My experience with Vaniqa

Hair Removal Methods Prescription topical (Vaniqa)
#41

Well, I think so. I wasn’t sure how long a typical male beard took, but yeah, it looks like that’s right.

She uses a blend, I know that, but I’ve never heard of fast or slow so I can’t take a guess. Hairs per minute are hard to estimate, really. I’ve never counted and don’t get a real sense of when she’s getting one to be able to count. I’m not sure what you mean by compare to the examples. Can you point me to a link?

I’d say it takes a few seconds a hair, she tests it by tugging a bit, leaves the probe in a bit more, etc. The hairs don’t just come out in one second or anything, but, um, maybe more like 5 seconds? I’m guessing wildly here. Maybe I have skin that scars easily (not that I’m aware of though) so she is careful to not over-treat any hairs? Though that was a problem when they were really dense, and they’re not that now. Maybe she’s doing longer per hair now to really get them dead? gosh.

She’s a really sensitive person, and I’ve been reluctant to just bluntly ask if she’s not doing it right (hell, how can you ask that anyway, of anyone?), and I know she’d notice if I just left her after all these years and tried someone else, so I do feel a bit stuck. She gives me a break after all this time, charging much less than the posted prices, so I suppose in some way it’s evening out, though now I know I’m going to be hitting the menopause years at some point and maybe never will have actual hair-free years before I start growing new ones for real.

I know this isn’t a problem anyone can solve for me, really. Either I have an uncomfortable interaction with her explaining I suspect that it’s her technique that’s been keeping me here all these years, which will crush her (yeah, I know it shouldn’t but it will and it’s hard to look at a person and do that even if it isn’t your fault), or I just keep going once a month and keep knocking the remaining hairs out at this rate. It’s clearly working on some level. sigh.

I guess I’d feel better if I knew she was doing it right and it’s just an unusual situation, but I don’t know how to evaluate her. She does say that most other people end faster, but I don’t know if that’s just sort of covering her butt or what. I have a hard time believing she’d lie to me, since she’s really the guileless type. I dunno.

#42

Oh, and this strange thing happened that I think about a lot.

So, we moved to a new area, something that was low priority at first and not officially bugging me, but you know how things change and your bar gets lowered?

Well, for me it was the space below my bottom lip, in the center. I’d had longer hairs there, but not very coarse. And it was a painful place, so I didn’t want to do it before. I decided to tackle it.

She went quickly since it was so painful to me, but I started realizing that I thought maybe she was removing them before they were ready just so she could spare me and go quicker. I wasn’t sure. Then I started noticing that they were growing in thicker and more coarse! I asked, but she said it was probably just the timing of things, a coincidence, and that they were going to be thicker anyway, something like that. I was suspicious, and then later just said “hey, I can take the pain, do what you need to do and no need to go quickly. I really want those hairs dead, so treat them as long as you can, and I’ll take it.” I gritted myself, and she has done as I asked. And yeah, the hairs have been getting lighter ever since, though it’s taking still a long time.

I’m not sure who is right, though. It could be a coincidence, and I could be growing hair there more now, for sure. But it’s hard to deny that they got worse with treatment at first. I really feel like it’s hard to critique her as a non-professional, but it made me uneasy. Now, I don’t know how long a lighter hair would take to make coarser since I don’t pluck them myself anymore (and never did in that location) so I don’t have a comparison, but I wonder what you all think.

#43

Oh, and lastly, what would the professionals among you think if a client of 6 years left you without adequate explanation, or the converse, if they left you saying they didn’t feel you were doing it right? After 6 years of supposed satisfaction with your work? How would you take it? What kind of conversation would you expect?

#44

I’m sorry this thread died while we were mid convo. Is there a better place for me to post these questions?

#45

Sorry this was missed, but it was New Years Eve/Day!

So, you are talking about the “billy goat” area , middle under lip. If a hair is treated properly, it doesn’t grow back thicker and darker. Those are probably new hairs. It can be an ouchy area, but usually, just removing the biggest, darker hairs only takes a few minutes. There are are a mixture of colors and structures that have shedding hairs, growing hairs and transitioning hairs, living side by side. Some hairs will slide out nicely and and some are hopelessly stuck in place with super glue. If you get a first clearance, the next group of hairs to appear may be more pigmented due to the fact that they are new hairs,not hairs that were treated last time. So do give her a chance with this NEW area. She uses blend and that is a great modality, but if I were to use PicoFlash thermolysis, that would work as well. It all comes down to what we know best and our comfort level.

Six years is a lot time. If your appointments are short and you don’t get cleared of all bothersome hair each and every time, then I can understand the six year gig.

I hope to NEVER have a conversation with a client about why they have been seeing me at regular intervals for six years. That would be very awkward. Unless they are on long term steroids and Provera, I would think that something is wrong with this picture. That is a lot of time. I don’t know all the details of your case or what your hair problem looks like, so don’t take my word as gospel. I just know that I have never seen anyone continuously for six years. Most people would have just quit out of desperation and not said anything or they would have quit and tried out a some other electrologists to compare, probably without an explanation. Do what you feel is right. No feedback when you are not happy doesn’t make her a better practitioner. We all need feedback and it can be presented in a respectful, polite and helpful way.

As I flip through my charts, I occasionally say, “Hey! What happened to her?”.People come and go, sometimes before I know they are finished. Hopefully, they disappear because they are happy with the results. Who knows what clients say about me when they quit too soon. I don’t take it personally if they don’t tell me why they have not returned. It’s their business. It could be related to money or their need to satisfy their urge to tweeze or because they never grasped the principles of hair growth cycles and how electrolysis works. If they were unhappy with me, I would be happy to hear what they say and try to work it out with them. If they were asking the impossible of me, I would sugest they go to someone else. Good luck deciding what to do.

#46

Thanks for your reply. I only checked just now since there was a lag.

And yeah, it’s been that long. I have an hour+ appointment each time, and do get clearance (minus the full upper lip, which I cannot endure). And every month, there’s still more regrowth. It’s certainly way less then when we started, but every time I get that regrowth at about the 3 week mark, I get suspicious and depressed again. Is she plucking? Pulling them out too early? Do I just have some weird growth situation that makes me unusual? She insists she’s never had anyone stay this long, but who knows if that’s true?

As for “billy goat,” all my hairs there are light and fine, just long and dense. That was the same for my bottom lip middle area, but as soon as she started treating those, they grew in thicker. She was going quickly on each hair since it hurt so much, and I suspected that resulted in “plucking,” meaning treating too briefly and then pulling anyway. I asked her to go longer even though it hurt a huge amount and as soon as she did, they started growing back less. I’m afraid she’ll do the same on the even-more-painful center upper lip, so I’m just not doing that area in fear. I’m considering Vaniqa just for that area, but I don’t know if it works on hair that is technically vellus, just long.

I don’t know how to leave her without admitting a lack of faith after all these years. I mean, I did have a lot of hair, and it was very thick after many years of plucking. Man-beard thick. With very dense patches, making treatment difficult. Thats no longer the case, and things are definitely sparse and hairs are definitely thinner. Something must have been working. And I’m now approaching menopause time, wondering if I’ll just get new growth now and have to do this monthly for the rest of my life.

Should I be complaining about having to go once a month? I’m not sure. Maybe that’s normal. One hour or so, once a month. I feel like I must be close to the end now, since the hairs have much more space around them, and there are nowhere near as many, but I can’t tell if I’m lying to myself and that just five dang appointments with someone else would end this forever already. She keeps telling me that the new growth I’m still getting is hairs on their own cycle, that probably haven’t shown up for treatment in a long time, and we’re just spending time getting through all the cycles, but how long can that be true?

Sigh.

#50

I was told by several pharmacists a week ago and today that Vaniqa is being discontinued in the United States. I have had no negative reactions to Vaniqa in about 10 years use (off and on). Is Vaniqa or its generic form available anywhere else? I did not do well with electrolysis or any other method. I bought my last tube today. Thanks in advance for any updates and further information on this subject.