So i am doing electrolysis for primarily my upper lip and also a few lower lip hairs and sparse chin hairs. Ive been doing 45 min sessions 1x a week. I believe she does around 20 ish minutes of the upper lip since that is the largest area and the longest to do in those 45 min- but im just wondering how much it cost everyone. Ive already done 21 sessions. Money isnt an obstacle at this point but being she said this would take over a year, its going to be costing me around 4,000 at least for such a small area. Im on the east coast…
Those stats are quite astounding … okay shocking! $4,000?
Ive been paying in packages- a 10 session package for 45 min is around $800. Its more expensive to pay per session… and since i go every week… I require a lot of sessions…. 
Oh yes, many electrologists sell “packages.” For me, however, this practice seems tacky. Just my opinion.
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Outrageous amount. I don’t know what is going on, but an upper lip and lower lip should not need 45 minutes a week for 20 + sessions. Do you have before pictures?
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Dee Dee: Something does not add up. If, the client is attaining “clearance” on the upper/lower lip (and certainly should by this time), how is it possible that she is still “going every week for 45-minutes?” That’s not possible!
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Thank you for your reply! She has definitely not achieved clearance yet as i still have hair when i leave the session in random places, for example in the middle above the cupids bow there is a lot of hair there… and it hurts so much! I think she only does around 20ish minutes for my upper lip each time and the rest of the time she fills in by doing the chin/ lower tip. I dont have before pictures of it fully grown showing the amount of hair as ive been a chronic tweezer for about 12 years, (wish i had a pic of my 4th grade mustache, lol) but i do have a pic of when i stopped tweezing after my consult and grew it out before my first real session - this is about 7 days of growth. I can provide current pictures as well.
Thanks for the QUALITY photo.
Here is what is possible : as I look at your upper lip and “billy goat” area now, that can be cleared in about 30 minutes of ALL hair present. You can be sent home for six weeks then come back for another clearance. This would be the most efficacious plan to get 'er done. Clear and wait 6 weeks. Clear and wait six weeks. Clear wait six weeks. Clear and wait and wait 6 weeks. after 8-15 clearances, you should be finished and it won’t cost $4000!!!
If you are tweezing, threading, sugaring or waxing, then electrolysis cannot get you to the point where it looks like you never grew hair on your upper lip. Never sneak a tweeze. If you do, then you will never get rid of the hair. I assume you are not doing any pulling? Correct?
Yes, Uncle Mike. Something is missing in this equation. Hope we can help her figure this out. It’s not a huge problem. Looks very easy to correct.
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As always … YES! That’s it Dee Dee
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Thank you. And absolutely-I have not used a tweezer since the day i submitted my consultation paperwork, almost exactly 5 months ago, and no shaving either. Would it be wrong for me to suggest a different protocol to her- after all, she is the one supposed to be dictating my treatment based on her professional option. I just don’t want to come across as insulting to her if i tell her that i want to wait 6 weeks for a clearance, what is a professional way to go about this?
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I’d recommend trying a different electrologist or being quite frank with your current tech (However that may not change any results your do or don’t see). Personally, I rarely see clients weekly unless they are working on a large projects like full back or Brazilian clearance.
If we are fully clearing the Area at each visit I’d rather they save up hairs for a few weeks before we zap again so the skin gets some time to rest.
Something doesn’t add up in this case. I’d expect my own clients to at least be having shorter treatments by this point in your timeline or spreading your appts further apart.
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So, I don’t know how many years she has been in practice. I understand that you don’t want to dictate what you would like her to do because you sound like a kind person. Some electrologists don’t take kindly to suggestions or requests, especially if they are the grumpy grandma and grandpa types.
You may be better off interviewing other local talent and telling them your story and asking how they would do this. We are all different in how we remove hair, but I’m still puzzled about that $4000 price tag?
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In our own clinic (bgskincare) we charge the following prices:
15 mins- $50
30 mins- $80
45 mins- $120
60 mins- $160
When we are teaching students in our school (Southeastern School of Laser & Electrology located in Lexington, KY and accredited) we teach our students it depends on the location of your practice. Some of our students have stated some places charge $220/hour.
Maybe not entirely.
