Do a search on this site for information about the Ptouch.
It’s a home unit, and to a degree it will work.
And then have a consultation with a local certified electrologist about the actual costs of never having to worry about your bikini line ever again. They very often don’t charge for a consultation and a brief trial treatment.
Jason
Hi there. I don’t want to cause a stir and am a new member here <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> i have read all about the scam products being sold on ebay at your site and i have also read some of the people on here that have had good results, they were much less than the negative feedback given here, and it seems that these people are being suspected of working for the companies involved.
Even so, i decided that i was going to do some research so i emailed about 20 people off ebay that had purchased verseo epen/epad and asked of their results. I do not know these people and i found them by going over past auctions for the product. I emailed them only 2 days ago so am waiting for some replies still.
I have had 5 replies back and 4 of them extremely positive! One of them had had laser in the past and had many other forms of hair removal like creams, waxing, etc and she said that by far the best results have been with the epen and would highly recommend it. Another said her widows peak has totally been removed after 8 treatments with no hair regrowth at all.
So, all i want to say is that it seems there are some people out there getting great results and i think that that can’t be ignored.
I truly don’t want to cause a stir, just someone that was considering transdermal electrolysis, thought there were too many machines on the market for NONE of them to work and just wanted to do an independent study for myself. I spent DAYS searching the net and came up with the idea of asking REAL people of their experiences as i was getting nothing elsewhere, except negativity and mainly from this site - and i think that is a good thing, it opens people up to the fact that there are scams out there.
I may have come across the only 4 people in the world that the machine has worked for! hahahahahaaa - i will keep you posted as to the results i get from the others, if i hear from them <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Have a great day <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />,
Amber
ebay listings only allow links for 3 months, so none of those people you’ve contacted could have been using their products for longer than that. You would need a nine to twelve month period to actually determine if the results were permanent due to hair growth cycles.
These people are deluding themselves with wishful thinking that this is a quick, cheap, simple, and permanent solution. They are actually wasting their time. If you do research into the technology, you’ll discover that it is impossible for them to work. They are based on the principle of applying current to the hair which transmits the energy to the follicle to destroy it. However, hair is not a conductor of electricity (in fact it’s an insulator), so scientifically it is impossible for these devices to work, thus a scam.
You’ll need to get back to them in 6 to 12 months to get a better assessment of their experience. I would expect that you could then also add them to the list of those that speak negatively of these devices.
Welcome Amberlee!
Congrats for joining the best source for hair removal information and discussion group on the web! As you begin read back through the archives, especially if you do a search, you can find many threads discussing items like the ePen and why tran-dermal electrolysis, though it can painlessly remove hair, can never effect PERMANENT hair removal.
Research is a great tool to finding the truth behind the numerous claims out there today. Plenty of people have tried every method under the sun to achieve the goals you are seeking and you’ll find plenty of first-hand experience here.
However, ebay only keeps closed listings available for 30 days. Many of the people who bought the epen within the last 30 days I would expect to be satisfied and so long as they don’t mind that the hair keeps coming back, they may stay that way. But its no where near long enough to anylize actual hair removal because (depending on the site) your skin only expresses a small percentage of the total growing hair at one time. You would need at least 6 months to really be sure of anything.
I fully agree that with so many products out there, one must work, and in fact the oneTouch is such a product, though like all Do-It-Yourself equipement, it has its own problems. The facts, however depressing, are that the huge amount of scam products is due to unscrupulous people taking advantage of a strong desire in the market for beauty products that work. Electrified tweezers and transdermal “electrolysis” have been proven ineffective and even though their manufacturers and salespeople know this they continue to try to fool people out of their money every day.
Take what opinions seem best to you, and read all you can on the subject, but at the end of the day if you buy an ePen, I expect you’ll regret it.
Jason
Actually Its ‘connard’ not ‘cunard’ and its en francais not au francaise.
Sorry I hate smart arses but I study french and this website is all about giving the correct information after all!
Amber this is very interesting reading, so now 3 months on, how have you found the e-pen to work?
Ed…
Athina,
This is a great post for you to have started. I would like answers too, but will share with you my personal experiences. I am a female, mixed black and white, with probably type IV skin. I’m pretty light for most mixes. The white side is all sorts of European, and the black side is African America, European, and Native American. The hair that comes out of my head is kind of like shirley temple curls, but the hair that comes out of the rest of my body is varied in thickness, but is always dark. Hair has been the bane of my existence. This is my history/ battle with it:
Started shaving in 5th grade, maybe 3rd. Can’t remember. (I’m 26 now). Everything I shaved, luckily just legs, underarms and bikini, grew back coarser than it started. Think chia-pet. (I’m not joking… seriously, I’m not.) After years of doing this I had shadow. Not 5 o’clock shadow. If I shaved at 6am, it would be 12 o’clock shadow. And if it was cold outside and I got goose-bumps it would be immediate.
