I just have to ask this question. I’m new to the board but would like to see just how many of you have researched finding an electrologist? From what I have been reading in some of these post it scares me to death to think of some of the treatments some of you have recieved.
One of the main reasons I got into this was due to my own poorly-researched forays into hair removal. I picked the place I went to out of the phone book, and because they were close to my old job. When I went in, I assumed you zapped the hairs once and they were gone. I figured I’d be done with my face in 5 hours or so.
The state where I live was also not regulated at the time, and most of the practitioners in the place I went were poorly-trained. There were a few times when I had two people work on me at once, and you could really tell the difference between someone good and someone bad.
With any luck, I’ve scared people into doing ther research before committing to any professional hair removal practitioner. 
I think the only real way to tell if anyone’s good or not is to try them out.
Having someone else’s recommendation is a very good start, but what’s good for one person might not be good for another. Everyone has different skin types, hair types, hair density, hair depth, pain thresholds, skin sensitivity (reaction/swelling), and so on.
If I was advising someone on researching an electrolysist, I’d say to start with a recommendation, if you can.
Then book two 15 minute sessions - a day apart.
Have her work an area that’s pretty much out of sight, and when you go back the next day ask her to assess your reaction.
A technically good electrolysist will be able to adjust the treatment parameters until you get maximum results with minimum adverse reaction.
But there’s other things that might be important to you: locality, price, opening times, privacy, conversation, hygene, and so on.
Great tips, Toni! I’ve also compiled a list of suggestions on the page below: