I came across his site while researching electrolysis for my 17 year old daughter, who has been asking us for years to have electrolysis done on her upper lip. I have tried to talk her out of it; it seems like it would take forever for an upper lip. There is so much good information here! From what I have learned here it seems like electrolysis works more reliably than laser. I have been picking up names from ads but really don’t know how to find a good one. I see both salons and independent operators. We don’t know anyone who has had it done or would admit to it. We live in the NW suburbs of Chicago so there should be lots of choices, but how to find a good one?
An upper lip is easy to get under control. The question is why does she have hair there. Your Electrologist and your Doctor may be able to figure that out. If you are lucky, it is nothing more than she is using artificial sweeteners, and needs only stop using them to halt any new hair growth, while permanently removing the unsightly hairs that are there.
If I were in Chicago, I would start my search with
Cassandra M. McCabe CPE
Cassie Electrolysis
7107 W. Belmont Avenue Suite 6
Chicago, IL 60634
773 919-4247
Hair_begone@msn.com
Debbie Strickland
Merle Norman Cosmetics
7323 N Harlem Avenue
Niles, Illinois 60714
as listed in the referral directory here and continue the search from there.
Thanks for your reply.
I don’t understand: she does not use artificial sweeteners; but why would that make someone grow hair anyway? She has hair becase her father is hairy and it is in her genes! She has hairy arms and legs too but she can shave or bleach those so doesn’t care about them as much as the lip. She has been bleaching her upper lip but still feels too furry even when the hairs are light.
I saw the referral directory mentioned in an earlier post but have not found it on the page. I will look harder.
If you can’t get personal recommendations, then it is up to you to get a list together (and you are lucky if you have several electrologists to choose from) and go on the hunt to get CONSULTATIONS complete with a sample treatment. The treatment must be tolerable and healing should be within a week or less. I am very fond of the newer computerized epilators coupled with a skilled electrologist. I am an advocate for electrologists equipping themselves with quality magnification so they can see the target. I believe quality lighting is imperative in the electrolysis setting. Skill plus quality modern tools - what a novel way to approach permanent hair removal.
An electrologist’s office must be hygenic. You should see her wash her hands or use hand sanitizer correctly before treatment. Wearing gloves and using pre-packaged disposable probes is very, very good. Gold probe use is a plus. You should receive a complete consultation and you should be able to ask questions and get patient answers.
Your 17 year old sounds motivated and that is a huge plus. The electrologist should put her at ease from the get-go and start slowly explaining everything about what is to be done.
My under twenty crowd do very well if you approach them gently and with optimism.
I’m sorry that you just can’t get a slam dunk recommendation from a friend or relative in Buffalo Grove or the surrounding suburbs, BUT that’s why you are here and there is always hope that some dear hairtell readers will pop in with a great recommendation to point you in the right direction.
Welcome to hairtell.
Dee
Oh, I just saw James’s recommendation! Great!
This is one of the rare cases where I can say that the two people I listed are people that I have actually had work done with, so I know that they do good work (although I am still trying to get them to update their equipment so they can do good work faster).
As for the artificial sweeteners, they effect hormones in the body and cause people who are growing hair to grow more, and in some cases, cause people who would never otherwise have grown hair to start growing it in places they don’t want it.
Hopefully, she doesn’t like diet coke/pepsi anyway.
I will give you a hand finding the referrals directories & Member Recommendations sections.
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/60/page/1
In this section people tell us about their good experiences with practitioners. You will have to use the search feature to find someone in chicago in this section, or look through the titles to see if they list chicago or surrounding area in the title of the post. Since it is a consumer driven section, it is much less organized.
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/28/page/1
If it’s just the upper lip and not other hormonal areas like a lot of hair on the beard area, thighs, stomach, etc it is probably just hereditary. Although it doesn’t hurt to consult a good gyno and an endocrinologist just to make sure the hormone levels are fine. Does she have acne? Are her periods irregular? Those could be signs of hormonal imbalance.
Electrolysis is best for smaller areas, and areas with fine hair, as well as the only option for light-colored hair. Laser is great on areas with coarse hair, especially on large areas. Underarms, bikini, and legs get great results with laser (on dark hair, light skin). Btw, if you plan to get a consultation for laser in the future, Michael Green is usually highly recommended in Chicago. He has good machines and has been a moderator on another forum in the past.
Shadowone,
Doing research for your 17 year old is really a smart thing and you found a dependable site with HairTell. I’m new here but not new to the profession of permanent hair removal. (Exp.Since 1980) I’ve been in practice in Michigan as Electrolysis Unlimited, now called Pure Laser and I’m also a licensed Electrology and Laser Instructor. I have been dedicated to this profession and did electrolysis treatments for 25 years and added laser hair removal in 1998. SO with almost 28 years experience and 10 years laser experience I can share a few things with you. Your daughter sounds like she’s ready, so she needs to have a minimum of 3 consults with professionals (preferable those who do both laser and electrolysis). Some electrologists are against laser because they believe its the only thing that produces permanent hair removal and if they don’t offer laser, it would be in their best interest to talk laser down. So in my opinion it would be best to get an unbiased opinion from someone who really understands both. After consults you and your daughter will make an educated decision on what would be the best treatment based on her desired results on the various body areas where she may want treatment in the future. It may be that electrolysis is the best for her upper lip since its such a small area, but it may also be in her best interest to find someone who will take care of the larger areas where she probably will want treatment eventually on her body areas which she inherited from her father. For larger areas, especially with dark hair, laser works great and can accomplish permanent hair reduction in a fast and easy way.
