The 328 is a good, although older style computerized machine. The company no longer makes them. Needless to say, it is not a VMC, but it does work, and could do well for a home user willing to learn how to use it. The company still supports the unit as well, so maintenance is not an issue.
>Although it is possible his mother paid $4,000 when she bought it (I don’t >think so, it wasn’t until recently that any epilator was legitimately listed at >more than $2,000) I can tell you that this very model can be purchased >brand new from the company today for $1945.00US plus tax and shipping.
that’s good to know. I couldn’t verify its new purchase price anywhere.
>It is a good machine, it is just having a hard time selling because they are >out pricing themselves when a computerized unit can be had for the same >price.
What would be an example of a good computerized blend unit?
>You can insert the probe and tap one foot for thermolysis, and the other >for galvanic, or both together for blend. Keep in mind that if one won’t find >and go to a great electrologist, I recommend DEO Electrolysis (Do Each >Other Electrolysis) as it is safer than DIY.
I am going to a good electrologist. I told her I was interested in buying my own unit and she said she’d help me gain the skills to do this for myself. I will continue to go to her until my face is done (I’ve been going weekly for almost 8 months now, and anticipate maybe another 6-8 months), but will probably start on things like my stomach or legs myself, which are places I can see and reach much more easily.
Will it be odd to use two feet? Do they have machines that blend the two into one pedal? Or are those the “computerized models” you referred to before? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
>Since it is manual, there are no presets, you have to figure out your own >treatment settings. Since it uses stereo knobs, you have to guesstimate >what those settings are, and you can’t exactly duplicate the settings in the >future if you change to something else.
Yes, I see your point, especially considering that different parts of the body can take different levels.
Is this a big enough stumbling block that a beginner would just want to avoid manual models entirely, or is it that it will just take some time to get used to, etc?
Thanks for weighing in. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
amy
Ok, I’m replying to myself! I couldn’t figure out how to post something new in the 5 minutes I have right now. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
So here are my current choices (pun intended!):
uniprobe autoblend, for roughly $500
hinkel UC3+ for 850 (that ebay guy is also selling it locally in the classifieds)
or
aplius jr, also in the same local classifieds, for $1000
Clearly the uniprobe is the most affordable, but what will I be compromising on? Does it do flash? If not, will I even care since that is not a skill I will have for a long while? As long as it does basic blend and I can set things, wont that be enough? Or will I really regret not getting some computerized version like the really expensive apilus jr?
I admit that I want to get a “good” machine, and like bells and whistles that make things easier for beginners, but dont want to just decide that way when a $500 machine would do me ok.
sigh. big money decisions, and on a subject that I have no experience with just yet.
amy
The uniprobe will do the job ok, and I wish those people buying “One Touch” would just try to find a used Uniprobe machine instead.
What you miss out on is the easy beginning that a computerized machine with presets will bring you. See, Electrolysis is kind of upside down on use of machines. The less skill you have, the better off you are with a more “Bells and Whistles” laden machine. The better skilled you become, the more capable you are of effecting good treatment with a crude device made on the fly by MacGyver with table salt, backing soda, a sewing needle, and coat hangers. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
The compromise for price and ease of first use would be an apilus, Fischer, or a Sil-Tone computerized model. Good machines that will last forever, but will require you to know what you are dialing up would be the Clarablend, Hinkle, Instantron, Sterex, and Uniprobe.
I don’t believe this seller paid $5,500 for this VMC brand new, because I paid $3,000 for my VMC, brand new, a little over a year ago. This price is way too high to pay. It is the top of the line equipment for hair removal, no doubt, but it is used.
Maybe Apilus knows something we don’t about what the public will bear for the price of a great electrolysis machine. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> I remember when the SX-500 debuted at the then outrageous price of $5,000 while the Silhouet Tone VMC tried to get close to that price but quickly backed off it by offering a “Trade In Special” that gave you $1,000 to $1,500 back if you traded in your old machine at a trade show. Prior to that the most expensive machines were no more than $2,500, and I remember when the most outrageously priced machine was only $1,500. The regular price of this VMC unit is currently $3,500 retail, and it only had a list price of $5,000 for a very short time.
