Searching for a good electrologist in London

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Hi all, I am on the search for good electrolysis in London. To explain a bit about myself; I had electrolysis in my twenties and achieved full clearance. I have dark brown skin, and the first time i would say it took 20 hours to achieve full clearance. I have since moved to London, and I have been having problems with hyper pigmentation and scabbing (which btw i did not have an issue with first time round).

I have thick, curly black hairs on the side of my face, neck and chin, but the hair grows in clumps, it is not full coverage.

I was going to a salon in Leyton, but eventually stopped because the hyper pigmentation was getting too extensive, I found it embarrassing, drawing more attention to an already problem area (my chin and neck).

I then tried another salon in Dulwich. After explaining my skin sensitivity, the technician decided to limit my treatment to five minutes once a week. No pigmentation occurred, but nothing really happened with the hairs either. I became despondent and stopped going to that salon too.

I found this forum a few weeks ago, and decided to give Parkside a try. Elaine from Parkside gave me a ten minute patch test, as well as explained the ins and outs of electrolysis. I explained to her my concern over pigmentation, and she said she would use a gold needle as my skin was sensitive. She also recommended blend.

I found the treatment painful. The machine was set very high (though I don’t know what), though at one point Elaine did say something along the lines of ‘you have to be cruel to be kind’. Hmmmm. After the treatment my skin was very bumpy, very inflamed, though it didnt seem weepy in any areas. In terms of aftercare, I used tea tree and aloe Vera.

#2

Three days after the treatment, extensive scabbing appeared, which was very noticeable. It took over a week for the scabs to come off, and I have again been left with hyper pigmentation. The level of hyper pigmentation after one 10 minute treatment means i really wouldn’t want to progress any further with treatment under Elaine at Parkside.

#3

I have some pictures i will try to upload when I get to work as it won’t accept the ones on my iPhone.

#4

You can see in this picture the extent of the scabbing.

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#5

This second picture is taken after treatment elsewhere, on the Wednesday (so still less than seven days) after the first test of 10 minutes. You can see the scabs are pretty big…

qwerty Attachments

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#6

After the ten minutes trial at Parkside, I had one hour’s treatment at Epilsoft in Dorking. In contrast to the blend at Parkside, I experienced very little pain, and although my skin was red following the treatment, there is only pin prick sized scabbing.

Is it normal to experience this level of scabbing? While I would love to continue treatment at Epilsoft, it’s too far for me (six hours round trip) so I need to try somewhere else in London that can work with dark skin. I’d really appreciate your feedback in terms of what I should be expecting/ should be looking out for.

#7

Having had work done at Parkside (although not with Elaine) and knowing about Epilsoft, I would say both places will get you results in terms of hair removal.

Scabbing is very normal for some people. Obviously, one would want it as small as possible so pin prick is preferable to the larger ones displayed in your photos above.

There are a couple of things you could try.
One is to have a go with Sharon at Parkside - show her your photos and she may make some adjustments in her treatment.
The other is to continue with Stephanie… perhaps let the hair grow out for a couple of weeks and book a longer session so your trip there can really accomplish something to make up for the travel time.

My facial hair situation was very different from yours but I just want to show you what a lot of scabbing looks like and how the resulting PIH fades… it just takes time:
http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/94993/stoppit_tidyup.html#Post94993

#8

Thank you Stoppit. I had one hours treatment and that was pretty much long enough to treat all the hairs. Sadly Stephanie at Epilsoft only works during the week, and it would mean taking a day off work far too regularly for it to be viable for me. Shame because she was really good.

#9

Ah yes, I can see what you mean in your pictures. That’s the type of scabbing I’ve seen with Stephanie - and for me it’s acceptable. The much larger scabbing with Elaine was not, especially as in each spot where there was a scab I now have dark pigmentation which cannot easily be covered.

#10

In my experience over the years, the unfortunate reality is that permanent hair removal requires sacrifices. I completely sympathise that the cost and travelling time are already significant sacrifices. For me and my sister, it eventually meant taking at least a week of time off to travel to Spain every year… our electrolysis holiday.

Personally, I don’t think that you would need to travel to Stephanie more than once every 4 weeks if she’s managing to work for an hour or more each time. How long was the area left alone before your session with her? Meaning, for how long did you not pluck or shave?

Talk to her… perhaps she would be willing to work for a few hours one weekend every 8 weeks… and then once every 8 weeks you could take a day off?

I also think Sharon may be able to deliver similar treatment to Stephanie but it might take a few short sessions for her to figure our what works for your skin. She’s responsive to feedback.

#11

Stoppit, it’s time to update your sister’s diary.

Do you know? when some electrologists say that 99% of the hairs can be permanently removed in THREE times, we are not always telling the truth, because some areas need only twice. For example, hands and feet of your sister. :slight_smile: