for andrea

andrea, who is that haitell forum user, “lagirl” who posts and answers people’s questions as if she were a laser tech pro??? i think she is just a consumer with no knowledge on LHR other than her own consumer experience in epilating her bikini line! yet she is allowed to monopolize potential LHR consumers’s questions - since there is no one else to answer them - undermining LHR’s dangers and risks and channeling people’s hair choices towards hair removal. I think that’s ridiculous. A simple consumer answering people’s questions as if she were a pro!! how do you allow that?
only james walker and the other lady dfhaffey -i am not sure of her nickname- can do such a job. that forum surely lacks LHR experts but one thing i am certain of: lagirl cannot take their place.
maybe as the forum moderator should restrict her contribution to a consumer experience one instead of a pro for she is not a pro!!

The Strange thing is, no matter how we ask LASER Pro’s to contribute, they don’t see contributing here as anything important enough to donate their time here in much quantity.

I once contacted some LASER Pro’s and personally requested them to post to a consumer who planned to buy a real machine off Ebay and LASER his wife at home on just how bad that would likely turn out since he had NO training. NOT ONE OF THEM BOTHERED! If there is some woman with a husband with more money than sense who is burned and scarred for life, I lay that blood on their hands.

I did all I could to talk him out of it, but since no LASER Pro backed me up, he was sure that I was just some weasle electrologist fearful that all the rich were going to abandone all the schmucks like me and get their own LASER’s to set next to their tanning booths, and Cybex machines.

If you look at the LASER forum over the years, it has always been consumers who take the time to carry the LASER banner. The LASER people only like to be in the censored confines of their Quacky board where no one is allowed to say anything good about this forum.

So we have to thank RJC, Lagirl, Ants, Redhead, and anyone else who has been willing to talk about LASER… We also have to thank them for talking about hot they turned to electrolysis for hair removal “in the places where LASER did not work”. I have not heard of anyone who wanted something like a man’s beard removed that got 100% of the hair permanently removed with LASER alone.

Actually, Andrea is very thankful for experienced consumers who have done their research and have had good results to post answers to questions people WHO ARE USUALLY ALREADY GETTING LASER HAIR REMOVAL and are subject to many practitioners operating laser out there who don’t know what they’re doing. And the reason I and RC2001 have a “premium” (not “pro” like James…you should read that more carefully) account was because Andrea assigned it, without anyone asking her for it. The reason for my statement earlier that she appreciates it. There aren’t enough people who are actually happy with their results who unselfishlessly spend their time helping and educating others on the safest and more effective, and realistic way to approach LHR. Noone’s advocating it or being unreasonable. Everyone’s sharing results based on their research and experiences.

Vanessa, you come around once every 6 months with the same comment and that’s about the only thing you ever contributed here, all due to one experience that out of thousands of people on this forum only YOU have supposedly experienced, and that it was caused from laser is only apparent to YOU. There are other things on here like increased hair growth on certain areas that noone’s disputing although it’s not published anywhere because it’s a topic that surfaces often from not one, but numerous experiences. You have provided absolutely no legible proof for your conclusions. Your contributions are welcome, but the same thing happens all the time. You answer one random post with absolutely nothing to back up your “conclusions” and get ignored. And the fact that you come here once every 6 months hardly makes me believe that you’ve read more than a handful of my posts, so you have no basis for your argument (if there is one to speak of) overall. It’s actually obvious just from looking at the last several pages. My nickname only appears on the first page answers to posts (so today since I answered today and others haven’t contributed yet). That means that you didn’t even look past the first page where everyone else’s contributions are to make your ridiculous assumptions and conclusions, as usual. It’s getting frustratingly annoying, not to mention offensive.

Neither me, RC2001 or anyone else consistenly answering questions on here have any invested interest in anyone getting laser, versus electrolysis or not (I personally am actually getting both. And no, James, not because laser didn’t work on this or that area, but because it makes more sense for certain areas just as laser makes sense for other areas for optimal and fastest/cheapest results with least side effects). The only thing we’re doing here is providing consumers with information and answers to their questions unselfishly at the expense of OUR TIME (something you don’t do) in order for them to avoid potential issues and absolute lack of results from LHR, usually when they’re already getting it. And if electrolysis is a better solution in their case, I straight out suggest they consider that. In most cases when laser is involved, electrolysis should be used anyways to achieve complete clearance. If you actually read any posts, you would see this mentioned constantly. Laser just makes clearance on some larger areas with coarse hair that much faster and easier for most people – something that some electrologists like dfahey appreciate and some like James who don’t.

