jan 19th i visited 3 places for laser hair removal.
first place i went to was the Laser Care Institute in Hoffman Estates. It is located inside a small doctors office. they use one room in the building. a very cramped room i must say. they offer laser vision correction, hair removal, fotofacial treatments, microdermabrasion, chemical peels, tattoo removal, vein removal, botox and collagen, permanent makeup, cosmetic surgery. they use the IPL system. i felt good going into there knowing it was an MD’s office, but that soon changed. the room was VERT cramped, towels were stacked up in a cardboard box on the floor, the table seemed very small and dirty and did not have any kind of disposable sheeting on it, and in general seemed unkempt. the girl i met with, who is one of the technicians there, seemed to not be very knowledgeable about the whole process. she told me she has benn doing this for 2 years. every time i asked her a question she would not really look at me and go “umm” and gaze out the window and then try to answer my question. not a good sign. they had no brochures readily available except one about their chemical peels. she photocopied their FAQ sheet and their price list for me. they seem to be pretty darn cheap…but she said that she would not charge me the prices on the sheet. she said she would call me back with pricing and that she just needed to get the ok from the doctor for the discounted pricing. i asked her about the other technician and she told me her name and said that i would have to set up a separate consultation with her since she might have different pricing. (is that normal…?) she did a test patch on me and instead of giving me eye protection she just told me to close my eyes. she didn’t wear any eye protection either. i also inquired about some facial spots i have…she gave me a sample of some bleaching stuff…which was expired in may of '03. i visited ther on the 19th of jan. i left there with a promise she would call me the next day with the discoutned pricing. i haven’t heard from her. i definitely would not choose this place for laser, she definitely gave me a “quacky” feeling, plus i think IPL was not a good system to use anyway according to some posts on here.
onto the next place…pure laser in schaumburg. nice office in a nice building. everything was clean, the rooms were roomy, had tons of informational brochures. they do skin rejuvenation(chemical peels, microdermabrasion, fotofacials) , laser hair removal, anti aging solutions, electrolysis, and soon botox (although i probably would not do botox there since she told me the girl is in the process of learing how to do it). we went into a consultation room and she explained about their company, about laser hair removal and the process, the machine they use made by lumenis, pricing, hours of operations, etc etc. very thorough. she was able to answer all my questions and if she was not able to (i had other questions about skin rejuvenations and electrolysis which she personally does not do) she gave me the name of the person that i could speak with and their hours. she then showed me around and did a test patch on me. she gave me eye protection~! although i know this is a franchise and they are there to sell their products, i felt she was knowledgeable and thorough. i never felt rushed and she answered everything to my satisfaction. someone from their office gave me a call today (the 22nd) and left me a message asking if i had any additional questions to give them a call. i’m sure they have to do this just like any other sales person might…but at least i heard from them. the pricing was ok i guess…i don’t have anything to really compare to. for the areas i wanted to get done which is forearms, underarms, lower leg, brazillian bikini, the total cost is 5295.50 for the pkg which is 6 treatments in each area and includes a discount. they also guarantee their work. this place is definitely on my list to choose from. their website is www.purelaser.com and also www.lumenis.com (about the machinery).
the 3rd place i went to was in the same building, different floor. advanced laser and wellness center. this girl does IPL in a doctors office. she seemed a bit hurried and i was already turned off by the first IPL visit earlier in the day anyway. the room was roomy and clean. she had no brochures either except one on their nu-derm obagi skin line. i asked some questions and although she seemed with it…something was not clicking. i asked for a test patch and she said it would cost 75.00 so i declined. her pricing was the highest…for the same areas above she charges 6500.00 which includes a discount. also includes coninuation or touch ups for up unsatisfactory areas up to a year after the initial start of the process. she asked me if i wanted to start today. i told her i had to go. she pretty much shoooed me out of the office after that hee hee.
on feb 6 i have two more consultaions…i’ll post again then.
i pretty much have the full pricing list for pure laser if anyone is interested. i also have full pricing for the IPL from the first place i visited if anyone is interested just for reference. email me...erikashop@comcast.net