I live in a very expensive city: Santa Barbara. For example, the basic room for one night at our local Miramar hotel is $1,945 (I used to play piano at that hotel). An average dinner for two at a “modest” restaurant runs about $150 for two. Our gas prices are now over $7.00 and the average home like mine (a tract house) lists for $1.8M. Still, our electrolysis prices are $80 per hour (me) up to $100. So, it’s not only “location.” There are other factors at play in the amount of money electrologists charge. By the way, Josefa (Spain) charges $80 per hour.
Thank you. A package of 10 is about $800 for 45 min sessions at this facility so i was about to pay for my third package. So far i have paid about $1600 and the third package would then be another $800. She has been in practice for 12 years. I was doing an estimation for how many sessions i would be attending from now until the year- year and a half mark based on her protocol. Which would be between january and next july for me. But i agree that i should be going for less time or going farther apart. She just kept saying that I’m gonna need a lot of sessions and that it takes a year-1,5 years or so and that everyone is different. The hair is also very noticeable still when it grows in. She had told me around the 6 month mark which is the middle of July for me- that i would start to see less growth and the hair would be thinner and that id start to see patches where it isnt growing. I will say it seems the hair growth is slower but not a huge difference, which i didn’t expect there should be a huge difference at 5 months now anyway. Its just frustrating putting my trust into someone and then not being sure if there is a better way for me. Im going to call another facility who is a lot farther from me that i thought about going to, but being the distance i didnt. I will ask what she would do based on my situation and see what the response is.
I agree with you. With all my consistent facial clients, they WILL see a gigantic difference at the 3 - 5 month period. With my “only now and then” clients, they also see a difference after a few treatments. Sadly, it’s difficult to determine if you are getting effective hair removal or just an expensive “tweeze job.”
Doing a test spot is impossible with a person who has been plucking her facial hairs. However, with untouched body hair, the client will see a big difference from only one “test spot.”
In my practice, I prefer to do a 4-inch test spot (for free) on, say, a man’s back. Then 3-months later he will absolutely see 50% hair reduction. Most clients just “go for it” … but the test spot really works well because they can see themselves that what I’m saying is not just a bunch of “fluff.” Oh yeah, the work is guaranteed too … a full 50% reduction from the first clearance.
I don’t know if I helped you … but I hope it did!
Speaking of prices, in NYC I haven’t found anything cheaper than $115 an hour these days and prices are insane. I would not be able to afford any sessions in this economy. It’s always crazy how services and consumer products get more expensive while our salaries are stagnating. I stopped getting haircuts as frequent as I want. My haircuts rose from $20 to $40 dollars within 3 years and that’s without tips.
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This does help. Im just so confused because she had great reviews… i re-looked at them just to be sure i wasn’t crazy, people saying how happy they were with results, some even saw results after a few months etc, that it was almost painless, and all this stuff that was just the opposite of what I have been experiencing. How can it be that for some she does well but others not as much. It did feel that the hair was being tweezed but its not like she wasn’t using a high enough setting, it hurt really bad even with the numbing cream on the upper lip and i have a tolerance for pain. Its frustrating being that i showed up every week and now I feel discouraged. I contacted someone new in my area to get an opinion on my current situation. I feel like i need my next electrologist to tell me a typical treatment program and not just a wait and see for a year, year and a half. I feel like if you have been treating for a while you should be able to tell someone a typical estimate/ outline of the amount of sessions and frequency, and protocol for decreasing time and frequency, just as you briefly stated.
I actually spoke to a pharmacist about prescription freezing cream (asked dr for a prescription, after determining that I had no allergies). I found Zenza and other OTC freezing cream didn’t do the trick.
I put the cream on, cover with Glad “Cling n Seal”, then tape edges with a waterproof medical tape (easy tear, not fabric). For me I was having Brazilian done and would apply 3 times over 3 hours. For your upper lip, I think once about 40 min prior to treatment would be fine.
You might still feel a twinge occasionally, but it’s pretty numb!
The screenshot of the prescription isn’t mine, mine was only 2% of each ingredient, which is probably why I have to apply 3 times over 3 hours before my treatment Mine was blended in a cream base (have to go to compounding pharmacy)
