So every so once in a while , a case comes to your door which presents a larger challenge than usual. As an electrologist what do you do when you are estimating such a case? How can you make a reasonable estimate if you have never taken on a case so complex? Have you ever taken on a case where you felt completely ill advised to quote your usual amount? One such case walked into my office a year ago. And since we report both out successes…and our failures, well I’m here to report my failure in this case to remove all the hair I wanted to, in the standard 100 hours. Not even close. in fact if I were to take a guess, I would guess I am still at good 200 more hours into this single facial case. How could I be so off? Why arent I upset? Why isnt the client upset that the total bill is likely to be triple my original conservative estimate?
Well the answer is…drumroll…every case is different! There will be such cases that will come up and TEST YOUR METAL as an electrologist. And this , both the client and I realized, right from the outset, that this was probably one of those cases.What makes a case take so much time?
I can tell you some of the reasons ( not all). Some particularities that make this case different. when it comes to estimating. Starting with Genetics and age So let me start by saying that , yes, this case is a transgender beard removal in its entirety. Genetically speaking this client is of mixed scotch/ Irish and possibly some North African Descent. So we see presented an entire rainbow of hair colours, red, blonde, grey, dark brown, every colour possible shows up in this beard. They are late thirties and generally quite a bit on the stocky side as to build and as to hair density, it was the densest hair I had ever seen on anyone in my office ever before. The stocky build meant there was generally more skin in the facial area ( maybe 1 1/2 times more) that in a typical case. But it was the hair density that made this job, more challenging than most to fit into the time frame.
I was thinning each section for months and months every week 2 hours a week. As of next month, it will have been 1 year, and we just turned 102 hours of electrolysis . So, by all the standards of those clients that are in a hurry we should be done right? Not even close. It still takes me an hour 1/2 to clear each cheek and that is down from 5 hours a year ago. The chin still takes on average 3-4 hours to clear the whole thing and the upper lip, nearly 2.
Hormonal balance too can make a huge difference. This person started hormone therapy just after we started doing electrolysis. This surely will have an effect.
So whats the answer as to how many hours will it take? Does this one case mean I need to adjust all my estimates for all other cases ? Well the answer, strait forwardly, is no. Every other case has proceded on schedule. And when I consulted with this client a year ago, I levelled with them! I told them the standardd time frame i quote is 100 or so hours on a typical case but that I DID expect their case to take longer because of the sheer volume of hair to be treated. I’m one of the fastest electrologist in my city and average 700 or more hairs in an hour, but I honestly thought, this was going to take me 300 hours. And so far, I have not been proven wrong. And that… is a complete guess.
The client is noticing more skin and less hair. We moved to complete clearances 2 months ago and its been going well.
All this is to say, every single case is different. Just when you think you’ve seen it all a case like this walks in the door. She wont be the last case to surprise me with the volume of work to be done. I’m very lucky to have such a great client.
So if anyone is wondering about the bill, I charge $175 for 2 hour session which comes out to 197.75 with HST, meaning she spent $10,085.25 to get what I estimate , 1/3- 1/2 of the way. A year of saturday afternoons making this , hands down, my most expensive beard removal to date.
Every case is different folks. And I’d like to mention, that the client, isnt upset, at all. She expected this. She’s seeing the progress. It’s taking less and less time and her face is more skin between the hairs. No reason to be upset.