MY FACE: laser or electrolysis? (Pics)

[wishingwell]

Happy Holidays everyone… me again.

Was wondering what the experts here think of electrolysis versus laser for my face. See attached pics. This is mostly all the hair I have. I haven’t really plucked in years, mostly only shave, and this is after letting it grow in a few days. The majority of it is on and my chin/neck area, and upper and lower lip. And it’s then sporadic on the sides of my face. I’m speculating about 500ish total hairs I want destroyed.

Anywho I went to see an aesthetician who has years experience doing both electrolysis and laser… and she seemed a bit on the fence as to which option would be best for me. I’m pretty fair skinned and most of my facial hair is coarse and dark… but there is some that’s coarse and light. I heard laser can be stubborn on the face, so not sure if it’s even worth it to do laser and should I just do full electrolysis. But the aesthetician seems to think I could get some decent thinning with the laser, killing more at a time… then finish up with electrolysis. I’m not sure which option is the cheapest in the long run? I’m also concerned with laser stimulation, but the aesthetician said she has barely ever seen that… only in cases where the wrong laser was used on ethnic skin.

I had Lucy Peter’s electrolysis done many years ago. I went religiously for about 3 months and I saw absolutely no progress from it. I know I didn’t go nearly long enough, but thought I’d see some of the hairs die. I’m just nervous on choosing the best option for this now that I’m ready to finally knock this out.

Thanks for your feedback…

qwerty Attachments

[Deedra]

Well, three months is not long enough to finish the job for laser or electrolysis. They both take about 12-18 months because of the nature of hair growth cycles. I’m sure Lucy Peters would have had you finished by now if you had stayed on a proper schedule.

Laser will affect some of those hairs, but you will still need electrolysis at some point. Laser is REDUCTION, so, why not start out with electrolysis, get cleared ASAP and then visit your Electrologist every 3 or 4 weeks FOR THE FIRST 4-6 months. After that, your appointments will be spaced farther apart and your sessions should require less time on the table. I would use a thermolysis modality that is great for tough, big, fat hairs like yours and I believe you would need no more than 5 or 6 hours to get that precious first clearance.

Take before pictures, much like you did above. You don’t realize how much progress you are making until you refer back to pre- electrolysis of laser pictures.

Choosing electrolysis for your face offers much advantage. The hair doesn’t have to be very long. The hair is treated and lifted out right on the spot - you don’t have to wait for it to shed and be stuck in the follicle for three weeks like you do with laser. If you have any light hair, red hair, gray hair, light brown hair, electrolysis can affect those hairs right on the spot, along with the dark hairs. You leave with a clear face. No five o clock shadow.

There are many skilled electrologists that can handle your hair problem, but the hard part is finding those highly skilled Electrologists that can remove those hairs efficiently and with much confidence. We are not all the same in our strategy / approach , so check out your local talent with short appointments to see what you think . Give the Electrologist a chance to figure out good levels. She may not know what the best approach is for you in the first ten minutes because many times, there are several good ways to do this, so give her a chance to figure things out. Once she is satisfied that she has found the best energy levels and probe for you, then nothing will stop her!

If you decide to do laser reduction, you still will need an Electrologist to finish the job. I do think the hair structures will be responsive to laser if the the laser specialist is highly skilled and uses plenty of energy that affect the hair the first time around.

[fenix]

I’m curious what instructions you received at Lucy Peters when they started working on you. Did they explain how long the process should take before you can expect noticeable changes? Lucy Peters is a highly regarded brand name still so they should be competent in their skill.
With the amount of hair you have, I’d focus on finding an electrologist as that should be more economical and less time consuming overall than having to take a gamble and predict how much laser will benefit you and then still having to continue with electrolysis later on. Remember the process will take more than a year no matter which route you choose.

If you’re in NYC still, I recommend Arlene Batz in Queens. She zaps a lot of face hair cases with success.

[wishingwell]

Well, three months is not long enough to finish the job for laser or electrolysis. They both take about 12-18 months because of the nature of hair growth cycles. I’m sure Lucy Peters would have had you finished by now if you had stayed on a proper schedule.

