Seeking Hair Removal Solution in Los Angeles

Hair Removal Methods Do-It-Yourself Electrolysis
#1

Hey all, my name’s Laz and I live in the northern Los Angeles area. I’m seriously contemplating some sort of hair removal, but I haven’t been very comfortable with any practices I’ve found so far. I’m not “hairy” by any standard, but I really don’t like body hair, and would like to get rid of nearly all of it.

I’ve had a few consultations for laser hair removal, but the guarantees I get aren’t convincing. I mean, if these places would sell their services by the result instead of by each session, I’d be a lot more willing to trust them … But, at least for now, I can’t logically invest in a question mark. It makes no sense for me to assume all of the risk, leaving the provider with no liability in case I’m not satisfied. I guess if I personally knew an aesthetician/surgeon that was interested in more than just helping themselves to my money, I might be a little more inclined to trust them.

As you can probably tell, I have issues with medical/cosmetic providers due to personal experiences. I guess I initially come across as aloof, stupid or naive–and definitely an easy target for money, since I’m often seeking cosmetic or voluntary procedures. I’m actually quite intelligent (just very quiet and young-looking), so I’m quick to pick up on the many sales schemes. Needless to say, I’m sick of dealing with these types of people. And, I can’t seem to find any legitimate providers that actually care about their patients satisfaction; at least not on a walk-in or new client basis. Anyways …

Electrolysis, on the other hand, seems like it will live up to its claims, but I really can’t afford the thousands of dollars that a very skilled electrologist deserves. I wish I had the cash to just hand over … But then how would I be able to afford gas to drive to my sessions?

So, now I’m considering investing in a quality (used) blend/flash unit and learning how to go about this on my own. Obviously I know I won’t be able to effectively treat myself, but I would be interested in finding someone else who is also intelligent, dexterous, and motivated in learning how to sort each other out proper. Well, that, or if I could find someone who is maybe a student electrologist interested in a practice buddy …

Is there like a topic on this forum, or on another forum perhaps, where I could find someone interested in going into this kind of a platonic/business relationship (or whatever you’d call it)? I live in the LA area, near Glendale/Pasadena, but depending on the situation I’d be willing to travel from San Gabriel valley across the foothills into the San Fernando valley. I definitely wouldn’t want to be commuting through traffic, so my range would be like the 210, 2, eastern 118, northern 405/5, 134, northern 101, and surrounding areas.

I’m just testin’ the waters here, but if anyone might be able to lead me in the right direction or offer a suggestion, that would be great. Other than that, I’m new here to this forum and I’m very impressed so far …

Thanks for any help.
~laz

#2

Are you male or female?
What areas are you looking to treat?
What is your skin and hair color? How coarse is the hair on each area?
Are you willing to invest money and committment into training yourself to be an almost professional electrologist? DYI is a very tedious and difficult task, in order to do it without causing scarring and with achieving actual permanent removal. If you read past experiences here, most people give up pretty quickly.

Please read the FAQs below. I’ve gotten results with both laser and electrolysis and at a relatively low cost (my story is at a link below as well). The key to getting results is doing enough research to know what to treat, by whom and with what method. Not all clinics treat you as if you’re at a used car dealership. This website can help you find honest clinics and electrologists near you. LA has tons.

#3

Please understand that when a laser business doesn’t make promises or guarantees, they understand the nature of hair removal better than those that make those empty promises. Most procedures involving the human body are a gamble. Would an oncologist guarantee to destroy every cancer cell in your body? Of course not. Would they charge you only if they cured your cancer? Could you imagine how expensive that would be???

lagirl has had successful laser and electrolysis in LA. It’s definitely possible.

#4

I’m male. And it sucks, because everywhere I’ve checked out charges more just because of that. I don’t understand why it matters (except for the fact that I’m supposed to be a stereotypical male, and that distresses people). Attached below are pics so you can get an idea as I try to explain what I’m looking for.

So here, I’ve got maybe 70 black terminal hairs sparsely populating my upper chest, very few randoms (maybe 20?) on my shoulders/neck, maybe 20 terminal hairs on/around each nipple, and a happy trail that you can kind of see right below my belly button (plus the usual below that). By the way, these hairs are more long and thin, than thick or coarse. Most of this I’d like to get rid of, since it’s not enough to even matter. It’s just more of a nuisance than anything.

