First Consultation

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi there,

I finally went in for my first consultation and have mixed feelings about the whole experience. Here is my experience:
-the office was quite small
-the lady seemed really suprised that I brought notes with me to ask her questions
-I found it interesting she said electrolysis is permanent except for the face because of hormone changes
-She has been practising for about 14 years, she has been at the particular location for almost 5 years.
-She said her equipment was 3 and a half years old and is “computerized”
-She had me lie down and take a look at the hair (upper lip) but I told her I didn’t want to try out the actual procedure b/c i wanted to think about it first. She was really surprised at this and said it was free, and she’d never had anyone not want to go through with it during the consultation
-she said she doesn’t use gloves but uses an antiseptic wash instead, and she uses disposable needles.

  • she does all three types of electrolysis but would do thermolysis on me b/c blend was too time consuming (I think that’s what she said.)

Here is some quotes from her brochure:

“Remove unwanted and unslightly hair Permanently and Gently with the SEQUENTIUM system. SEQUENTIUM is an advanced form of Electrolysis that used variable modulated currents for a more comfortable and permanent treatment”

Her prices were reasonable: $16-15 min.
$26-half and hour $37-45min. etc. (All Canadian).

Anyways, what do you guys think?? Personally, I’m still debating between electrolysis and Laser even though laser is a lot more expensive, just b/c laser seems so much more like the safer option. If anyone could help me out in my decision it would be greatly appreciated.

Stephanie

#2

for me personally this last year i started thinking about how i could to do something about my facial hair as well as hair in other places i wanted to get rid of. i was really tired of plucking constantly and i felt i was ruining my face. i looked into laser and electrolysis both. as far as price, i don’t think there is actually that much of a difference in my case. i need a lot of electrolysis treatments over time so even though it is cheaper, it adds up to be the same or maybe more. but i am definitely at this point not even willing to try laser. i actually know one person who had success with it but i have read about so many more who haven’t. sometimes more hair grows (in cases when they try to treat fine or light hair which i have a lot of) or it just doesn’t work. now i think i may have had some success with laser but i just felt it wasn’t worth the risk. i have been doing electrolysis for a month now and i am already seeing great results. i had been plucking my chin and upper lip and eyebrows for YEARS every other day so technically it should take a while with electrolysis bcs the hair follices are definitely distorted. but after about 5-6 treatments there is a definite improvement. on other parts of my body, no regrowth thus far after one treatment since those areas grow a little slower i think. if i were you, i wouldn’t worry about the small office or the fact that she was surprised you knew anything about electrolysis. i think a lot of people have never heard of it so they are surprised when you have some knowledge of it. i would be a little bothered by the gloves or lack thereof but most people here seem to agree that as long as the area is clean it should be fine. my understanding is that electrolysis is permanent, even on the face, unless you have a hormonal imbalance that causes it to continue to grow. i HOPE that’s the case since i am working on my face.

#3

Stephanie:

Your’re still going to need an electrologist even if you have laser. Laser may or may not help you. If it does reduce your problem to a satisfactory level of unnoticable hair, most likely, you will need electroloysis to “mop up” those extra unwanted hairs. So why not find a good one now?

If her epilator is a Sequentium, I’m thinking it is a Silhouet Tone VMC??? or some model before that. That is a great piece of engineering that will give great treatment energy and thus great results, provided the person operating it knows how to use it properly.

This board provides a valuable service to consumer and practioner alike. There are moments where I think people become so paralyzed with all the bits and pieces of information offered from all directions that they loose all trust. Suspicion and second guessing causes them to give up on a course that could most definetely solve their problem.
Don’t chicken out on electrolysis. It works. It works on the hormonally dependent face, too.

If thermolysis is your practioner’s recommendation, it will work! Blend will work, too. If you have a lot of hair, I would lean toward thermolysis.

Gloves verses no gloves: Sure,one could clean their hands as was done for many,many years before this standard was implemented, but isn’t it much better to wear gloves for the protection of both parties? This kind of falls on the same line as finding comfort and and that feeling of safety when the person preparing food in the restuarant is wearing gloves, too.

Dee

#4

I’d go as far to say that electrolysis is a lot safer than laser.

The problem with laser, is you can overlap treatment areas, so some bits get over zapped. And you treat a huge area in each session, so if you’re going to get damaged, you get a LOT of damage.

With electrolysis, the therapist can see the results on a hair-by-hair basis. Both of my electrolygists have said they’re moving to a slightly different area to avoid overtreatment.

I think the only thing your electrolysist said that I’d disagree with, is that “it’s not permanent because of hormonal changes”.
Increased testosterone levels can make hair tougher and harder to get rid of, but it will still be permanently removed.
Falling hormone levels in later life (menopause) can stimulate hairs that weren’t nocicible before - making them darker, thicker and stronger, but it won’t cause you to grow any new hairs.

#5

Thanks everyone sooo much for your input. I’m definitely going to go with electrolysis now. I’m going to go in for 1 or 2 other consultations at different places just to be sure that she is one of the better ones. Also, she, (the electrologist) was going to start right in on the upper lip like I said, but would it a good idea to do a test patch on a different area of skin that isn’t so noticeable as the face? Or is this not necessary? Is this something electrologists would do? Thanks again!

Stephanie

#6

Whether you start straight in with your top lip or not is up to you…

The hairs in other places will probably be quite different depths and thickness, so you wouldn’t really be comparing like for like.

On the other hand, I understand how you’d be a little concerned about having some bad reaction that’s right there in the middle of your face.

Is she using blend? If so, she’s not going to treat that many hairs in 15 minutes - you could probably cover up any redness with a little make-up (but not right afterwards - obviously!)

If she’s using thermolysis, she’ll treat quite a few hairs, and it’s a more aggressive treatment, so you might get a bit more of a reaction. You might like to treat another part of your body first - try to find an area with hairs that look more or less the same as your lip, and explain to the electrolysist that’s what you’re doing. If she’s good, then she should understand.