I am new to this site and wish to speak about the 13.56mhz vs. 27mhz machines. The FCC allows manufacturers to use either frequency for their equipment, so as not to interfere with other RF transmissions of other equipment. In my testing, and in other manufacturers testing, NO difference was found at the tip of the needle in sensation or effectiveness. Period. Advertizing and hype are being used to create something that does not exist. What DOES make a difference in sensation is the timing that is set on a machine: the faster the timing, the less sensation, BUT when very fast timing is used (Hundredths or thousandths of a second) many pulses must be used to equate the time necessary to destroy the blood supply to each hair. Also, if too much intensity is used, the follicle can dry up, and consequent pulses will have no effect. The key is using sufficient time and intensity to destroy enough of the follicle without disturbing the surface of the skin. Also, I find that using thousandths of a second has very little or no effect on the follicle. There is minimal sensation, but minimal effectiveness, too. It all comes down to the correct timing and intensity being set, and the Electrologist’s expertise in knowing the client’s needs, the sensitivity of each area, and in the positioning of the probe in the skin. Whether you use 13.56 mhz or 27 mhz will make no difference, but YOUR own education and knowledge will make all the difference in your treatments.
I wish to provide information to those who believe that Instantron produced antiquated machines, and to those who have spoken some harsh words and gave incorrect information to others. I am third generation of operating this company and very proud of my family’s name and position in this field of Permanent Hair Removal. My grandfather produced straight Gavanic machines starting in 1880, and gave the first Electrolysis Course in 1890, teaching in many states and inviting students to his Mahler School of Dermatology in the Providence area. Thermolysis machines were produced by him in 1946, with the first automatically timed “Instantron” named epilator, for “instantaneous” epilation. Various machines were produced over consequent years, theT-69, SS69, Blendtone,VP500, Elite, and now the most refined machine we have made to date, the Elite Spectrum, fully computerized, extremely fast, gentle, and effective, as well as quite affordable in comarison to some other equipment on the market. Be aware of other manufacturers hype of different frequencies and made-up terminology to confuse the Professional Electrologist. Intimidation is rampant, and misleading at best. You know your business, and have been trained well at some fine schools in the country as well as overseas. Choose your manufacturer wisely, and call for the facts before you buy. Compare service and longevity in the industry. I welcome all comments and calls.
Hi Skip.
Thanks for your posting here on the internet. Indeed, I knew your Dad and brother and always enjoyed meeting with them at the various electrolysis functions … I mean REALLY enjoyed those two guys. (I remember Harold calling all the women “Dahhrling!” Interesting that I was sort of “dead center” when the 27-megahertz “thing” started … but not by the company folks think reanimated that frequency.
I was working with a couple “new” manufacturers in Holland, including Romano Scavo who called his company CTI: he was making a blend. I remember one of his phone calls to me wherein he was excited to have “invented” automatic-thermolysis! Romano had been making electronic equipment for NATO and had not spent much time looking at the history of electrolysis … He had invented something that had already been invented (in the 1920s!) Anyway, back to the story.
At one point Romano was working with Uta (my G-friend at the time) and experimented with the different “legal” frequencies. Romano came up with the 27-megahertz unit and began marketing it as an improvement. I suppose “other ears” in the market were listening and followed suit.
Interesting that years ago, when Hinkel was helping the Europeans develop their own blend, we looked at a popular Dutch epilator (made by Van Lint) that was functioning at 1.8 megahertz. Hinkel remarked, “that’s about the best frequency!” He said he was disappointed when the FCC mandated HIGHER HF frequencies, because the LOWER HF was a more “comfortable and heating” frequency and the HIGHER you went created a more “cutting” current. (BTW the hyfrecator and Bovie operate at higher HF, and these units “cut.”)
To the point, all the electrologists on Hairtell (except me) use the Dectro machine and love the machine. I don’t dispute their “love affair” and I personally have always honored Dectro (again, really GREAT guys). Still, most of these people have no idea of exactly what I’m doing … or what other electrologists are doing … so their claims of “the only machine to use” are not based on actual data … personal experience yes … not independent data.
I know I’m doing a pretty decent job; I’m still busy and that means something. My work is actually guaranteed, and I come in very close to my time estimates. Interesting that Fino Gior (who uses your Instantron) and I have exactly the SAME RESULTS as far as “total treatment time.” I do object to the relentless “advertising” for only one company … even if they are “terrific.” And finally, something pretty “wonderful and beneficial to the profession and for the public” is being done about it … Stay tuned!
