Megasessions for beard reduction advice needed

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#21

Sigma lucky for me my white hairs are pretty evenly distributed throughout my beard so if I woke up one day without them my beard wouldn’t really look splotchy just thinner overall really!

Well Lucky prob isn’t the best choice of words since i’m only 32 and have about 30-40% white in my beard,ha. Funny since turning 30 the increase of white facial hair has slowed down quite a bit. Went through an incredibly stressful period in my late 20’s which really increased the rate of white hair’s popping up. One of the biggest gripes I’ve been having with the white hairs is there even coarser then the darker ones are so shaving without irritation is an even bigger issue now .

#22

It is a tremendous difference and I’m so glad I’ve done it. There’s not much irritation since the hair was so much sparser at that point. Early on, I had a bit of scabbing and redness. It wasn’t horrible or super noticeable but it was there. People who were close to my face could probably tell I had something done. I’m guessing it was probably a little closer to 150 or so. I didn’t do full clearances like people on this forum frequently do – I basically worked 3 hours in one area, then came back the week after and had that area recleared and expanded, so it was like this little bald spot that kept growing every week. There was always some regrowth but you could tell it was less each week. I used to get a lot of irritation shaving as well, but now it’s nice that I can do it all with an electric razor for a few minutes once a week. My guess is that based on your beard, it will be hard to find an electrologist willing to do super long sessions. It would be much more manageable to go weekly for a few hours at a time.

#23

one of my concerns with doing the small weekly sessions is will I be able to shave in this time period without severe irritation? Or if I’m going often will there always be an area on my face with irritation>? Redness isn’t too bad but shaving over scabbing would certainly be a problem though. Right now I have my facial hair grown in a bit as I’m sick of shaving irritation but from what i gather it’s important for the hair to be short during electrolysis treatment so it’s going to be difficult shaving daily when my face is constantly scabbing over in places? Or does the scabbing not last more then a few days after treatment? Wow even having the option to shave with an electric razor is quite the achievement. Anytime I tried using one of them in highschool I ended up looking like I was attacked with one of those metal bristle brushes used to clean a grill.

Because I’m starting with the white hairs my course of action in early treatment should be pretty clearcut. No full clearances either just a little less white each week.

Anxious to get started! My biggest worry at this point is finding someone reputable to work with that has experience with doing extensive facial hair work. That list you gave me has several practitioners in my area but if i’m unable to find any sort of reviews/comments of there work online it’s basically a stab in the dark! What questions should I be asking when screening the different clinicians in my area?

#24

You can shave but the areas that haven’t been treated yet will still have the same density so you would probably have the same irritation level. Scabbing lasts about a week or so. I’ve also had some treatments on my face where I didn’t scab at all. Most electrologists will ask for you not to shave 24-48 hours in advance so they can grab the hair with tweezers.

The list I gave (if it’s the laura’s playground one) is a list compiled by people who have transitioned and use those electrologists. It’s a stab in the dark yes, but I have seen multiple people on the list and have been satisfied with all of them. This thread might help too:

Try running a search on here for what to ask an electrologist. I know there have been a large number of threads about it so others will come up besides that one I just linked to

#25

Yeah that’s really not a big deal at all really since as of right now I shave with a beard and mustache trimmer with the guard off. Between my natural irritation level and the added coarseness of the white hairs shaving with a razor is just too much of a time consuming burden now. I may even grow a couple weeks worth of stubble and maintain that to help disguise the irritation from treatments. Is having some facial hair frowned upon during treatment? I imagine it wouldn’t be since like you said would give the electrolysis’s more to grab on to?

Ok that’s good to know as I imagine transitioning folks tend to need much more treatments then say someone getting light work like there upper lip area done only.Most of the cookie cutter electryosis professionals you see advertised seem to really cater to that clientele only.

Now For extensive facial hair such as mine should I look for someone that deals with blend, Thermolysis, or galvanic?

Yeah I remember running some searches about 8 or 9 months ago when I first decided I wanted to do this. tried finding recommended electroysis professionals on here in the south jersey/philadelphia area but couldn’t find anything except for some basic lists of people that do electrolysis. Nothing solid. i’ll search again though and check out that thread you sent me for sure!

Thanks for answering my questions Brenton. You’ve been very helpful!