Now, in the front area that I didn’t take a picture of (down there), I want a design (small pyramid/triangle, right-side up) with everything else cleared out, you know? Of course, that’s lower priority than the rest. Plus, that also seems to be a bit of a price hike for guys to get done (if there’s even places willing to go the distance) … Which is getting annoying. But I’d like to get this done eventually, if I can find someone I’m comfortable with, who would also be comfortable with me.

You can’t really see it, but on my lower back (lumbar area) I have a small patch of black termies, really similar to what is on my chest but less coarse. Like 60 or so hairs that are just random and sparsely populating the area. They are not very coarse. And then across the rest of my back, there’s maybe 20 or 30 hairs just randomly placed here or there. I’d like to get rid of these, same like on the front. They look really stupid … Just a random long black hair every 12 square centimeters (I’m guessing).

Another “difficult” area to manage (because I’m male) would be my butt, which is the same as my chest … Maybe 100 or less termie hairs sparsely populating the whole area (like, you probably couldn’t see them if I took a picture). Similar in thickness to my chest hair (more stringy/thin than thick/coarse). I want these gone, but it seems lots of salons want more for this area (as compared to if I was female). Like, it’s buggin’ me out.

(Which leads me to another area I want done, but I’m not even going to go there)

Now, on my face, I really want to clean up around my brows (I have kind of a uni … kinda), and the strays around my eyes. Plus I also want to do some work on my beard … It’s normal male facial hair. I’m fine plucking these areas for now, but if it is practical, I’d like to tackle this as well.

This area I’ve specified (torso, back, butt, face and shoulders; maybe “bikini”, depending on whatever) would be my primary treatment zone. Honestly, I’m not hairy at all. But I do think the hairs I do have look funny and I’d like them gone. Now that I think about it, if I could find a good electrolysis salon to visit, I might consider taking care of it that way (if I could afford that proper).

But now, the “secondary” areas that I’d like to take care of …

Note the first two images on the top for what you can see on my arms (plus the next pix) … Eventually, I’d like to thin all that out, as well as with my legs. I’ll probably just end up getting rid of it all … But to comply with my “gender role” and avoid any social stigma, I really don’t know what I’m going to do here yet (technically I’m straight, but I have a hard enough time with people getting the wrong idea as it is). Anyways, these areas are much more densely populated than my torso/back …


Here’s a close-up of my lower arm and lower leg so you can get an idea. It’s quite a bit more densely populated, having intermittent coarse hairs mixed in with less coarse ones. I’d say that it would be slightly more coarse than my torso area, but I don’t know for sure. These areas are what I’m thinking might be worth investing in equipment with someone or working out some alternative option, other than going to a salon and paying retail … But I’ll see how things go. I’m really kind of just figuring out my plan … So …

Either way, I don’t think laser will work out because of my skin tone. If it could work (maybe Nd:YAG or diode?), that might be nice, because I really don’t care too much about vellus hairs. I just don’t like the terminal ones.

So that’s what I have to work with, and I really don’t know what my plan is going to be yet. I’ve read tons of stuff on the Internet and have investigated a few different salons/clinics. And all I can say about all that is: either I’m looking for my solution in all the wrong places, or I’m definitely going to have to figure out some alternative to be able to get what I want for the price I can deal with.

I’m kind of torn between getting some hardware and text, and finding someone else who wants to learn it with me (which I can probably afford) … OR … just paying a pro, which I won’t be able to completely afford. Such a conundrum.

Actually, I am motivated enough to pursue a pseudo-education in electrology, but it would be for strictly personal/private and non-business use. And it is actually quite important to me … But like I said, if I were to go this route, I’d have to find someone else who was equally as motivated in achieving the same goal, that should also be able match my investment/time.

FYI, I have been seriously contemplating this for probably almost a year now (thinking about it for many years). Now I’m finally attempting to take action, and if I can figure out a good plan with good people, then I’ll definitely be in for the long haul … But unless I can get everything straightened out so that it’ll be worth it in the end, I’m just going to keep looking.

Any suggestions/tips/hints would be soo appreciated. Oh, also, if anyone knows where I could buy “The Blend” by M. Bono, I’d like to start there … I couldn’t find anywhere online that had it.

Thanks a lot!
~laz

#5

Choice:

Yea, I understand that. I’d feel much more comfortable if:

a) when a business doesn’t promise or guarantee, that they give me a much more fair price …

or

b) when a business does claim “x treatments will for sure get you what you want”, that they give me a price for the result they are claiming; not just stick me paying per treatment, then pull a bait-and-switch and leave me hangin’ with no money left to finish a half-done job.

