leaves your skin looking pretty darn good and… I have fresh breath as I work on you (just thought I’d throw that on in) then I am am worth more for your money.

Someone here said they went to Vijay Bishop in

905-763-1811. You could start there?

Dee

3

Thanks, Dee.

I think I’ve found someone: just waiting for them to return my call to make an appointment.

I’ve never shaved my face…I’m a little worried about starting. Is it really a myth that it won’t coarsen the hair? As I say, I have a LOT. Right now it’s peach fuzz in texture (although about a half inch long). I’m afraid it will be very stubbly if I start shaving.

4

Then you don’t have to do shave. I only throw it out as a good option that helps us identify growing hair because that is the type of hair we can disable permanently. In this process we are frequently treating hairs that can’t be fully affected, but we are still weakening them? Shaving does nothing harmful. It’s drawbacks are that it eliminates the the soft tapered ends and leaves you with a stubbly feel since the hair is cut off at the thicket part. Also, women don’t want to do a masculine activity when it concerns their facial hair.

So, don’t worry. Just present yourself, lay down and close your eyes. The electrologist will do the rest.

Dee

5

I went to the new electrologist I mentioned for a first treatment yesterday. I was very impressed with her sterilization procedures and her equipment. She did not seem to operate any quicker than my old one using old equipment and a simple lamp magnifier. But…I have hope she will have been more accurate. It was certainly more comfortable. Sadly, the price was 1.5x the price of the old place.

I will be returning to the new one for an hour a week for the next several weeks until I get clearance. I’m not sure who I’ll use for maintenance…

6

The “price differences” between electrologists are not necessarily equal. If someone goes to the cheapest electrologist who takes 20 hours for a 5 hours job, then they did not save any money - in fact they spent tons more money and probably risked getting skin damage from excess treatments.

The high end electrologist is not necessarily going to be the best either - as they might be “high end” because of ego!

In this profession, it is essential to get educated in what to look for during a treatment.

7

We say all the time that the problem is that people just starting to look for a hair removal solution don’t know what to look for, and usually stick with the first practitioner who can see them the day they call for an appointment, and is offering a price they like.

Most people don’t see that one should not be looking at home many dollars per hour they pay, but how many hairs per dollar they get removed along with the condition of their skin when it is over.

8

BTW, this is not directed @ James W. Walker alone… I just thought I’d reply, and then I got carried away…

In case anyone is in doubt about the cash outlay they are looking at over the long run, I did something today that I believe anyone could do when considering electrolysis(and that I myself SHOULD have done a looooong time ago) :wink: :
Put up a budget.
The summary of the one I did for myself is below. Since I can’t replicate the table properly here (the format gets messed), the column headings are as given:

the first column is the time you might spend per session;
the 2nd column is the total charged / money spent for a session (in my case, I included a round-trip public bus fare of $3.00);
the rest of the columns describe, one after another, how much you can expect to spend if you go for a total of:
20 hours / 30 hours / 40 hours / 60 hours
Please note that that your expenses may vary. This is something I did for myself… Anyway:

60 minutes $68.00 $1,360.00 $2,040.00 $2,720.00 $4,080.00
30 minutes $45.00 $1,800.00 $2,700.00 $3,600.00 $5,400.00
25 minutes $41.00 $1,968.00 $2,952.00 $3,936.00 $5,904.00

Again, keep in mind that your expenses may vary.

How is this relevant? Well, as dfahey and James have repeated ad nauseum, SKILL IS KING. You may pay, but you will see results.

Secondly, good skill is generally a WELL-KEPT secret. If you are looking for a good practitioner, may I suggest that you add in another $500 (I’m not joking) for your searching efforts. Imagine if you need to look at 10 electrologists! For a half hour (I personally have no faith in patch tests) @ a rate of $40 (off the top of my head), this is realistic.

Thirdly, there’s the after-care: Should be simple, but again, if you want the good stuff… My two cents: buy two aloe plants and LEARN HOW TO KEEP THEM ALIVE :grin: . Then, just break off and use (Thanks James for emphasizing food-grade aloe - you rock, dude)Also, this could be as simple as keeping the skin clean. It itches? Put on alcohol or something WITH A COTTON BALL (my husband was aghast! You’re touching with your fingers?! he said). Many others have also made better suggestions - read through the forums.

Finally, remember, the initial outlay is the biggest expense. Let’s assume that you’re looking to get your moustache cleared (you didn’t think you were fooling anyone by calling it ‘upper lip fuzz’, did you :smiley: ). Assuming you did your homework, hopefully by about six months in, you should notice that the amount of hair you see in the mirror begins to drop off (in my case, in Electro Round 1, they just came back and came back, and then suddenly… they just didn’t). After that, the amount of time spent, say, on your upper-lip, could/should drop, perhaps even to 20 mins! So, you see, you’re not really paying $60 bucks an hour for a whole year!

Oh, and this should be a BIG clue: Six months - no result with electro? CHANGE YOUR TECHNICIAN. Yes, I hear you, she’s nice and motherly - but IT’S YOUR MONEY AND TIME AND SKIN. (Refer to poster Rachelle’s experiences. Where is she, anyway? I like her thread! :slight_smile: )

In short, BE SMART. Treat this as seriously as paying for a house or a car or really nice furniture. Electrolysis / LASER is an expense that involves smart saving and smart spending. I think I’ll be saving atleast $25-$30 a week towards Electro Round 2.

Anyhoo, I hope my rare moment of lucidity helps all you cats out there in hair-removal land :slight_smile:

9

I like your post a lot. Your cost projection is helpful and is very close to my fee schedule. Other electrologists charge more and others less. Regardless, I think it is really important to have no money worries and just get on the table and go forward as long and as often as necessary to get cleared and to stay cleared, until there is nothing left to clear. Having a plan where you have the money put aside, makes this easier.

Many people get several areas done over a period of time and I have never collected more than $6,000 on any one individual, doing multiple areas. Maybe that day will come, but so far, doing multiple areas is the rule and the money part never has exceeded the stated amount in my personal experience. Part of the reason people get finished within 9-18 months is because the faster forms of thermolysis are used, mixed in with a little blend here and there. If you have to worry about paying for this, then you may have to interrupt an aggressive schedule and unnecessarily prolong permanent hair removal.

Very nice post. I can tell you have done a lot of reading. You understand all this very well.

Dee