Starting waxing and plucking in 9th grade, about age 14 I think. Waxing slowed the growth on everything, legs, bikini, lip chin… everything. In addition, to slowing the growth, it would grow back slightly finer in all areas but my bikini. I guess on me that area is determined to be a pain in the a$$. Anyway, I have noticed that both plucking and waxing over this many years has slowly damaged some hair follicles so they don’t grow back. There are some places on my eyebrows that I really wish would grow back. So trust me, I kid you not.
Being hairy really scared me because I always felt that no guy would like me because of it (not true). So right before college, I decided to have some choice places lasered. I can’t tell you what machine or any details because I was too young and uninformed to know or ask. I had it done around my nipples, lower back, and stomach. I had only 3 sessions, which I recognize today as not being as many as you should have. But I was only 18, and it set me back $900. That’s all I could afford.
Beforehand the hairs were as follows:
around nipples- few, but coarse and dark
stomach- medium thickness, dark happy highway (not to be confused with the thinner trail)
lower back- thin, but dark and somewhat long, moderate amount.
I can’t remember how much time elapsed between each session, but it was all during a summer break, so I think it was 3 or 4 weeks. I had to shave the areas about one day ahead of time. The laser didn’t really hurt, except for a little bit of a burning sensation on my lower back because the hairs were finer, and I probably missed shaving some hairs because I couldn’t see the area when I was doing it. The burning sensation in that area can be compared to sitting with your back too close to a fire when you’re trying to warm it. It feels like that moment when you realize, “oh shit, ouch, I need to move!” Because they don’t really stay in one spot, it feels like that off an on and mostly makes you want to scratch your back. Only once did I have to ask them to turn the heat down. Everything else just felt hot and sweaty, but didn’t hurt. The thicker follicles actually made popping sounds when they were being destroyed. It sounds kind of like the pop of a small crumb put into burning hot oil. I know that seems funny, but it’s true. You will also smell burning hair. The sessions lasted about 45 minutes. The entire experience was not bad at all.
Results:
around nipples- no difference, 0% reduction
stomach- definite reduction. hairs are lighter and far more sparse. I have never shaved this area since, only plucked, epilated, or waxed. What’s left of the hair rarely grows. 85% reduction
lower back- same amount of hairs, but now they are very thin, extremely short, blonde hairs. They’re barely even noticeable. 95% reduction.
Today: Same. The results I received were permanent. It wasn’t permanent removal of everything, but the reduction is the same as it was 8 years ago.
Thoughts on Laser Hair Removal: Far too expensive for the varied results unless you’re rich. I’m happy with the reductions, but for the amount of money, I expect more. I really wish that dermatologists and laser technicians would either lower their prices or have better guarantees. I’m sure they would increase their clientele 10-fold just by cutting their prices in half. I do believe that laser hair removal can be extremely effective as long as the person performing the removal is experienced and intelligent, and the person receiving the removal follows all guidelines to a T. Would I do it again… yes, IF I could get a huge discount, OR if I fell into some money AND got a nice guarantee.
I moved to Los Angeles for college at age 18. The sunnier climate (from Seattle) which enticed every girl to wear shorts, skirts, and bikinis, started to make me feel like an outcast. Because the hair on my legs was so thick, I couldn’t shave it more than once every two or three weeks to even get somewhat of a smooth shave. I’d also have to use a new blade each time. Any deviation from this method and I’d have legs that looked stubbly and had painful razor burn. Even with absolute precision, my legs would not be smooth to the touch, they would only slightly appear that way… from a bit of distance. This would result in only one afternoon or evening of wearing shorts, a skirt, or anything that showed my legs. I was a poor college student that spent all my money on the usually things: food and drinking. So having enough money for waxing was out of the question. I decided that during my summer back in Seattle I would grow it out, get it waxed, and then use an epilator. My mom had one called Epilady, but I couldn’t use it because it hurt too much on my thick-haired legs. I bought a Gently Gold and have been using one ever since on every part of my body except underarms and hard-to-see places like my groin. I recommend any kind. I’ve used like 4 of them, and only have a preference to one that is kept plugged in, and ones with more tweezers. The key was waxing first. After the hair just starts to grow back is the key time to start epilating. Because an epilator is essentially rotating tweezers, the more hairs you have close together, the more it will hurt. That’s why waxing before your first time is essential if you have a lot of thick leg hair. Unlike shaving, it helps slow the growth cycles so that all of your hairs don’t grow back at once. Waxing is also more tolerable (although more expensive) than epilating because it rips the hairs out all at once, instead of a fast one-by-one plucking method. Epilating sounds painful, but honestly, if you follow this method, and are diligent about doing it at least once a week, it’s not that bad. Just make