Hi there,
I recently found this forum, great advice, if only I’d found it sooner! I’ve had problems with hair on my chin for several years which is getting steadily worse, either side of my chin is always red which I had attributed to plucking the hairs.
Eventually I decided to do something about it & had consultation for electrolysis with a short trial (in Dublin, Ireland). Was put off having my treatment with this salon as I felt they were quite pushy & tried to encourage me to buy a further four products to “help skin healing” and also wanted me to have “light treatment” to decrease the redness of the skin. Went to another beauty salon, have had four sessions there now & feel way worse about things now. Basically have never had all of the hair removed during a treatment (and I am talking about long, DARK hairs), the beautician likes the hairs to be quite long (well long in my view) so I end up with a beard for a week before I go and still have half a beard left after. Even a few days after the treatment (I have been going weekly) I get loads of hairs back. I am also concerned as there seems to be a tug/strong pluck feeling to most of the hairs - sometimes she puts the needle in, leaves it, then feels too much resistance to the pluck then puts the needle back in… I do feel an uncomfortable sensation in some follicles but not all. I don’t know what machine/needle size she uses. She does not use a magnification mirror. She has said the hairs are strong but she claims there is some improvement (i’m not so sure)
So the last day as I got off the couch after her saying “that’s all done now” and then went out to the car to see lots of dark hairs still there I was so frustrated. Is this normal? Is it that my skin gets too irritated to continue/she does not have sufficient time in a half hour session to clear them all?
Should I continue? I do have more faith in electrolysis versus laser but I hate having to walk around with a beard between sessions and I also feel with all the tugging that it may just be an expensive tweezing session… Would I be better off with laser? (BTW I am going to Dr. next week to see if any hormonal problems…)
Sorry for long post, thanks in advance for any help/advice…
Electrolysis is the Gold Standard of Permanent Hair Removal. That being said, you must find the best treatment you can get in your area, in order to get the best results, delivered in the fastest way possible.
If your practitioner had better vision equipment and lighing, she would not need you to be growing your hair for so long. I frequenly work on clients with only one to two days growth. I have even on occasion worked on someone who had shaved that morning.
I can only say that you need to get what ever is the best treatment availavle in that area (you may already be with the best person in the area) and then get to full clearance as soon as possible. After that, you will have 3 weeks of peace, but you need to keep on schedule and do reclearances either every 2 weeks (if you don’t want to shave in between treatments) or some other interval that is less than every 8 weeks. It is just important that you work on getting full clearance at least once every 6 to 8 weeks.
I think that you would be well advised to trial test a few more electrologists in your area. I would check for BIAE (British Institute and Association ) members. I think Dublin has some members. I know of some great electrologists in Tralee and Galway, but not Dublin. Like Australia there is a lot of Beauty school training in Ireland and it is inadequate. However, I have dozens of clients who have had successful treatment in Dublin. I think you can do much better, but try several before committing.
Thanks folks for your advice, I feel my faith in electrolysis is restored when I read this forum! Going to try a few more people, regrettably I had paid up front for a block of sessions in the last salon - doh! You live & learn eh… Hope electrologist number 3 is more lucky…
Just wanted to make a suggestion. Seen as no Dublin based electrolysts are listed on the BIAE directory, maybe it’s worth calling an existing Ireland based BIAE member to find out if they can recommend a Dublin electrolysist? Thought it may be worth a shot… Goodluck! I really hope you find someone suitable soon.
hey pokka, ive been looking at your posts…hope you dont mind lol!! i just wanted to ask you how you feel the electrolysis is goin? i am having it done on my chin, neck and cheeks. My skin reacts but im told by my elecro lady that when were all done it will be back to nornmal, shes very experienced and it does heal in between treatments reasonably well. How are you getting along? god im so pleased to find others like me.
Hey Bec, I have posted a reply in my thread - you can click on ‘my electrolysis journey’ in my signature- I didn’t want to impose on this thread. Hope thats alright.
There are a lot of Apilus epilators in Ireland. Of all places on God’s green earth, Ireland needs electrolysis, since many have light colored hair. IPL and LASER will not work for those with too much red or blond hair as we all know.
Hi folks, been away on a course for the last two weeks so no posting, thanks for suggestions though. Rang that lady in Galway who recommended a place in Dublin that would have a good rep, so I toddled along. Much more professional than the last place & explained everything in depth. Unfortunately not a great response! Had booked a half hour session & she did maybe 10 minutes, think this was actually proper electrolysis - pain+, no plucking sensation. skin seriously red and irritated after doing a few follicles, blisters came up pretty much straight away in the areas she had done. She said that the hair was so strong that it needed a high current but that the heat was really aggravating my skin, she also said that given the level of irritation in the skin after such a small area it would take ages to clear even one side. She said she thought laser would be a better option for me (I am pale with dark hair)…Two weeks later skin not totally healed so I don’t know is this the best thing for me. So a rethink again!
think I might go for a laser consultation & patch test somewhere (if free) & just see how the area responds to the laser. I don’t know anymore - running out of options!
You had blisters because the heat (intensity) was too high. She could have made some adjustments. This was not performed with the best knowledge. I don’t know what kind of probe she was using or the name of the epilator, but if she had a good brand epilator that doesn’t mean she will not wreck your skin. No guarantee’s there and that’s why we say skill is upmost followed by good tools.
I disagree with with the cause of the outcome you had. You will still need electrolysis after you get laser. It is too bad that you had this experience. James and I work on strong hair almost everyday. All goes better than what you had. Sorry.
Yeah it did occur to me that maybe it was the heat that had caused the blisters but I believed her when she said that it required that intensity to kill the hair… I presume there are other beauticians at that place that “do electrolysis”. The place does have a good rep & ironically it was the place that I initially had a patch test done (but nothing like the reaction I had this time) but had decided not with them as i felt the staff were a bit pushy in terms of encouraging me to buy products to “keep the skin in optimal condition” for electrolysis (help with the healing blah blah…) I guess I could try another place (3rd time lucky anybody?!) but feel a bit disillusioned with the process to be honest & doubt that the majority of places have practitioners like on this forum. So I dunno. Waiting to heal fully then toss a coin to decide laser patch test or 3rd time lucky!
In your case, we/you have no idea if she was using small diameter probe to “kill” a thick, deeply hair. If this were the case, then of course she would be trying to raise the intensity, thus causing an undesirable, prolonged skin reaction. It should be harder to get a license for electrolysis as it is technically very hard to perform and can wreck a persons psychologically.
