I am an African American with a light complexion and looking to have hair on my chin removed. The hairs are either dark or blond, but after trying waxing and plucking, I always get ingrown hairs which then leaves discolored areas.
I spoke with a dermatologist about laser, and said that I would not be a good candidate for laser.
I have been looking for someone in the Philadelphia area who is very good at electrolysis on black skin.
I had a couple of people recommend Lucy Peters in Bryn Mawr, PA.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have an appointment for a consultation in the morning.
Does anyone have any experiences good, bad or otherwise with Lucy Peters?
I used to go to their location in Dallas. They did good work, but their prices were VERY high and they were fond of telling me horror stories of what would happen if I went to anybody else. They used to be a big deal, but I don’t think they even have an office in the area anymore.
Lucy Peters International was the company that became “The McDonald’s of electrolysis.” They would open locations anywhere they could get investors and would train people who signed non-compete clauses to work for them. The big thing was they had finance plans, and took credit cards when all the small time operations and spare room outfits could not process a charge.
This lead to people suing when they signed deals for $20,000 to $60,000 up front for work, and then later they either wanted to break the contract, or they felt the speed of treatment, and/or level of permanence was not what they expected.
I am not a fan of their sales department, nor of their “just get 'em on the work floor” training, but I do admire the fact that they did grow to be an outfit that had many locations all over the place, and were making enough money to afford full page advertising in publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today.
Its too bad that they did not continue to upgrade their training, equipment and so on. They did, however prove the difficulty of running an electrolysis franchise. Simply put, you can’t keep your employees from leaving you and starting their own business, even if it is just seeing 5 to 10 customers they found at your place, who now see them at their home while paying half the price they paid the corporation, but the former employee is now making more than twice as much as they made working for the company.
(Of course, I have always wondered why this same principle did not transfer to auto mechanics. After all, wouldn’t you rather pay your auto mechanic $25 per hour to do a tune up at his home on a Saturday after noon, get your car done faster, and your mechanic actually gets to keep the money you are giving him?)
Check them out for a free consultation and a free sample treatment, but also look for a few other electrologists and get sample treatments there too. Compare everything and make a decision based on your expriences.