Hello,
I started electrolysis (thermolysis) on my upper lip and chin about 18 months ago and have been beyond happy with the results. For the last 4 months, I’ve only gone in for once a month treatments because I just don’t see anything, which is fantastic of course.
A couple of months ago, my electrologist told me she was clearing all of the hairs, even the very fine ones on these monthly visits. I had noticed she seemed to be zapping a lot more than I was expecting but I kept thinking she has better magnification than I do at home. When I learned she was getting every single hair, I told her I’d prefer to just get the ones with color that others could see and not worry about the fine ones b/c why risk hurting my skin more than I have to. She agreed, of course, but then it still seemed she was zapping a lot on the last visit. I asked again and she said that all of my hair has some color to it.
True, I’m not of Nordic descent. My hairs aren’t white blonde but I honestly can’t see anything! And I check frequently w/a magnifying mirror. I trust my electrologist a lot (how could I not!?) and I keep thinking she must think the hairs look bad or she wouldn’t continue to zap them.
But I’d like other opinions: when do others consider final clearance to be achieved?
Can you request that your appointment is only 5 minutes long? Or can you skip one month and see what you see in the mirror?
In my opinion - the client is in charge of deciding when they are done. You could tell her that you are so happy with the results and believe that you are at a point where you will call when you see enough hairs to treat. Would that be doable?
I agree with Barbara. You are finished when you say you are finished. Tell her you will call her when you notice hair that you don’t want there.
Sounds like she did a fabulous job in a normal time frame for your upper lip.
Your electrologist may have become so accustomed to women who want their skin to look like Barbi Dolls, that she is stuck on “make it look plastic” mode and has for gotten to stop and take a look at your face without the magnification so as to direct her assesment of what hairs should and should not be removed. You do this long enough and one will have had plenty of “No one notices that but you!” arguments.
It reminds me of the upper lip hair client who was flying in from Seattle to Buffalo every 6 to 12 weeks. She showed up one day and I panicked. I did not see anything worth treating on her and figured we were going to have a “Human vs. Plastic” argument, so I spend 15 minutes struggling to to remove some hairs to make her trip worth it. I finally put the probe down and said, “Um, I think you are finished.” She said, “Actually, I was surprised you could find anything to treat.” I said, “Then why did you come all the way to Buffalo?” She replied, “Because I wanted to hear YOU say that I was finished.” I laughed, and said, “If I had known that 20 minutes ago, we could have saved ourselves lots of time, and you could have saved yourself an additional $25!” We laughed it up and went to lunch.
Thanks so much everyone! My electrologist is very, very thorough and I think she has trouble stopping once she gets going. I just believe that if I don’t see a single hair with a magnification mirror and my glasses on standing in broad sunlight, searching obsessively to find one then more than likely no one else will see one!
I wasn’t sure what to do b/c one rationalization I had was that women who wax their upper lip get every single hair, even the fine ones, so maybe I was supposed to keep going. But then I thought I’d rather look like a woman who has no hair trouble than a woman who looks like she had a hair problem taken care of!
I’ve decided I’ll go in another 3 months, just for a final maintenance check and be even more firm in telling her to zap only if she sees something really hairy scary. I’m still in shock that electrolysis worked so well that I’m having a hard time believing I’m done - so I understand James’ client wanting to be told by him!
Thanks again all! My electrology experience happened exactly how all of you described it would. The first few weeks were a little rough but I very quickly went to every other week sessions and then on to every 3 weeks and now once a month where I don’t see anything. The hairs (I had some major black whiskers) did get lighter and finer and then, magically, gone. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Another successful outcome with a skilled professional electrologist. If you would like to share information about her equipment, vision and light source included, that would be helpful. You are a very lucky client because you found someone great. Would like to share your practitioners name? Ask her if it is okay and let us know. There are many first-time, jittery posters that just want a simple referral from a happy consumer so they can begin to do something about their facial hair.
Please share.
Thanks,
Dee