In Michigan we have licensing and I know Illinois may have passed that the licensing requirement for electrologists also. I don’t know for sure, but Pure offers both in Chicago area. My suggestion is that you make an appointment with an electrologist who does both and ask a lot of questions about qualifications, years of experience and especially about professional affiliations. Illinois didn’t have licensing many years ago, and I always referred clients who moved to the Chicago area to find a CPE, CME, CCE or CLHRP. Here are two links that you can visit to find professionals with those qualifications.
visit www.electrology.com official site of American Electrology Association (AEA) for CPE Electrologists (AEA only represented electrologists and I was CPE, but because I chose to do laser along with electrology… I was kicked out as an AEA delegate and resigned as President of EAM our former MI State Assoc. for Electrology) I got out of politics after that but they have a wonderful, dedicated group of Permanent Hair Removal professional electrologists, especially those having CPE credential.
visit www.scmhr.org -official site for Society of Clinical and Medical Hair Removal professionals with CCE, CME or CLHRP credentials. They credential electrologists and Laser Hair Removal professionals including doctors, nurses, estheticians, medical assistants who provide LHR services.
Best Wishes for your daughter & you,
Ildiko Svoren, RE,CME, CCE, CLHRP, LEI, CLS, (formerly CPE)
Here’s another side to what you are saying:
The problem with going to a person that does both laser and electrolysis is that recommending one over the other usually tips toward laser. Laser is not as technically difficult to do as electrolysis and for laser, one needs the income rolling in to pay those pricey lease rates per month or for the pricey equipment if one out right buys the laser. Performing more electrolysis treatments, than laser, is not going to pay for the lease and maintenance of the laser. Laser brings quicker money in return for services rendered. I have several clients who have reported that they felt a lot of pressure to get laser over electrolysis when they went specifically to have electrolysis performed. If an older electrologist has not upgraded to surgical magnification and a newer epilator, then she cannot see very well and will never know the joy of clearing a woman’s face precisely and quickly with electrolysis so, then of course she will try to persuade the client to get laser. So those opinions are not always unbiased when one goes to a business that does both laser and electrolysis. One that has many initials behind their name is not always a good indication of better treatment. That’s why we recommend getting more than one consult. I know of CPE’s that are using equipment that is antiquated, can’t see very well and their office’s are less than hygenic.
The way I conduct business as a probe electrologist , is to assess the area where one wants hair removed, then recommend certain areas for laser and certain areas for electrolysis if the client wants more than area worked on. I never recommend laser for a woman’s face. If she wants her upper lip, chin, sideburns or eyebrows done, then electrolysis is a fabulous and highly effectve option. There are too many hairs on the face that are all different colors and sizes and laser can’t handle all that variety with all the pin point precision that electrolysis can. Nipple area, forearms, hands, toes and fingers, also can be handled by a MODERN, well-equipped, continuing education oriented electrologist. So can a man’s back. Another point about lasing the face: when clients get their faces lased they walk out looking as they did when they walked in because they have to wait for shedding, which may occur or may not occur. With electrolysis, they walk out after a treatment, minus the hair that was treated and they immediately feel better about themself.
Another point: we now know after 10 years of laser use that laser-induced hair stimulation occurs on certain areas. Facial areas seem vulnerable for women for whatever the cause. Upper arms, shoulders and upper back are problem areas for men and some women. So, I have taken the stance that if someone wants their underarms, bikini line and lower legs done and they have the right hair color and the right skin color then I steer them toward laser, telling them that I can get them permanent results with electrolysis as well, but they can choose what they want to do for themself. If they want facial work, I steer them away from laser and toward electrolysis. There are many clients that don’t need to be persuaded to get electrolysis on their face, including the neck area, because they are actually coming to me to clean up the mess that laser created on their face or for lack of results from getting lased.
An upper lip on a 17 year girl? A skilled, professional electrologist, with or without a CPE, can bring her assured permanent hair removal for under $500 in about 8-15 sessions spread out over a year, hand’s down, book closed.
If she wants her underarms lased, GO FOR IT!
Ildiko, with all you years of experience, have you experienced laser-induced hair stimulation in your practice? What kind of magnification do you wear when you do electrolysis? Are you using a computerized epilator? How much electrolysis do you actually do in a weeks time? Here I go griling you again. I hope you don’t mind.
Thanks,
Dee
As far as cost goes, it is usually less expensive to just come see me in Buffalo. The best reason for having me break down and pack up a mobile treatment room, unpack, rebuild and work in your area, only to have to break it down repack, travel, unpack, and rebuild it back on my end, is if one has lots of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it. As some would say, “If one has more money than time…”, it might make sense to bring me to you. If, like most people, one has more time than money, making the trip to Buffalo is the best bet.
I live in the western suburbs and Liz Stapleton is my electrologist (her website is www.facereflections.com). All her info is on the site–she works out of Elk Grove Village (right across from Alexian Brothers Hospital) and Bloomingdale. I’ve been going for about six weeks for my chin, and I really like Liz. She’s very straightforward and sweet and has a ton of experience. Give her a call!
The link doesn’t work. Can you fix it?
“Hopefully, she doesn’t like diet coke/pepsi anyway.”
Wow, I learn something new every day from this site. I had no idea artificial sweetners could result in excess hair! I’m addicted to soda, i’m going to cut back just for the heck of it now.
It would be good for your overall health anyway. Those things have a ton of chemicals that can cause a variety of problems and cancers later.