Hi Smurf. Do you recognize this arm? for me this skin is just perfect.
With all the noise in this industry from White Tower Elitists, who say they can clear a beard in some ridiculously small period of time, some miniscule number of appointments, while turning away people who try to make bookings with them, it is great to see someone posting more proof of what is actually being accomplished., and showing that one needn’t leave the client looking like someone played a game of darts with hot pokers on their face.
“and showing that one needn’t leave the client looking like someone played a game of darts with hot pokers on their face.”
Well said James, well said indeed.
Yes, I agree. All of us should post more photos of our work and the actual hours taken to complete the task. It would be great to post photos as we go along with the treatment. Just “claiming” this-and-that is only worthless twaddle. By posting actual photos with real time we can start to compile a catalogue of “standards of practice.” This would benefit all of us.
Showing our work CLEARLY will give the public much more confidence in electrolysis as the profession that DELIVERS. And, I’m sure that is the goal of all of us. (I need to get a better camera for close-ups. Nicely, cameras are pretty inexpensive these days. Okay … monday!)
Not accepting clients
I would like to elaborate on an interesting comment made above about “electrologists ‘refusing’ clients.” I know the comment was not directed at me per se, but it does bring up an interesting point that I would like to share with others.
Indeed, I do, from time to time, not accept a client. However, it’s typically for “their own good!” I have a 35-year friendship in Santa Barbara with Karen Stathis: she is a real PRO and a great person; a friend. She loves eyebrows and fine to moderate facial hair. She does a much better job artistically than I. (I always get frustrated with eyebrow cases!) So, it’s simple: I send these people to Karen.
In the last week, I sent Karen three clients. She phoned me, said “thanks” and we had a great chat about our (former) music careers. Karen, by contrast, will not “work below the belt” (male or female) and avoids massive hair jobs like beards and backs. For me, that’s what I want to do. It’s fun for me; she sends me these clients. Our relationship has been “made in heaven” for decades.
On a personal level, I will sometimes not work with a client that I feel is not psychologically a good fit. This rarely happen, but I feel it’s my right not to drive myself crazy (at this point in my career). I also avoid “clients of last resort.” Those clients that have tried “everything,” continue to “mangle” themselves with waxing and excessive tweezing … throw in a laser treatment here and there and not keeping to any schedule (you know 2 treatments per year for a BACK!).
Point is, I’m always looking to hit a “hone run” every time. I hate failure and want to pick a client that is going to finish up and be totally thrilled with the results. Good news travels fast … BAD news travels FASTER!
ooops, make that HOME run
To my testers: Ok ladies, the next versions of the 2.5’s will leave for your respective offices today. I took the overall length back to a standard short ( 3/16" ) and put the fast taper on them so they will be quite rigid compared to the standard .002" Probe.
The standard .002" Probe carries a .035" exposed tip length. We’ve already proven that shortening that length to .025" is a positive move ( unless you happen to be a shallow hair, of course ) These carry exposed tip lengths of .020" and .015" respectively. I eagerly await your opinions. Caith, Margret will be getting some also 
Just when the vellus hair thought things couldn’t get any worse…
…and they would be kept safe in its loooong, loooong telogen phase.
Greetings from Malaga 
This is just a quick note to say I am VERY impressed with the prototypes mentioned by Mike in the vellus hair thread.
My facial hair is dense and fine, with the majority in telogen during which it becomes long and noticeable.The same situation exists on my chest.
Last year, I had approximately one hour of treatment in the centre of my chest. This was not a clearance but just a quick treatment for a little reduction. There was quite a lot of scabbing and then PIH which seemed to network into a larger patch, that took quite some months to fade. This is acceptable for me because of the hair removal results yeilded by Josefa’s work, however, any reduction in these side effects is highly desirable. Last Friday, we did the same work with this protoype probe and the scabbing has been minimal and tiny. Now, four days later, it is looking fantastic. My early estimation is that I will experience very little PIH to the point of it being unnoticeable.
Before anyone asks, no, this is not just because of a previous treatment. This time, more hairs were removed in the same area and same time. We shall also be returning to it before the trip is over to catch any missed hairs.
We have also been using it on my face and neck which we started yesterday with perhaps about 7 hours in total so far and apart from swelling, yesterday’s side is looking amazing. Pics to follow when I return.
Mike, a big thank you from stoppit & her sister and all future clients with such hair!
Thank you stoppit 
Naturally I try to please the electrologists, it’s the nature of my profession. But the real reason we’re all in this industry is people like you. The smile on your face is what makes it all worthwhile
And what a smile Mike!, You will not believe how beautiful she is.
Hello again Stoppit, right at this moment I am comparing the photos before and after one year. When you see tomorrow, you will not believe how everything has changed, and when I say everything I mean not only the results but also the improvement of the skin where it had old acne scars. Our experiment is quite positive. Thank you for trusting on me.
Before:
Results after one clearance (A year later)
Who knew there was redness, swelling, scabs, hyperpigmentation …
Mike,
I received the second batch of 2.5’s today. I have a seven hour booking tomorrow for a “peach fuzz” case. Will try to answer all your questions. Did extra coarse and deep hairs today on a beard with a 6 long IBP. This probe, with Synchro thermolysis, is a marriage made in hair hell.
Josefa - wow. I never took such a photo of the treated area myself and it is hard to see in the mirror the difference so closely.
Just to add some more detail… The first photo is before work on my neck commenced last year. During that stay, I only allocated a limited time for work on my face (about 6 hours over two days). I had no idea how long a ‘complete’ job would take. My expectations were never to remove every single hair in any case. Josefa was presented with a difficult job as I can imagine it is not easy to give an overall reduction when one is looking at/treating what are essentially small areas under magnification. Therefore, Josefa treated the ares where the density or obviousness of the hair was most, to make as much difference as possible. The work on the neck was mostly concentrated to where the hair was most dense and most long.
You can see the photos of the post treatment skin in this post:
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/94993/stoppit_tidyup.html#Post94993
Now, we travelled again after a full year and the second photo is the result of the work of the first trip 
During this year’s trip, for my face I had approximately 3 hours of treatment on Monday, the same again on Tuesday and 1-1.5hrs on each, Wed, Thurs and Friday. We tried to eliminate as much problem hair as possible over my entire beard area and neck and the job is, I feel ‘complete’. I may need a touch up next year but for me, it is possibly not essential as my obsession over my facial hair more or less no longer exists. And there may be the possibility that with hormonal changes later in life, I need the odd small treatment.
As mentioned previously, this years treatment was with the 2.5 Laurier prototype. Last year we also used a Laurier probe which I was quite satisfied with anyway. However, there is even less scabbing (and smaller) as compared to last year, even though many more hairs were removed. Another thing we all noted was that the swelling after the first two days seemed to be less. Last year, my face was very swollen and caused everyone much amusement. This year it was noticeably less. I went out to dinner yesterday, Saturday and no one noticed a thing
So we have gone from very good to out-of-this-world.
I hope to post photos soon.
We’re not done with the 2.5 development yet Stoppit 
I wish we could have timed the arrival of it’s new revision to your visit better. 
Mike,
I always like plenty of time to give you accurate feedback on prototypes that you send, but for now, I will venture out and say that the .015 tip was too delicate and too hot for one of my clients, as you predicted. The .020 tip shows a lot of promise. I did like the releases, skin outcome and feel in my hand. My client was comfortable. Same goes for the .025, I’m not sure there is a huge difference, so I need to do more work and observe. I feel the need to use the probes on more people, to see if I see the same patterns emerge… With a Laurier probe, you really must make accurate insertions every time or you will bend the probe. That is a real plus, in my view. Keeps us all on our toes. However, if the client moves and an insertion is missed, there goes the tip of the probe,
On another note, I used a 5 Long IBP , on a back case yesterday. Superb, as usual. An electrolysis student was with my client observing what I do and asking questions. She will be ordering the IBP’s from Prestige on Monday for her practice sessions on this client at home.
Dee, Josefa, I know this is a bit confusing but I need to answer a question before I make our next move. So far we have determined that the reduction of the exposed tip from .035" on the standard .002" to .025" and then .020" is an advantage. We’ll probably settle on .020" or maybe a little less. We have also determined that the medium length was a mistake, so we’re settled on the “short” overall length like the standard .002" IBP.
I need you to compare the taper of the .020" tipped Probes you last recieved,(I believe Deb marked them 2.0) to the taper of the standard .002" IBP. Do you find the extra firmness an asset ? Or do you prefer the “feel” of the standard .002 ? In other words, aside from the exposed tip length, do you find the insertions better with the .020" tipped Probe, or do you prefer the “feel” of the standard .002" IBP ?
I suspect that the extra firmness of the prototype’s taper might be having the reverse effect of making them more fragile in real world use as, Dee describes, so I need to hear your opinions on this particular aspect of the design. This is the Laurier version of “walking the razor’s edge”. When machining a Probe this small very small adjustments to it’s shape make a big difference when I put one in your hand
Will do, Mike. Very busy for the next three days and will have a lot of opportunity to work on vellus hair. .
I have been using your .002 IBP for a long time now and have always preferred it on the finest hairs. I prefer its flexibility over the test .020 IBP.
I have been easily able to use your .002 IBP for an hour and even longer on the upper lip. I prefer flexible probes and they do not slow me down.
Your test .020 IBP seems thicker by the taper giving it the feel of a one-piece. I think that one-piece users might appreciate its rigidity but as a 2-piece fan, I will stick with your current probe.
I like the way your standard probe slides in and was wondering if your test is slightly thicker at the tip.
We’ve come to the conclusion that altering the taper from the standard .002 is no improvement and I suspect it might actually make them more delicate in general use. The diameter of the tips on those samples is .0025", slightly larger. Again this has proven unneeded. The big advantage we’re working on is the reduced tip length. The next test version is in production now and you should see them next week. They will be a standard .002" Short IBP with the tip lengths reduced to .020" and .018" for comparison. Might I suggest contact Kelly over on the AEA Facebook page, she’s refined settings and technique for these short tips for vellus hair. Kelly thinks the .018" tip will be even better than the .020" tip. I’m not so sure. Nonetheless, we shall make some, hand them to the pro’s and see.
I appreciate your observations Arlene, you’ve confirmed my suspicions. I think you will like this last version. We’ve determined that staying with my father’s origonal profile for the .002 is the best design for what we’re doing. The reduced tip exposure is showing a great reduction in patient discomfort and irritation for shallow vellus hair.
Okay then, I am looking forward to experiencing the .018 and want to see how the tissue reacts as my appointments can be very long and those vellus hairs tend to be very close together.