sure that your legs are warm. If they’re cold your skin will squeeze around the hairs, making them more difficult and painful to pull out. But if they’re warm, hot, or even slightly sweaty, this is not an issue. As with waxing, if you’re sensitive to this type of pain, you can take some Advil a half hour ahead of time. I don’t really even feel anything when I do it now, and never need Advil. The great thing about epilating is that it lasts just as long as waxing and occasionally damages follicles enough that they don’t grow back. My mom is a great example of this. She’s been epilating for about 30 years and her legs are mostly smooth even with three weeks of grow-out. And yes, I got my hairiness from her. The only drawback, is that epilating large areas like both legs from ankle to underwear line can take anywhere from an hour to two hours (keeping in mind that my amount of leg hair is still more than most). So it might take the average person a half hour to an hour. Now that’s if you use your epilator once a week. The longer you wait to use it again, the longer it’s going to take you to finish. But, at the same time, the longer it will take to grow back because you will have removed more cycles of hair at once. At least this has been my experience. I know it sounds like it takes a long time, but if your leg hair started out like mine, it’s worth it. Just watch a movie while you do it, and you’ll be fine. Oh, and initially your skin may have red bumps, but by 24 hours they will have gone away and your legs will be smooth and shiny (if not, add lotion) for at least a week. I’m at the point where it lasts me about 2 weeks. An epilator costs about $50-$60, and depending on use, lasts about a year or two. That’s with Gently Gold. I haven’t used any other brands.
After all these years, the only thing I still shave (as opposed to waxing, epilating, or tweezing) are my armpits. And that’s only because I never want to grow them out long enough to have them waxed. But they are the only thing I still get a 5 o’clock shadow on. One thing I have learned from all of this is no matter what, don’t shave anything you can afford not to. And by all means, do yourself a favor, never ever shave an area after you’ve spent good money having the hair removed with another method.* It’s pretty much like taking yourself back to square-one. Once you’ve decided to spend a lot of money on a removal method, have a plan. Make sure you have enough money to get the job done to your satisfaction. Have money in reserve, just in case you’re need more sessions than originally planned. The last thing you want to do is dump thousands of dollars into something, only to have to revert back to shaving and have some of your progress reversed!
Anyway, much like you, I would still like something more permanent that doesn’t break the bank. But for the meantime, there are some cheaper options.
Hope this novel was somewhat helpful or inspiring to some. I encourage everyone with a hair history to post it!
*Shaving between laser sessions, as required by your dermatologist or technician is the only time I recommend doing this. When all of your sessions are completed, don’t shave!
Thanks for sharing your detailed story. I hope you stick around this forum because you have some misconceptions about hair growth and why you got certain reduction and why some hair got more coarse etc.
A few notes:
Shaving does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to your hair. It’s been proven, scientifically, many times. What you saw when you were young was a mere coincidence that many associate with shaving. In fact, it just happens to be at the same time that when you first start shaving is when you are in puberty and only START to develop NEW hair. Obviously, you start shaving it and you associate the increase in hair growth and coarseness of the hair with shaving. However, all you’re seeing is yourself going through puberty and your body developing new hair due to hormones. If you hadn’t shaved at all, you would have seen the same amount of hair grow in of the same density and coarseness. Shaving does absolutely nothing to the root of the hair. All it does is cut it at the surface.
However, the opposite is true for waxing, epillating etc. It’s not a side effect for everyone and it depends on the area treated, but these methods that remove hair with the root can actually stimulate the hair to become mroe coarse and dark because of increased blood flow to the follicles to repair the damage.
It’s hard to judge what exactly happened to the hair you have been waxing for a while unless you stop all type of hair removal on those areas for at least 4-5 months. If you do it regularly, you remove the hair before it has the chance to fully grow in each time.
Glad you had results with laser. Sounds like you had someone who knows what they’re doing that got you pretty good results in just 3 treatments. But in terms of costs, I think you’re being somewhat unfair. Consider the fact that laser machines cost $50-100K. Plus, there are costs associated with insurance, keeping up an office, employees, training, etc. Current prices at many clinics are actually very affordable. Keep in mind that getting permanent removal is worth a lot more than just temporary reduction you get with waxing for example. Just add up the costs of waxing your legs over the course of a year or two. Laser treatments will pay for themselves in no time.
Both electrolysis and laser can be pretty affordable nowdays, especially since many clinics and electrologists take credit cards. Also, with laser, you only need treatments spaced 8-12 weeks apart, so it’s not too hard to save up money. It’s only every 3 months or so.