Today I had a consultation with a local electrolysis practitioner. As I have moved, I am now way too far from my old electrologist to continue treatment. The electrologist I met with today uses blend only. Up until now I have only ever had thermolysis, so I was curious as to how it would feel (she offers a free 15 minute sample session during the consult.)
To me it felt like somebody holding a rapidly heating matchstick or similar against my skin followed by a tiny “zap” of thermolysis. I wouldn’t say it was any more or less painful than what I am used to, it was just different. It’s definitely not as fast as thermolysis; I would say each hair took about 10 seconds. However, I was surprised to see at the end of my 15 minute session that she had actually cleared a decent sized area. Apparently my unwanted hairs are longish but relatively sparse. She uses an old Fischer epilator, but as has been pointed out operator skill is more important than the machine. I felt no tugging at all; if anything the blend seemed to get my hairs to release easier than thermolysis did. At the end of our session she reversed the polarity of the machine and ran a wand over my skin to reduce the redness from the lye.
I will still get a few additional consultations, but I had a good feeling about the electrologist I met with today. My only doubt is to whether I might get faster results using somebody who does only thermolysis. Having said that, the electrologist I met with today is conveniently located and very affordable so I must factor that in, too. I will keep a close eye on my treatment area and see how I heal up as well; this obviously is a major deciding factor in my choices.