Mike,
You’re up early in the morning today. Yes, Dad was quite the man in his day. Most names he had for those is this field were “Doctor”, “Doc”, “Gertrude”, and “Matilda”.
As I understand, Instantron was the first with an Automatic Timed Epilator in 1946 with the release of the "Instantron" name. the company was still called Mahler's Incorporated, but the name was changed soon to The Instantron Company.
Machines at that time were fast and calibrated higher than the machines we produce now. Meaning that early epilators had quite a bit of "juice" at the low end of the intensity scale.
All of our current machines are quite low in output at lower settings, allowing the Electrologist to use 5 seconds up to 20 seconds or longer at low intensity settings. Higher settings of intensity allow epilation at a tenth of a second or in hundredths of a second.
We have evolved to accomodate the needs of the Professional Electrologist with their suggestions on design of current epilators.
I do not supply hundreds of presets on our machines, I find this to be worthless as most Electrologists use a handful of settings and very little variation of those standard settings.
Marketing can be misinterpreted and confusing to the user, with made-up terminology and misleading ads that many say are intimidating.
I will continue to provide equipment that is comfortable, reliable, and effective, without the bells and whistles. I invite any who wish more information to call or write.
Our 132 years of making superior epilators and supplying Electrologists worldwide carries on, with new products such as the Laurier redesigned probes, which are the finest I have seen, and high quality German magnifiers, wide vision and clarity supreme.
About full disclosure …
Probably the main reason I wrote my book on “the blend” (and Telangiectasia) was because I believe in full total disclosure of any and all methods and machines. As you say, “trade secrets” and “trade-mark names” serve no purpose in a field that is TRYING to be a profession. Imagine if one doctor had a secret remedy for cancer and didn’t share it with his colleagues. It’s that type of openness that I’m trying to achieve. Remember all the secret and “special” treatments? I think those days are gone … or they SHOULD be going, and soon!
If you have something that you found that worked, SPELL IT OUT! Don’t just give it a “trade name” and tell everyone that “your method is the best.” Electrolysis is a science, not a religion!
Hair consumers decide where they will spend their money based on many things. If they have an experience with an electrologist who can clear an area asap to make it look visually very nice, if it didn’t hurt very much and if the skin was left with expected temporary side effects that disappeared within a week for facial areas and within a couple weeks for body areas, then they are less concerned about a brand that has been around for 132 years as opposed to a brand that has been on the scene since 2005. They just want the hair off ASAP, with little pain and good skin outcome.
I listen VERY carefully to what my clients say. When they come in with expectations that their first treatment with me will hurt like hell because it has always hurt like hell with past treatments from other electrologists, I just smile and say let’s start and I will try to make some adjustments, if needed. Invariably, they are happily surprised that they got through an hour treatment not feeling too uncomfortable at all! They thought they could only take 15 minutes because that’s all they could tolerate with their electrologist from five years ago. They say that they like my epilator (and my loving personality) better than what they experienced with others. I worked hard for that kind of feedback. I went through the learning curve and the expense of owning four other epilator brands to get to where I am highly satisfied now. I like the bells and whistles (engineering feat) of what the Apilus Platinum offers and will verbalize my fondness for this particular brand and model because my clients verbalize to me how much better electrolysis is for them, sensation-wise and healing-wise.
Equipment does matter. Again, the bottom-line for me is consumer feedback - not loyalty to a brand name. It is not a religious experience. It just simply works for the hair removal recipient and in turn, they are so thankful for an experience that doesn’t send them through the roof.
Skip, I am so happy that you are here participating. May others experience what you offer and come here and share the good news with the HairTell community. Do you have any pictures of the little wooden box, with all the wires, when your grandfather constructed his first galvanic epilator? I took some pictures of it when you lectured here in Ohio. You kindly allowed it to be passed around and it was remarkable to look at at and study. I don’t feel like I should post the pictures, since that should be your privilege to do so. 
It is very interesting to hear about frequency discussion here. In the book I am reading, Encyclopedia of Hair Removal by Gill Morris, Janice Brown, they are describing frequency of current used for thermolysis.
Low frequency 30-300 kHz
Middle frequency 300-3000 kHz
High frequency 3-30 MHz
Super high frequency 30-300 MHz
And they write that currents of High frequency 3-30 MHz and Super high frequency 30-300 MHz dry the tissue. And Low frequency 30-300 kHz and Middle frequency 300-3000 kHz currents coagulate.
