This is very much true. I became very surprised learning about different techniques used in hair removal, both for electrolysis and laser. Of course the technique for laser is a bit more… limiting if you will. It’s the electrolysis techniques that are more interesting because they are so varied. It was also fun telling one electrologist “Oh, I’ve met this person” and hearing them tell me that they know of that person and how they don’t like their technique.
30J is 30J. That’s your energy no matter what. The pulse width however determines how quickly those 30J are delivered. Think of it this way: You give some energy to the hair. That energy will dissipate rather quickly. So, the faster you can give that energy, the faster the hair will heat up so it can be killed, which needs to be done before the hair essentially cools itself back down.
I also agree with you about laser techs not always aware of what they’re doing. I don’t know where you’ve been treated, but I will say that in my experience, I have had much better treatments at dermatologists’ offices rather than “spas.” I went to a place where they have “policy” settings… it doesn’t work (or if it does, you have to wait a long time before they’re willing to increase the settings to where you have a chance of it working.) After this spa I went to, I learned about a dermatologist’s office through someone on hairtell (it’s about a 1 hour, 15 minute drive from me.) Knowing what I do now, I wish I just started there to begin with. So from my experience, I would try to find a recommendation either on here, or start with a dermatologist’s office. The dermatologist might be more expensive (the one I go to actually is very competitive, if not cheaper than some of the spas, but I think that’s a rare occurrence)… but from my experience, they seem more willing to use higher settings.