I’m definitely not opposed to a laser business saying “Yea, I’m not going to guarantee you anything” … But then at the same time, I’ve gotta be able to say the same thing back to them. I’m an American, but I’m definitely not a stupid consumer =].

Maybe I’ve just been looking in the wrong places … But I really feel like with laser, it definitely should be more fairly marketed. I’ve heard or read about too many experiences with people being sucked in by the sales pitch and ending up quite dissatisfied. Of course, I don’t own a LHR business, nor have I ever been involved in the financing of one, etc. So I really don’t know …

I guess I’m still looking for somewhere that isn’t gonna try and sell me a used car I don’t even want to buy … Like lagirl was saying.

We’ll see how it goes. I’ve tried finding a solution that looks promising on my own, and I failed at that. Now here I am looking for some help ;).

#6

Oh, one more thing, I’ll check out your FAQ/links tomorrow, lagirl. I’m way tired and I have an appointment in the morning.

And to both of you, thanks for readin’ my post.

Talk soon.
~z

#7

One more thing I forgot to add … I really don’t think I’m as dark as those pictures make me out to be. Umm, those images make me look like a type V, but I’d say I’m at most a IV. I don’t know if that even makes a difference for electrolysis, or higher-wavelength lasers for that matter.

But in any case, if you think laser might be effective for me, maybe I’ll consider that route for the more dense areas … I just don’t want to spend $ for results I’m not going to be satisfied with, ya know? I don’t even know if this is a realistic expectation or not, but I’d really like to be done with the body hair all together without having regular maintenance treatments over large areas to deal with (occasional treatments to finish off straggler hairs would probably be ok though).

Also, lagirl, I checked out your FAQ’s (haven’t read through all of your journal yet, though). Got a good idea how to approach the situation regarding laser now, if I choose that route. Any suggestions for a fair and skilled laser practitioner? I’m still undecided, but definitely leaning more towards electrolysis as a solution rather than laser as a treatment.

Hmm, I wish it all was easier … ha ha ha … ??
~laz

#8

Well, the first thing I should say is that if most people on this forum had as little hair as you, they would be ecstatic :slight_smile: However, I understand that sometimes people just don’t want to have any on certain areas, even if it’s 20-50 hairs.

Here are my thoughts:

-For your bikini and to thin out arms and legs, I would definitely choose laser. You do need a Yag laser (GentleYAG is one of the best ones. Coolglide Yag is a popular machine too). How much are you getting quoted for these areas now? The bikini area you can probably get done for about $100 per treatment, so it’s not that expensive as you’ll need about 6 treatments spaced 8-12 weeks apart. Half legs or half arms usually cost around $250-400 per treatment. These areas need treatments less often, only once every 12-16 weeks, so you can try to save up money. You basically only pay once every 3-4 months. Every place I’ve gone to also takes credit cards, and many provide financing options.

  • For the other areas you describe, you definitely need electrolysis. The hairs on those areas are too sparse and few to treat with laser. For that little hair, professional electrolysis treatments wouldn’t be that expensive. Average is about $65 per hour, and a good electrologist using a fast thermolysis method can easily remove 5-10 hairs per minute. You’ll have to go consistently for about 9-12 months, but for that little hair, your treatments are going to be short each time.

There are several threads on the forum outlining various electrologists in LA. Run a search and read through various opinions. At least 4 accept credit cards too. There are several recommendations for laser clinics as well, though none I with a YAG laser. One of my friends is getting treated with a YAG in Beverly Hills right now (she’s a type IV-V), so I can get his name for you. There is also LaserAway clinic that has a YAG and has very good pricing specials from what I’ve seen. The only comment we’ve seen on them is to ask for the most experienced technician to make sure they overlap properly when treating. You can also go to Candela Corporation’s website and run a provider search for GentleYAG with your zip code. It should give you a number of options to check out.

#9

K.

Yea, I kinda figured that you’d say something about the little hair I have ha ha. Honestly, since I didn’t have anyone to take the photos for me, I couldn’t really get a decent shot to actually show what’s going on … So it really looks like I’m bare already. But I promise you that up close, you can see 'em (I’ll bet I’m the only one who’s ever even noticed, though).