Some people don’t like all the warm and fuzzy reviews of Apilus’s 27 MHz epilators. It is human nature to defend what one loves.
There is a big difference in sensation with the particular modes that are offered by the Apilus 27 MHz technology, with Apilus Platinum and Pure and these professional hair removal epilators do destroy hair follicles as long as the electrolgist is skilled and isnt tweezing hairs. Who could be happier if one can get more comfortable electrolysis treatments? A lot of people have and still do suffer through treatment sessions and have to limit their time on the table to 15 minute weekly sessions. In the past several years, I can not begin to list all the positive feedback moments I have heard about the Apilus Platinum. It has been shocking - happily so.
It is up to the electrolysis consumer to decide where they will lay their head and body. One of our mantra’s here on Hairtell is to advise the hair removal consumer to get as many consultations as they can. Check out the skill and the equipment used by each practitioner. Get some short treatments. See how it feels. Go home and see how it heals. Make your own decision about what you are getting for the your hard earned money and effort. It is quite simple: if you don’t like spicey, then go get a fruit smoothie. If you dont like the treatment that one practitioner offers, then check out others until you find “utopia”. Competition makes for a better world for the consumer and this profession operates on this principle same as any other business. If we were all the same, you the consumer, would be enslaved to one approach. So, things are settled by the consumer market and people have the right to choose what is best for them. All I can do is parrot what goes on from my side of the fence and pass that information on to others. I am not an engineer or inventor of anything, but I am a keen observer and like what I observe with 27MHz Apilus epilators. Others can do the math and physics to explain whatever they need to, but I can tell you how it works in the real world of removing hair on the desperate hairy.
I totally agree with you, Dee, that the most important thing is personal years of observation.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
The Elite Spectrum is the machine i had my initial trainings on; and in the meantime i had the opportunity to work with it during workshops. No doubt, it is a powerful and effective machine, comfortable to work with, especially if You are doing (more or less) traditional blend. In this modality i would clearly prefer it over each of my two Apilus devices, a Pure and an old model Junior. The latter does roughly compare to the Elite Spectrum in possibilities (and age of construction?); and both are robust and very reliable work horses. As soon as it comes to flash thermolysis, i think the card changes:
In comparison to both Apilus boxes the range of possible parameters of the Elite Spectrum is in my opinion a bit limited regarding its fast thermolysis modes (not counting any “presets” and other gimmick features - i do neither need nor use these). In contrast, especially the Platinums offer two flash modalities with a “sophisticated” pulse pattern which indeed allows to work with lower signals and thus less pain and an less side effects while maintaining better effectivity than all other epilators i know.
In my recent trip to Germany I had the chance to try the Elite Spectrum, and have been pleasantly surprised at the comfort of its Flash. I was able to coagulate very fine hairs (vellus) in five hundredths of a second without my model just feel some discomfort. I think I remember (I’m not sure) that you can program several pulses to thereby make a kind of Picoflash and work in thicker hair with minimal pain.
Good job and nice machine Mr. Mahler. You can feel satisfied.
Dee, Thank you for the compliments. You are certainly welcome to post the photos of the original small epilator that my grandfather sold in the late 1800’s into the 1920’s. There were a few variations, but basically they were battery operated units, where the client would place their hand on a wet pad as the Positive connector, the needle being the Negative pole. Depending on the number of batteries connected, the intensity increased or decreased. This was the era of home electrolysis, with many taking a course of study with my grandfather and beginning a professional practice. We introduced the first timed Thermolysis epilator in 1946, called the “Instantron”, the company then called “Mahler’s, Inc.” and “Dermacare”, a second company that handled the home units. The company changed the name to “Instantron CO” in the late 60’s, and dropped the home line completely, and concentrated on education and growing the equipment and supply business into an international company. Now all our equipment is state of the art computerized circuits. That is a very concise history of part of my family’s 3 generation business, Instantron Co.
Thank you, Josefa. Our representative in Germany, Iris Gminski, os one of many fine instructors around the world, and shows our equipment with great knowledge and expertise.
The very fast timing is only one feature that make Instantron Epilators comfortable and successful for thousands of Electrologists through many decades of education and sales.
We pride ourselves on straight-forward design without made-up terminology or needless features. You will find our epilators lasting on average 20 years or longer without needing service.
Just don’t run over your Probeholder with your stool as I sometimes do…