Should electrolysis permanently kill all (or most) visible body hairs on the first try?

Hi it’s me again. :sweat_smile: So I saw the legendary Bono’s hair removal vids and he obviously perma kills the hairs that have grown out on the first damn try. So it’s frustrating then to see statements like the following on some other electrologists’ websites:

Is the effect visible immediately?
Yes, usually after the first procedure from 10% to 40% of the hair in the area of the removal never regrows if it has been shaved or left untouched before.

I’m talking about non-hormonal body hair only here btw!!! Does this mean she’s incompetent and will undertreat the vast majority of hairs? Should I look for an electrologist who is confident that all hairs she treats will die forever?
I want some large areas done so going over twice or more will be impractical, long and costly. (Well I realize that I’ll need more than 1 treatment anyway of course but Bono killed like 80-90% hairs on the first try NOT 10-40% !!!)

EDIT: yeh just talked to my new electrologist (she’s only been doing this for 1yr) and she also says she can’t promise they won’t grow back and that she’s done women’s armpits before and one grew back most hair and another grew back half. :confused:
She also insists on this myth that only anagen hairs can be killed and I showed her Bono vids and she still says the same thing :'D guys halp

It’s impossible to change their minds … just like the people who insist the world is FLAT. Sadly, many of our scientific endeavors no longer believe in the scientific METHOD: challenging everything and always ready to provide new theories … until better ones come about. And then challenge those theories again.

Yes, in many ways electrolysis is like a dogmatic religion with a belief system that has been cemented in their brains and will not, or can not, change. Even when you show them … they still will not change their ideas.

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of these stupid beliefs that are still very much still in play. Our profession will not progress until we can throw off the cloak of “beliefs over objectivity.” Or at least be calm and listen.

Problem is, people IDENTIFY with their beliefs and then it becomes personal. Today we see that everywhere in our culture … nobody LISTENS … they just want to cancel anyone with beliefs they don’t agree with. Even the college campuses … supposedly icons of liberalism … have become indoctrination camps. (Imagine: the anagen-only myth was thrown-out in 1938 … but it’s not going anywhere!)

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Hey, thanks for chiming in.
I asked the electrologist why the 10-40% kill rate and she said that the vast majority of her clients waxed or lasered before electrolysis so the hairs will grow back at different times. That’s why she can’t kill most of them on the first try. Makes sense! She said if I went in with grown out untouched hair, she could kill it in 1-2 times. Exciting stuff!
Also, I showed her your videos and she said she knew you! So looks like you have followers in Lithuania :wink:

oh wait I just read the quote again and realized the 10-40% rate she says IS for ‘virgin’ hair!!! Oh god

that seems right …

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The Anagen only theory has been around since long before I became an electrologist, and it seems it will also outlive me.

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Three things I’ve noticed:

  1. It’s sometimes easier for electrologists to buy into this idea of “anagen only” or “10 - 40% kill rate” because clients find it difficult to understand the concept of hair growth cycles. They want a simple and comprehensible explanation for why the hair “grows back” and the same area needs to be treated multiple times.

  2. Many electrologists who believe partly or wholly in “anagen only” or other electrolysis myths are often still great operators who get great results for their clients.

  3. If we got rid of any electrologist who has ever believed a piece of misinformation about the treatment, there would be no electrologists left.

I hope this electrologist you’re seeing can provide the results you’re looking for.

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Soooo just to clarify, if I’m doing fine hairs on say my arm (I don’t have hormone issues) and they’re fully grown out and I haven’t removed them in any way in YEARS, a good electrologist should be able to permakill ~80% like Bono on the first try? :>
You were in Canada, right? Can I just go see you for a marathon?

The should be able to if they are trying to. This is where stategies for hair removal come into play. Let me explain some examples. .
One of the
most glaring examples is the 3 clearance method practiced by Michael ( and most noteably Josepha Reina) . She would treat every hair in an area Every last one! And go after each hair , like it is the most important hair in her career. Further, she would prevent the client from shaving, waxing , threading for up to 6 monthsprior to treatment. By maximizing the hairs in situu in the follicle and treating each one regardless of stage of growth , they were able to increase their odds of destroying each follicle they treat in every cycle of growth… It’s all a matter of making sure you are treating every follicle possible and therefore increasing your kill rate. Which hair do we kill? ALL THE HAIR!
I am in canada, but honestly, I’m too busy for most marathon sessions these days. My clients keep me fairly busy and my schedule completely full most weeks… That said, I drastically increased my rates recently, so it is a little quieter right now before christmas so there’s a little room. but not tons.I dont recommend flying from Lithuania though, it’s not worth it!

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Maybe sometime missed is that the 3-clearances is for body hair removal only; not the face.

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Possibly, but that’s not consistent with what Josepha was saying as of a couple years ago. She clearly indicated she was getting nearly identical results on body and face. i cant see it, just based on my experience but it’s possible.I do know that i am seeing very good results on clear and advance strategies i have done with a couple clients who dont shave.

Sure, yes it really depends on the density of growth. Thanks for keeping me in the conversation. Very difficult now.

I think it’s so pervasive because it’s taught to laser techs and aestheticians too!

With laser anagen only makes sense since pigment with anagen is darker than in telogen phase. Laser only works if pigment is dark enough to absorb the energy. With electrolysis it doesn’t matter since the needle is being inserted down the follicle to release the energy.

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