As a person who also had a negative experience with laser, I can understand why Vanessa80 is so upset about her treatments. The advertising and marketing of laser practitioners make you feel like the joke is on you if you are “still shaving.” They make it out to be a miracle treatment and answer to your hair prayers without disclosing all of the things that can potentially go wrong for us unlucky few.
However, LaGirl is only posting her personal experience and there are many readers who have benefited from the information provided by her. That’s the whole point of this forum. . . for all of us to share our experiences, good and bad. LaGirl’s just happen to be good. Vanessa80’s just happen to be bad. If all you want is proven facts, that’s what Andrea developed hairfacts.com for.

You guys are really butchering my name and it’s affecting my self-esteem terribly. I still love you anyway, but if I may correct you, it’s dfahey or better yet, just Dee(rhymes with tree).

Sorry to interupt the great discussion. Please proceed, but be nice. Okay?

LaGirl is one of our best contributors and exemplifies why this forum is so great. She is knowledgeable and willing to share her first-hand experiences so others can make a more informed decision. I also value readers like laserhater who report on bad experiences. This forum has always been about sharing information and first-hand experiences. As noted, the reason I keep it separate from hairfacts is that hairfacts statements can all be independently verified by looking them up yourself. Statements here cannot be verified because posts are anonymous. However, I have faith that most people are good and well-intentioned, and that we can all work together. Unlike other forums, I do not censor things I don’t like, and I welcome debate as long as it remains respectful.

Thanks to all who continue to make this the top hair removal forum in the world! I always welcome any feedback.

thanks Andrea <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

i dont have anything against people writing about their personal experiences. it is the way she answers, she and only she to all questions posted in the laser forum as if she were an expert on the field! and she keeps repeating the same: lasers dont penetrate deep enough, nd:yag is for darker skin tones, alexandrite is for this and that etc etc bla bla bla. i follow this forum long enough to know all her history that she is just a consummer who has LHR and nothing more, but other newer people here might take her for an expert and follow her advices which may underestimate the laser hair removal implications. who the hell are you lagirl? you are no dermatologist, no beautician, no laser tech/ nurse you simply are a consummer who wants to play it smart and answer to ALL questions and give advices
Andrea i thought you would agree that this is not her role to speak as an expert know-it-all but i am sorry to see you are defending her.i have read millions of articles and research papers on hair removal, but i never assume the role to advise people and answer ALL the questions as if i were someone. i think we should leave that to the professionals.
james just because there are no real laser people willing to participate in those discussions, does that mean that lagirl can take their place?? i value your opinion and DEE’s because you are pros and you know what you are talking about. but hers? why? and i think it is ridiculous how new people here thank her every time she posts her usual line :“Nd:yag is for darker skin tones but Alexandrite is for lighter skins”

i dont have anything against people writing about their personal experiences. it is the way she answers, she and only she to all questions posted in the laser forum as if she were an expert on the field! and she keeps repeating the same: lasers dont penetrate deep enough, nd:yag is for darker skin tones, alexandrite is for this and that etc etc bla bla bla. i follow this forum long enough to know all her history that she is just a consummer who has LHR and nothing more, but other newer people here might take her for an expert and follow her advices which may underestimate the laser hair removal implications. who the hell are you lagirl? you are no dermatologist, no beautician, no laser tech/ nurse you simply are a consummer who wants to play it smart and answer to ALL questions and give advices
Andrea i thought you would agree that this is not her role to speak as an expert know-it-all but i am sorry to see you are defending her.i have read millions of articles and research papers on hair removal, but i never assume the role to advise people and answer ALL the questions as if i were someone. i think we should leave that to the professionals.
james just because there are no real laser people willing to participate in those discussions, does that mean that lagirl can take their place?? i value your opinion and DEE’s because you are pros and you know what you are talking about. but hers? why? and i think it is ridiculous how new people here thank her every time she posts her usual line :“Nd:yag is for darker skin tones but Alexandrite is for lighter skins”

This is true, lagirl does appear to be a consumer with some experience. I think it goes beyond that, however. She seems to be a well, self-educated consumer on the subject of hair removal. What she has to say is not being disputed by those who are “experts” (whatever that means). She has been providing a lot of good input on this forum and two other forums and there are many of us who appreciate it. That’s what the forums are all about.

Andrea, who moderates this forum, is also well educated on this topic. She apparently concurs with much of what lagirl writes. If lagirl was consistently giving out bogus information, I would assume that Andrea would have said something. Not only that, there would be others on the forum who would have jumped in and reprimanded her.