#26

Growing a little out is fine. You don’t want it so long that everytime they use tweezer, she’s grabbing multiple hairs when you only want her to grab one. Thus, it’s worth giving about 24-48 hours of growth where it’s long enough to grab but not long enough that it looks like a mess.

The list I gave will certainly treat non-TG individuals as well. I have yet to meet anyone who only worked on TG people (there are some who give TG people a big discount). As for the type of electrolysis, it doesn’t matter. I think thermolysis is most common just because it goes fastest. I wouldn’t go to anyone for galvanic (it works, but it’s slow). I’ve had blend and thermolysis done – both have worked very well.

Good luck, and glad I could help!

#27

Thanks for the heads up on galvanic. A couple of the practitioners I was going to mail used galvanic so I’ll cross them off my list. Because of the density of my facial hair and my desire to be finished in less than a year I certainty don’t want to employ the slowest electrolysis method. Also initially would it be ok to perhaps use multiple electrolysis practitioners until I see see gives me the best overall results? Seems like it would speed the process up a bit. Did you have blend and thermolysis done from different practitioners or did yours use both methods?

thanks again!

#28

I would suggest getting consultations at different ones and seeing which you like best. You mentioned in the other thread that you were looking for Philly/south Jersey area. Perhaps this thread will help:

I’ve had both blend and thermolysis done from both different practitioners and the same ones (sometimes they’d switch methods on certain hairs).

#29

The one professional recommend on that thread is quoting 200-400 hours worth of treatment for male beard hair! That’s sounds like a lot of hours! I imagine they must be using galvanic. There site seems professional looking enough though.

#30

Oh … 200-400 hours? Wow, now that certainly "narrows it down?’

The key questions should be: 1) how many beards (real number) have you completed? 2) And, what was your average TTT (total treatment time) for this work? If the person has been practicing for, say, 10 years he or she should compile their records and start doing the math.

I don’t think any practitioner should be compared to anyone else! However, the practitioner should have her/his own statistics. I mean, it’s only important what THAT PERSON can deliver.

Full bear removal is a daunting task for both electrologist and client. I’m >97% done with what will be my LAST & final beard. It’s going to come-in less than 100 hours (TTT). Now, I’m going for the easy stuff: backs, chests and underarms … comparing these areas to beard work … "piece of cake!’

Furthermore, I doff my toupee to all those working on BEARDS! You “guys” RULE!

(And, no more “culos” neither … maybe?)

#31

That’s the thing with the mentality i mentioned a while ago. The 200++ is actually a typical number You hear from many of the Electrologists in Germany (but in my vicinity there are some colleagues working efficiently).

My beard - still not done despite 300+ hours - has been treated with fast thermolysis and with blend.

#32

Rottingman,

I dont think you can determine modality from the estimate. I have seen faces that will take 200 hours without a doubt. I have also seen faces that some of the pro’s here could finish in 100 hours. That’s not all the electrologists here, but a good percentage of them. They are considered the elite in their field though and the same quality of work may or may not be available in your area.
I can say I (probably?) spent 200+ hours on my own face using primarily blend. I deliberately didnt keep track and dont have 10 years of data to rely on for those I’ve worked on but a 200 hour estimate doesnt seem entirely unreasonable.

Seana

#33

I wanted to jump in again on TTT for beard removal.

At the old Hinkel (Wilshire) school of Electrology (Hollywood), we had about 12 workstations. More than half of our "patrons’ were full beard removal cases. I don’t know the exact dates, but the school was open for decades and trained hundreds of electrologists. We worked on patrons all day long … (I loved my time at school.)

Hinkel would tell prospective beard patrons that, on average, you can expect 100 hours of work to complete your beard work. Now, this was based on STUDENT work … not experts.

At the time, Hinkel charged $15 per hour for student work. Accordingly, a full beard removal, and we did hundreds, would cost roughly $1,500.

If the person quoting the 200 - 400 hours is charging, say, $100 per hour (a common fee these days), the beard removal would cost a mere $20,000 to $40,000. Almost enough to buy a new "Jag!’ And, I would like to have one … but I can’t even afford a “Hond Fit!” Nice though.

#34

Not nice. As a client neither because of the long time of pain nor for my purse.