Question … Regarding electrolysis, when you say “go consistently for about 9-12 months”, at what interval? Once a month? Relative to area? I’m guessing back/chest/butt are on similar growth cycles … ?

So about laser and bikini area (which I am more interested in than legs/arms for now), that definitely sounds like a fair price. I’ll check around and see if I can find somewhere that’ll sort me out for like 6 treatments at $600 (or less! ha ha). I’m sure there’s someplace somewhere that will be interested in helping me out. I’ll scope around for GentleYAG clinics … By any chance, would you have any idea about what treatment settings I should be expecting? Just a ballpark figure, so I have some grounds stand on … If you know.

Also, to be more specific … I do want to get my entire perineal area done. This would be best with laser, right? Do many clinics have issues with males being treated there? A few that I’ve found online have specifically stated that they won’t go there except for on a female, which is kind of disheartening because some of these clinics actually have really competitive prices for other areas. And on the extreme, some others I found have prices for the perineal area on a male set at almost twice the price for a female. Sigh.

I know these places are in “business” and that they can’t just give away their services for nothing; but it honestly seems (from a male’s perspective) like they just want to take advantage of an opportunity like me, because they think I’ve got money to burn or something. I guess I do have a seriously different angle on this, because I won’t be paying by CC or financing … And a dollar out of pocket seems to hold a much higher value to me than if I were to use some form of credit.

(FYI, maybe if I could get financed or get approved for a CC, I might have a different opinion … but there’s not a chance they’d qualify me :whistle: …)

If there were any laser/electrolysis clinics that offer better deals for cash (or some type of guarantee that I can feel confident in paying cash up front), I’d be very interested in checking those places out. It seems that this market is designed to “cater” more to people who finance and can “afford” more treatments with less efficacy than those who don’t (or can’t) finance.

It’s like medical insurance and the medical field … A few specialists I have recently seen just assume I have a small co-pay since I am paying through my PPO provider. Then, they exploit the system in their own way and don’t sort me out proper on the first visit in an attempt to “milk” the insurance company, thinking that I’m only paying them like $50 over the course of three visits. When in reality, I simply have a really high deductible, which leaves me responsible for 100% of the fee every time I see a doctor or get a prescription (and I don’t mind helping with their retirement or their child’s Yale education, but what about me?!?).

Rarrrr … So frustrating. Ok, I’ll get out of negative-mode now. :slight_smile:

Alright so here’s where I’m at, if I can secure a fair price for a thorough treatment:
a) chest, back, butt – electrolysis
b) bikini, perineal (?) … or let’s say “brazilian” – laser
c) upper half legs, upper half arms – electrolysis (?)
d) lower half arms, lower half legs – laser (and then follow-up with electrolysis maybe)

Or would it be worth going for upper and lower arms/legs together with laser?

By the way, this treatment plan would be in lieu of co-investing in a modern (but used) blend/flash unit and learning the art with a partner. I’m trying to compare the value for each, and since I haven’t thoroughly explored the “DIY with a buddy” route, I still have no idea if it would be more beneficial for me to just go have a pro take care of it all. You know?

Based on previous experience with laser consultations and an educated guess for electrolysis, I’m going to “ballpark” the consumer route for each area I’ve noted above:
a) $900 for ~9 electrolysis treatments of back/butt/chest
b) $1200 for 6 laser treatments of perineal/bikini area (if I can find someone who doesn’t charge more/less for a particular gender)
c) (I am looking at my upper legs and don’t think electrolysis will be worth it)
d) $1500 for 5 treatments full legs, $1000 for 5 treatments full arms; or $750 for 5 treatments half legs, $500 for 5 treatments half arms (I’m kind of looking on the bright side here … maybe borderline unrealistic?)

Guess total for most cost-effective and satisfying treatment with a legitimate and skilled professional that I feel comfortable with: $4600. And that’s assuming my estimations are anywhere near target. In your opinion, is that a fairly accurate price to treat the areas I’ve outlined? That would be completely excluding any work on face (which I also want to get done), but I’ll wait on that until I know for sure what works best on the rest of my body so I don’t jeopardize anything extremely important.

Now, in contrast … I’m “guessing” that a used blend (or maybe flash?) unit might cost me ~$1000 if I go in on it with another person. The education, practice, and time invested for myself and a partner … Priceless.