I guess the person who paid $5,000 for a used Sihouet Tone VMC would love to finance a $10,000 Apilus Platinum and would find it a wonderful price indeed.
Unfortunately for Apilus, it is the Electrologists who are purchasing the machines, not the clients.
I admit that I want to get a “good” machine, and like bells and whistles that make things easier for beginners, but dont want to just decide that way when a $500 machine would do me ok.
If you’re nervous about gambling near $2K on an epilator, I would get the cheapest possible thermolysis machine, and use it for a while to figure out whether the tedium of electrolysis will work for you. If and when you become confident of your skills and persistence, buy a really great machine to finish the job.
If you’re nervous about gambling near $2K on an epilator, I would get the cheapest possible thermolysis machine, and use it for a while to figure out whether the tedium of electrolysis will work for you. If and when you become confident of your skills and persistence, buy a really great machine to finish the job.
you would start with thermolysis?! from all ive been reading it seems that that is the hardest skill to master. no?
shouldn’t i start with either straight electrolysis or blend?
the machine i have in mind still is the UC3+. oh hell, i dunno. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
amy
you would start with thermolysis?! from all ive been reading it seems that that is the hardest skill to master. no?
“Thermolysis” generally refers to slow thermolysis, with epilation times of longer than a few seconds.
“Flash” refers to fast thermolysis, with epilation times of less than a second.
Thermolysis is slower than the blend but faster than galvanic. It’s damn near useless, because anyone who might do thermolysis would just do the blend instead, but it is cheap to acquire and would allow you to figure out whether the process of insertion and removal will work for you when iterated thousands of times.
I must point out that the thermolysis used in professional units is in no way to be confused with the so-called thermolysis used in the home RF devices sold by mail order. Even an old style pro thermolysis unit would be treating hairs in as little as a tenth of a second. Some old style units allow you to set them for longer than a second, but most modern professional thermolysis machines don’t have a duration setting longer than 1 second, and it is difficult to set the machine reliably with an intensity of less than one tenth of a second.
I’m talking about thermolysis only machines such as the Uniprobe Lite ($399) and the older machines we occasionally see on Ebay. My Uniprobe Autoblend will do thermolysis as fast as a few seconds, but no Flash, and I assume the Uniprobe Lite is similar. From our comments about the old machines, I thought they generally did slow thermolysis only.
Yes, they don’t do Flash, or any of the faster Flashes, but they usually have the potential to do anything from a low treatment over a long duration, to a high treatment in a quicker space of time.
It just gets us back to the idea that an unskilled person who does something wrong in Galvanic, is unlikely to sit still for the full treatment, and by the time you know you did something wrong in thermolysis, the damage is done.
Now if the person did a slow thermolysis, or repeated foot tapping, they have a better chance of controlling things better.
I agree that Thermolysis machines are usually cheaper in the used market, but the reason is because they are something that the average person can’t use well out of the box, and those who can use them well, have other choices. Most notably, the average electrologist wants a machine that can do all three methods, even if they primarily use only one.
I agree that Thermolysis machines are usually cheaper in the used market, but the reason is because they are something that the average person can’t use well out of the box
Yeah, thermolysis sucks, for sure. But what’s preferable for the newbie to learn on and test their ability and willingness to perform electrolysis? Blend is only going to be faster, while Flash is obviously much faster.
Galvanic? It seems to me that Galvanic would have such long epilation times that it probably unnecessarily frustrates beginners. But a One Touch would certainly be a cheap way to get started.
Fischer TS-1 Pr-Therm - Electrolysis equipment
Back again, this time supposedly for the last time.
Thermolysis only. Don’t know if it goes to high enough intensities to effectively epilate at the 1/10 second it promises.