I had to stop because of the cost, it was insanely expensive for me at the time…and I was potentially losing my job. But also, I broke out terrible after every treatment with those acne/pustule thingies. I had seen other electrologists prior to Lucy Peters, and I got the exact same reaction. My girl at LP was applying a cream-based ointment to my face when we were done, and so we later stopped that in case that was the reason. I also then began washing my face with warm water and a sensitive skin cleanser as soon as I got home each time…just in case the needles were dirty (that’s how I was thinking anyway). I never applied anything to my face after that. I was just worried it was going to start scarring my skin which is what makes me lean toward laser…

[wishingwell]

I’m curious what instructions you received at Lucy Peters when they started working on you. Did they explain how long the process should take before you can expect noticeable changes? Lucy Peters is a highly regarded brand name still so they should be competent in their skill.
With the amount of hair you have, I’d focus on finding an electrologist as that should be more economical and less time consuming overall than having to take a gamble and predict how much laser will benefit you and then still having to continue with electrolysis later on. Remember the process will take more than a year no matter which route you choose.

If you’re in NYC still, I recommend Arlene Batz in Queens. She zaps a lot of face hair cases with success.

Good points, thx.

It was so long ago, I barely remember. I believe she said it would take 12 months. So after 3 months, I guess I was expecting to see something along 25% reduction and I just didn’t see anything. I felt like I would notice since I have the hairs memorized on my face.

I hear a lot that electrolysis is cheaper than laser… but I’m not sure what I’m missing. I can get a package of 6 laser treatments for my face (and some other body parts) for about $1,000. And then after that, I only have to pay $45 for touch-ups as needed. If I do I electrolysis alone, I’m assuming I would need 100 hours minimum… so that’s $10K to start (at $100/hr).

[wishingwell]

Well, three months is not long enough to finish the job for laser or electrolysis. They both take about 12-18 months because of the nature of hair growth cycles. I’m sure Lucy Peters would have had you finished by now if you had stayed on a proper schedule.

Laser will affect some of those hairs, but you will still need electrolysis at some point. Laser is REDUCTION, so, why not start out with electrolysis, get cleared ASAP and then visit your Electrologist every 3 or 4 weeks FOR THE FIRST 4-6 months. After that, your appointments will be spaced farther apart and your sessions should require less time on the table. I would use a thermolysis modality that is great for tough, big, fat hairs like yours and I believe you would need no more than 5 or 6 hours to get that precious first clearance.

Take before pictures, much like you did above. You don’t realize how much progress you are making until you refer back to pre- electrolysis of laser pictures.

Choosing electrolysis for your face offers much advantage. The hair doesn’t have to be very long. The hair is treated and lifted out right on the spot - you don’t have to wait for it to shed and be stuck in the follicle for three weeks like you do with laser. If you have any light hair, red hair, gray hair, light brown hair, electrolysis can affect those hairs right on the spot, along with the dark hairs. You leave with a clear face. No five o clock shadow.

There are many skilled electrologists that can handle your hair problem, but the hard part is finding those highly skilled Electrologists that can remove those hairs efficiently and with much confidence. We are not all the same in our strategy / approach , so check out your local talent with short appointments to see what you think . Give the Electrologist a chance to figure out good levels. She may not know what the best approach is for you in the first ten minutes because many times, there are several good ways to do this, so give her a chance to figure things out. Once she is satisfied that she has found the best energy levels and probe for you, then nothing will stop her!

If you decide to do laser reduction, you still will need an Electrologist to finish the job. I do think the hair structures will be responsive to laser if the the laser specialist is highly skilled and uses plenty of energy that affect the hair the first time around.

Thanks Dee. Lucy Peters was able to clear me in about 2.5 hours I believe…I know it was less than 3 hours. (I think I had her skip my upper lip… the pain was too much for me there.)

So how long do you think those first treatment sessions would be for those first 4-6 months? And how much does it get reduced to usually after that point?