Going with blend, feedback from pros?

After many consultations and much thought I think I have decided to go with blend on my face. (Female, II skin, fine brown laser induced hair). I wanted to see what you all thought. The thermolysis treatment I had frightened me because my face radiated heat for hours even though it faded. I also felt EVERY hair being plucked and actually have a bruise on one cheek! I am scared of possible collagen damage done by the laser and don’t want to even potentially make it worse with thermolysis (I will obsess the entire treatment time if this is even a possibility). Blend (by a different, I think better electrologist) left me with a few little scabs and the red dots longer to heal and go away, but I am so religious about my aftercare and I would rather go through it and kill the hair more likely the first time. (I know therm. can be done correctly too, but I don’t fully trust any electrologists here in Atlanta, especially after 9 failed facial laser treatments from someone I trusted and betrayed that trust!) Can I get some feedback on this decision as I don’t even trust myself anymore. I can’t make one more bad decision! I feel like I have already put my face through so much. I wish I had never started. Thanks everybody. I am so depressed and ready to get on the right track to being done with this!

You have heard it said here before that both modalities will work, so you won’t be on the losing end no matter what you choose. I personally would choose thermolysis for the small brown hairs you described, especially if there are a lot!

All you have to do is be vigilant as to whether the treated hairs are sliding out well and observe how well and how fast your skin heals. Give your practitioner at least a couple of treatments to get to know what levels are needed to treat your hair as well as to discover what your healing scenario is like. I use to do blend about 90% of the time and now I have converted to microflash thermolysis 90% of the time with excellent results. I still admire the genius’s who discovered the blend and find it very useful in some circumstances. If your electrologist knows his/her stuff concerning microflash thermolysis and has quality equipment, your better off with this modality. This is just my input and the way I do electrolysis. I’m comfortable with this, but if your person is not, then it is better to stick with what your practitioner is comfortable doing.

I wish you or James were closer to Atlanta. I can’t find anybody here who is not using ancient equipment or they are completely unsanitary and seem to have no clue. I asked one lady what her certification was, CPE, CE, CCE, RE and she said “Ummmm, I’m certified.” I even a different lady tell me to “ask my little board if the hairs were supposed to feel like they were being plucked in the catagen growth phase, because they are” when I dared question her. You see why the parctitioner that performed blend is my percieved best option for not destroying my face. I will continue to go on consults but fear I am fighting a losing battle by trying to fing somebody competent. I will go anywhere within reason if anybody can refer! I don’t mind a serious drive for quality treatment. Buffalo is 14 hours and my husband said “No Way!” Where in Ohio are you located? Anybody good in the south?

I’m with Dee on this topic, either method you choose would work if the practitioner is competent…and it sounds like from the choices you have the person you went to for blend is the best option locally…but please keep going for consults and look for that certificate on the wall or ask to see it.
I’d help you out myself but I’m another 2.5 hours north of James.

Sounds like the NorthEast is the place to be for electrology! I am even checking into same day flights but have spent all my $$$ on that stupid laser! If you could have seen the fine hairs I had to start with, you would have laughed. I just wanted to be perfect for my wedding and now have created a mess out of my face. . . I can’t wait to put this behind me, but I know I still have months to go with electrology. It’s hard to stay positive. I used to be so active and now live like a vampire because of embarrassment.

Laserhater, there are 15 posts related to electrolysis services in the state of Georgia listed in the Hairtell Practitioner Locater Theads. Might you be willing to check these out before considering airfare and other expenses? There are many here on hairtell that I wish I could just grab them through the computer to see for myself and actually do a treatment. I would be delighted to see you, but my feelings are that it would be so much better for you to search near home. It would be more convenient for you in the long run to look locally, then statewide, for a competent practitioner. Your husband might like that idea, too.

Dee

I bought the premium membership to view these listings and I have already been to some of them. I can tell you they do not follow the same standards that you & James do. Some of them have no clue what they are talking about. These aren’t personal recommendations, just listings. The onlt thing I an find is people LOOKING for a good person down south. I don’t care about the $$ because this site is infinitely more valuable and I would make that as a donation anyway, but it is disappointing to not have any personal experiences. I’m so confused what to do, but if I don’t get started on a routine soon, I’m going to go crazy (or crazier). The most competent one I have been to strongly recommends blend over therm for effectiveness, which leads me to believe she is ancient. I want fast and effective, why is that not an option south of the mason-dixon line?!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

There used to be a team of sisters named Ahoova and Hannah Mishael in Atlant who did electrolysis and were considered really good. I’ll see if I can find contact info.

Update: found it!

Had my first appointment today. It was TOTALLY different from the other places I had tested out. She was much cleaner, more knowledgeable, and helpful. She used flash thermolysis and I felt a pinprick each time but nothing too unbearable. She did have to adjust the setting once because she said the hairs were more resistant, which I understand is common with laser stimulated growth. Also, I didn’t feel one single pluck. All of the hairs just came right out. I went for 30 min. today. I would rather take it slow than damage my skin by overtreating. She recommended 30 min./week and we should be cleared in about 5-6 weeks (She works fast). She said she could see a lot of hair under the skin (from the one time that I threaded) that would be coming out soon. I iced for a little when I got home then applied neosporin cream. Tonight I will apply tea tree oil. I think I have finally found a good electrologist, what a relief! I know that in bad hands blend will cause less damage, but I think I am in good hands finally. I am officially changing my mind and continuing with the thermolysis because I want this done! I will continue to update on my progress. . .

Well done!

It looks like you found a good electrolysist!
Thermolysis is perfectly safe in good hands. It sounds like she’s adjusted the machine to suit the hairs, which means that if you’ve only got fairly fine hair the setting will be fairly low, and unlikely to cause any ill effects.

Keep us posted …

Toni

This all sounds very good and I feel much relieved for you, laserhater. How did you find her? I’m just wondering if the additional listings that Andrea provided helped out.

We’ll wait anxiously for your posts as to how your treatments are going.

Dee

That’s great that you found someone, they sound competent…good luck with your treatments and keep us posted, we need all the good stories on here for the next generation of info seekers. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Yes, it’s the specific recommendation from Andrea. . . and I am so grateful to her!

Don’t forget to post something nice about your experience in the referral section under that person’s contact info.

We have this dream that eventually, everyone in the referral section will have comments from actual people who had treatment below the names on the site.