Heard of the Ellipse-method?

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Hi! I soooo wish I had known about this website earlier. Thanks to Andrea for the idea and for keeping this thing up and running! You’re doing a great job!

So, my story goes like this: I’m in my early 20s and started going to this very professional clinic here that uses the “Ellipse” method. I haven’t seen any posts on here about it, so I thought I’d ask. Is it similar to the Epilite method, I wonder…?

Anyway, I’ve had two treatments on my whole face done and two additional (ie. four in total) on my upper lip over the course of one year. Instead of making me more confident, I feel like this has just robbed me of even more self-confidence, etc etc (refer to some of the other posters with similar experiences).

The hair on my face and chin grew SO much that I had to wear turtlenecks for the last 6 weeks. When I finally went to talk to them at the clinic after the holidays, they said that the entire process for hair removal should take around 3-4 years!!! In the beginning, another lady at the clinic said I would be done in about 1 year!

I got really irritated and upset and didn’t know what to do. My mother urged me to stop going to them because the hair that grew back was (I’m not kidding) ten times worse than what was there to begin with. So I went and had my face waxed last week. (Broke out totally but it was a week ago and now it’s almost cleared up… not something I’ll do again, but I needed to get the hair out.)

Since waxing last week, I feel like a new person. (Interesting side note: During the last six weeks, even though my SKIN was perfectly smooth, I had all this hair on my face and, no guy had even looked at me twice. Now however, despite having a rash ALL OVER my face from the waxing and scabs on my upper lip, I just got hit on by a complete stranger. What does that tell us about society???)

Anyway, I’m afraid this shadow might appear on my upper lip… it WASN’T THERE last year before I started my treatments but it appeared over the course of time because I kept shaving! I hate that!

What do I do, folks? Should I wait a while and go back to the clinic for more treatments and feel like SH*T between treatments and lose out on my personal life every 5-7 weeks? Or does someone know of any better laser methods? Is there a risk in changing apparatus, say from Ellipse to Light Sheer, ie. going to another clinic with a different method?

If you’ve read through this far, please respond… It means a great deal to have this independent forum where we can discuss this!

Thanks a million! K.

#2

I am electrologist, and have been specialising in Epilight for the last year. I am now setting up a clinic of my own and had a demo of Ellipse, in which I was impressed with.

First of all both these system are not Laser but IPL.

I prefer Ellipse as Epilight (old technolgy) tends to heat up the skin unnecerily and can cause severe side effects ie burns.

Possible reasons why you are unhappy with results;

a. 2-4 treatments are not sufficient, you need to have regular treatments every 6 weeks for at least five-ten treatments. If you have fast growth, then you need to have treatment every 4-5 weeks.

b. Could be due to bad technique.

As for your increased growth, it appears to me that this is a result from you regularly shaving.

#3

(Hi - the old username (krevelli) won’t work so I’m here under a different name.)

Right - but what do I do in between treatments? I don’t want to shave but there’s nothing else I can do! And also, they told me very explicitly that it doesn’t matter how “fast” your hair grows, because everyone’s hair has a specific cycle time. They said that it might “look” like mine grows faster but that it actually isn’t… HUH?

Davina, do you have pictures of results from ellipse?

#4

Shaving does not cause “increased hair growth”. The hairs are sharper due to the way they are cut when shaved, and therefore feel more stubbly, and they have more surface area exposed on the tip to catch light, and so they look thicker, but shaving doesn’t cause any hair growth to take place. That is why electrologists perfer that clients shave in between treatments if they utilize any hair removal between electrolysis appointments.

The increase you have seen is from the fertilization of the hair follicles that is a result of all the healing activity stimulated by the lasing of your skin. (the same thing happens when you wax, although it doesn’t have as powerful a result as lasing because the damage is less extreme) This is why some places are currently advertising “Laser Hair GROWTH Treatments” When properly done (or improperly done as the case might be) lasing causes multiple hair growths in single follicles, acceleration of vellus hairs to terminal hairs (thick black ones)and new growth in formerly empty follicles. All that, and you risk life long burns and pigmentation :confused:

I honestly have never met the woman whose hair problem I could not get under control to the point where I was the only hair removal method needed in less than 30 days. Most are done in 9 to 18 months and have no scarring pigmenting and such.

[ January 23, 2003, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: James W. Walker VII, CPE ]

#5

Dear krevelli

hi,hope you understood what i meant when i said your increased growth is due 2 shaving. what is meant is that shaving can give the ‘appearance’ of thicker growth. However u do have 2 be patient as shaving is the only thing u can do in between treatment.

#6

Here ya go:

http://www.hairtell.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=43;t=000069

#7

DAV : could u please give me the details of your salon , id like to come visit since i live in the UK!!

#8

James Walker, your post concerned me a bit…

This new hair growth due to laser… Can it be/should it be treated again with laser to make it go away? Or can nothing be done

Does that mean every time we visit the clinic, we risk getting worse? Or even… is the hair reduction just temporary only to have even MORE growth later on?

Im very concerned cos my upper arms ended up worse after treatment.

Thanks

#9

the new groth is probably due to the fact that other hair follicles in other stages are coming out.

but seriously though, the ELLIPSE is really good , because i had only one treatment on my legs, it was a complementary treatment and when the hairs grew back, it was visible where i had IPL done, the hairs were finer in rectangluar areas where the light had gone, and the other hairs which had been accidently missed were much darker in comparison. but maybe i reponded well because i have white legs and thick black coarse hair on my legs.