Lagirl has been providing tons of information on her own time. Motive?? Perhaps it might be an ego thing to become knowledgeable on this subject and impart advice. Who cares? We should all have hobbies and interests that we can sink ourselves into and assist others with similar interest. Lagirl girl has exhibited an extreme amount of patience in answering the same questions over and over again, such as, “Is it okay to shave before a treatment?” or “I just had my treatment yesterday and I don’t see any shedding. Was I undertreated?”

There is a reason people thank lagirl, she is the one taking her time to read and respond most frequently. Successful forums are kept alive by active participants.

She cannot be prefacing every reply with “this is to the best of my knowledge” that goes without saying. Perhaps Andrea can post a statement on the top of the board for naive browsers that says these are opinions based on individual knowledge and experience.

At the same time, it would be great if lots of other posters either supported or opposed her opinion more often, new members would then know that what lagirl is stating is corroborated by the living experience of others. Old members probably already know that and that’s why they say nothing.

vanessa80, I would really like to hear what went wrong with your situation and what is your analysis of why it happened. If people start bashing you for what you “know” based on your own experience or research, would that be fair.

Actually, one of the reasons I post on here (and other forums) and try to help is because when I started this over a year ago, I posted questions that went unanswered or took a week or more to answer. What I and others do is what makes these forums actually useful to consumers.

Vanessa, why don’t you join in and answer consumers’ questions just like I do. If your opinion differs on any point, you are just as free to post it as anyone else here, including me. Oh, wait, you don’t care enough to use your personal time unselfishly towards something that could help anyone else. Apparently, you do take your time to do research on the subject on your own for your personal benefit (as well as post on this thread useless to actual consumers looking for information), but don’t care enough to share it with others. I don’t think you have any right in this case to judge what others are doing for someone else’s benefit. We’re always looking for new knowledge and findings here, but you personally don’t contribute anything.

And lastly, as BRR pointed out, everything I say is usually an industry “standard” answer that anyone who knows anything about hair removal would tell you. It’s not a personal opinion that I don’t preface with “I think that…” It’s basically all already summed up in the sticky post at the top of the forum, written by the Denver clinic that trains LHR professionals. Unfortunately, most people either don’t notice it or are just too lazy to spend a few hours reading through this forum and doing research to find answers to the most basic questions. Many feel it’s easier to just post a question and receive a personalized answer to their particular situation. And a few unselfish people like me and RC2001 actually take our time to answer the same obvious (but not to obvious to a newbie) answer over and over again.

And it’s obvious I’m a consumer. Open your eyes. There is a “diary of my treatments” right below my name.

Can we finish this stupid topic now? Thanks.

As I have said, we have to thank people like LaGirl and RJC2001 because were it not for them, the LASER section would be full of me posting Soviet Union Style notes saying, Don’t read this section, get back into the right section LOL! (See, I even poke fun at myself!)

People who want to find out information will go on a quest for knowledge, and the rest will listen to what ever anyone infront of them tells them. None of us can stop that simple fact of human behavior.

I say again, I would like it if there was some LASER PRO willing to put in the time LaGirl and RJC2001 DONATE to the rest of you, and yet what can I do about the fact that they don’t? Should I really spend my time discouraging RJC2001 and LaGirl’s volunteerism? Should I argue with them everytime they make a post?

I only bother when it has been a while since something we have discussed has made it to the top of the daily list (which the newbies do read, as opposed to page 200 which they don’t know exists) or when they say something that misrepresents something I know better about. For instance, it is not that I don’t think some people can get what they want from LASER, and it is not that I don’t understand why many people with large removal goals start there. I just state that no matter what the goal, it is my opinion that the possible negative is not worth it if you are not one of the people who come out as good as it gets. If that doesn’t come through, I apologize. I also understand that the lack of fast knowledgeable electrologists who are easy to find and get to without hopping a plane is one of the reasons why we even have to have this forum.

We all hope that both Vanessa AND LaGirl will be around for a long time. I am sure that they wish there were Pro’s posting in their place as much as I wish there were more people in my profession posting on here so that people would not notice if I don’t have internet access for a day or a month. I can’t complain though, there was a time when no questions got answered on here unless Andrea or I gave the answers. thankfully, there are whole post strings now that don’t have a single post by either of us. Now that is progress!

Good day all.

just saying, james, that people with no professional knowledge on the matter, should keep it modest!!!

Vanessa, like I said before, feel free to jump in anytime and answer people’s questions. then, I won’t have to spend my time.