I see the pro’s and con’s for both. But, what it’s all boiling down to is the value of my time (and a partner’s time) versus the value of an aesthetician’s time. And I have no idea at this point, since I haven’t even been able to find “The Blend” to start getting an idea about what is what. Plus, the success of a DIY route would be very dependent on who I choose to pursue this task with. Too many variables to really make a comparison right now, I guess.

If you could get me the name of that BH doctor, that would be great (is it Dr. Babapour?). I am a little partial to being treated by a female, though, since they’ve always sorted me out markedly better than by a male (and the difference in respect given is night to day). But all in all, if I can find the solution I’m looking for at the price I think it is worth, I don’t know if that would matter much.

(I am having a consultation with an ENT surgeon this weekend who’s male, and I expect him to be exactly what I’m looking for … So I’m not totally opposed, I’ve just had bad luck at times in the past with males doctors forgetting that I’m human just because I’m not female ha ha)

So I’m going to check out Candela’s site for local providers and I’ll search around these forums to see if I can find some good information about specific LA electrology or laser clinics that might work out. If there’s any other clinics in particular that you would recommend, I’m all ears ;).

Well, lagirl, I really do appreciate your help and experience. I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time with this novel I’m writing :grin: … Thanks so much.
~laz

#10

I’ll try to respond as much as I can. This is a lot of stuff :slight_smile:

  • Upper arms shouldn’t be treated with laser. It can induce more growth on this area. Electrolysis for this part.

  • Laser is good on upper legs if the hair is coarse. Will be faster than electrolysis.

  • Read through the DYI experiences. It’s a LOT of committment. Also, blend is much slower than thermolysis/flash.

  • The way electrolysis works is you go in as often as possible for longer treatments to clear the area. Then you go in as soon as new hair pop in to kill it while it’s weak. So at first you may need 1-2 hrs of treatments per week for 1-2 months, and then you may be able to just come in once every 3-4 weeks for an hour or less. It depends on how fast your electrologist is, how committed you are to going on schedule, etc.

  • I’ve commented on most posts about electrologists in LA. So you’ll find my recommendations and pros and cons for each when you run a search for Los Angeles.

  • Clinics are not charging more for men’s bikini because they just simply want more money. It’s that most technicians are female and few are willing to treat this area on men due to privacy issues, harrassment etc. If anything, you can blame our society and other men for this. But you should also be able to find clinics that don’t charge a premium. Do some searching.

  • My doctor won’t be able to treat you. He only has GentleLASE alex, which is for light skin.

  • It’s best if you ask the clinics what settings they’re planning to use on you and post on the laser forum. At this point, you should start brand new threads on both laser and electrolysis sections of this forum with your story. They really need to see you in person first to assess your skin color. To give you an idea, the max settings on GentleYAG are 30j on 18mm spot size and 3ms pulse. Higher joules, higher spot size and lower pulse are more effective, but also more likely to burn. So you need someone knowledgeable to be able to set them in the best way to get results.

#11

Thanks so much for the input. You’ve been a huge help. I’m currently researching electrologists in the area, and I might actually stop in and get a treatment tomorrow if I find one I like and have a little time.

I do have an appointment tomorrow with my current (and possibly soon-to-be previous) laser surgeon for a followup on an unrelated procedure … And I’m gonna lay it down and just let her know exactly what I want for exactly what I think it’s worth. I have been happy working with the surgeon, but she’s got this sales consultant that doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about and won’t even give me a slight discount after I’ve already spent thousands at their clinic (and she’s actually kind of a … which is not good for a medical business “front end” in my opinion). They have a LightSheer diode laser, and I think that if I stop going outside, my skin will lighten up enough to use that. Maybe. That is, if they’re willing to reward me for my past loyalty and referrals.

And I’m almost 100% convinced that I should leave it up to the pros for everything. Although I still might get a book to learn a little more.

You were pretty much spot on with $65/hr for electrolysis. That’s EVERYBODY’s rate, ha ha. So, I guess for that, it will probably be decided by who’s got the best equipment or who’s a CPE. I’ll scope out the forums here probably tomorrow, since tonight I’m a little burnt out.

I did research a few GentleYAG locations today (not many available), and it seems that it’ll be a little difficult to find the price I’m hoping to find. So yea, electrolysis first and then I’ll go from there. Maybe laser at my current doc, if she’ll meet me half way. Who knows.

I have a lot of food for thought now. Again, thanks for your help lagirl. You have been most kind.
~laz