Referrals and Advice Needed

Hi -

I am new to the board. I am located on the north side of Chicago and in my early 30s. I am considering electrolysis.

I have fairly fine, blond hair on my face (cheeks, jaw, upper lip and chin). Some of the hair on my upper lip is darker, but not really coarse. My upper lip is the only area I have ever treated - waxed a bit years ago, but for the last few years I have just been bleaching. I don’t pluck much. I have noticed 2 or 3 hairs on my chin growing longer and thicker . I have bleached these hairs, but am hesitant to start plucking. I have felt the need to bleach my upper lip more frequently lately. These hairs really stand out in the sunlight and I feel the need to remedy this situation. I want to remove the hair on my chin and lip. I don’t mind the cheek hair.

Based on reading these boards, it sounds like electrolysis might be the best solution to my problems. I have a few questions.

  1. Am I correct in my assumption that electrolysis is probably the best course to start now - and to avoid plucking and waxing AND laser?

  2. Right now, my hair isn’t that noticeable. Will treatment with electrolysis make it more noticeable or make it grow back darker and thicker for a time? Right now, I have mostly soft hair. I don’t want to have to deal with stubble or shaving daily. I am inclined to leave it as is if making it worse is a possibility. This is definitely my main concern.

  3. Anybody have any recommendations in Chicago?

Right now I am trying to or have scheduled consultations with the following practitioners:

  1. Cassandra McCabe (found by searching this board). I haven’t heard back from her yet, but am hoping she will be able to see me.

  2. Mariana Darida
    She is not mentioned on this board, but is a CCE and has 27 years experience. She uses the Apilus Platinum and something called Pico Flash. I am going to see her tomorrow.

Does anybody have experience with the practitioners above or someone else they can personally recommend?

I would appreciate any feedback or information. I am quite nervous about this entire process. As I mentioned, my problem isn’t horrible right now and my main concern is making it worse.

Thanks,
Jen

Welcome.

Electrolysis does not make the hair structure worse, just the opposite happens. Either the hair follicle is completely disabled or perhaps some of the hair germ cells escape the current(s) and those hairs come back finer. If a hair follicle is not in the anagen stage of growth where the hair is nice and moist, then perhaps the follicle will be weakened and may need to be treated when it returns to a moist anagen hair again. So… electrolysis will not make it worse.

The electrologists you mentioned sound great. Give them both a try for sure. Apilus products are very, very good, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get expert care and permanent hair removal with other electrologists who use different brands. Skill matters mostly, but equipment used is very close to that.

No tweezing, waxing or laser once you start the electrolysis process. A good electrologist can handle what you described just fine. PicoFlash is awesome. If you compare what it feels like and how it heals with another electrologist that has not updated to the Apilus way of doing electrolysis, I would respect your opinion as to whether you can feel a difference between epilator A verses epilator B.

Dee

Thanks for the information Dee. So if the hair shouldn’t get any worse and I can still bleach, is it really possible that I can have the treatment without it being noticeable (aside from temporary skin effects)? I am sorry to harp on this, but that seems really too good to be true.

Your situation sounds very very simple, at least compared to most cases you will see on this board. I think you will be very happy with treatments and you are in an area where you should be able to easily sample many electrologists and find the best one that leaves your skin looking great every time.

The most you may experience is a few scabs that fall off within a few days. They shouldn’t be very noticeable anyway even if they do appear since you’re treating so little hair, relatively speaking.

Make sure to invest in witch hazel and some tea tree oil and start sampling electrologists!

Laser is definitely NOT the right method for you. Laser is ONLY for coarse dense dark hair.

Again, thanks for the information. I have my first consultation today. I will keep the board posted about my experience with the practitioners in my area.