I’m a transgender female getting my upper lip done, which is the most noticeable area. The lady said I have really thick hair, and she was able to go on a high setting of blend. The pain wasn’t an issue at all, but she was afraid to go much higher. I wish I could remember the setting (55-65?). I also had to grab onto something in order to complete a circuit, if that is helpful information.
I did notice that most of the hairs did not want to come out easily when she pulled them. It seems as though my thick red hair is “winning” when it comes to electrolysis. She had to do some of the hairs twice and what seemed to be 5 seconds. She was asking me if I felt them being plucked, so she must be aware of the importance as she has 20 years of experience. It was obvious that her goal was to get them to slip out easily after being zapped.
Is electrolysis going to work for me, or will this likely be a nightmare scenario where I need years just for my face? She definitely said this will be challenging, which is discouraging; I was hoping I didn’t have the most difficult and super steroid type of beard.
1A. Could laser be a better option for me? My roots appear dark brown, which gives me a dark shadow on the lip, however once they grow out they are a mixture of very red, brown/red, and even white hairs. I know they have lasers now for red/brown, but I still don’t feel confident of having results with laser. It’s really confusing to identify what color my hair truly is.
When will I start to get the benefits of electrolysis - when will the dark shadow start to degrade, even though my hair is still growing? I know a complete clearing will take a long time, but what can I look forward to in the near future as far as less shaving and the shadow to not be as noticeable?
Don’t waste your time with laser. I have yet to see somebody, trans or not, who had a good result lasering their face. Quite the opposite, in fact: I have seen numerous horror stories.
Electrolysis works for everybody. I will defer to the pros when it comes to answering your specific questions, but I would suggest having sample treatments with several operators until you find one that you think is doing the best job.
Laser can offer a density reduction only if you have dark and coarse hair : namely hair with a high percentage of eumelanin, the target of laser hair removal.
In your case you said you have red hair, so you will get no results with laser. Only electrolysis can provide permanent hair removal for all kind of hair, include light hair color.
Thank you, and I do want to get multiple consultations/testings. Unfortunately, the reality is that in a small rural area it is very difficult in finding an electrologist and within a reasonable drive. The strange thing is that online has been almost no help at all for finding local electrologist in my area. The phone book had a few that weren’t mentioned online, but still there just aren’t that many. The old dinosaur phone book was actually more helpful than the internet. Major cities, which are filled with reputable electrologists, are like 2-3 hours away which just isn’t practical.
This lady seems safe and very professional, however she is an hour away and she seems difficult to contact for questions which is a red flag for me. I suppose I’ll just ask here:
I have a doctor appointment on a Friday, and the electro appointment is on Wednesday. I’m not suppose to wear makeup 24-48 hours after, but there is no mentioning of shaving on this paper. I assume shaving is also restricted to 24-48 hours after. I only seem to have one scab, and I’m not sure if it’s a no-no to shave over (with an electric shaver) when you have scabs and/or when applying makeup. All these restrictions and complications with public appointments is my biggest concern and why I’m asking question #2. If this hair removal process is discouraging me from going out in public, then perhaps now isn’t the time to start. Then again, I need relief from the shaving and self consciousness of my upper lip asap so that I can begin my life.
Perhaps there’s someone in a “nearby” area that can do a marathon session? It’s not that common, BUT then you can do a lot of work at once (unless you’re only doing your upper lip in which case it’s probably not worth it). Nothing you wrote raises a red flag to me about your electrologist.
I don’t know of many people who shave after electrolysis simply because the hair is gone so there’s no real reason to. I don’t see any reason you couldn’t trim afterwards with an electric shaver and then shave gently more the next day (I wouldn’t do a razor and shaving cream right after your session, but the next day should be fine in theory).
I wouldnt ever recommend marathon sessions who has a local option.
Lori ( shane? or do you prefer Lori?)
As someone who works about half my working hours on transpeople, I can tell you a few things about doing so. I also removed the beard from my own face, with blend.
First, getting a good release of the hair with a blend treatment requires quite a bit of energy, roughly 1 1/2 times to twice what is required for a normal CIS female.The roots are larger and requir more treatment but it can be done.
For blend, it took between 15-20 seconds of treatment to loosen a hair on the chin or neck assuming I was using a “course” or “extra course” treatment energy level.Insertion accuracy is extremely important, somehting an electrologist practising for 20 years should have down pat anyway.
Occasionally I employed a “treat and wait” strategy, whereby I would treat small groups of hairs ( say 5) then another group, and then finally a third group.It was only then that I would remove the first group of hairs treated. This was allow time for the causticity of the lye to work it’s magic. It was good at getting releases with mmore moderate levels of energy, but generally , that energy is required to create enough heated lye to destory the follicle. The release of the hair is an important indicator of the success of the treatment, but it does NOT tell the whole story.
What I would suggest, is that you do a tolerance test with the electrologit, to see what level of energy you can properly tolerate. This will allow the electrologist to use the maximun amount of energy for a shorter period of time, thus delivering the needed energy to the hair, and obtain that good release.
IF she just cant obtain that release from the follicle without traction, another strategy would be to use non-flash thermolysis. You will see higher regrowth rates, but should see faster removal. The hairs that do regrow, will do so thinner and weaker, and be more susceptible to being killed off the second time around. Also note that new apilus epilators, have a mode of thermolysis that really kicks butt on those troublesome thick hair roots.If she has an older manually controlled ( non-computerizzed ) epilator, then she may also can have the option of treating the hair with thermolysis first, then finishing up with DC energy to deliver the all important lye to the follicle.
But the key in all of this , is the clean release of the hair is attainable, but your electrologist may not be delivering enough treatment to do the job. Setting the levels higher, but still within tolerance, will assist a great deal.
with reddish hair, laser is DEFINITELY not for you.
Edit: I vote you stick with your current electrologist and let her set off a can of whoop-ass on those thick hairs.Dont sweat skin reactions. Tell her not to be afraid to use enough energy to kill those hairs.
She only did a test run on my face, so what little that she removed I couldn’t visibly tell at all. (She also couldn’t answer my question of “how long will it take you to clear my upper lip” because I am trying to gauge when I will start to get some relief, as opposed to extra stress, from the treatments.) Therefore, I still had to shave because this trial run was of no immediate help to my appearance. She mentioned doing a checker board technique, to spread out the damage and current done to my face - This gave me the impression that she won’t be able to clear that area in a matter of a session or two.
Shane, Lori, or Shane_Lori is fine as it’s just my screen name. Thanks for being so considerate
She did do somewhat of a tolerance test, but she stopped because she was afraid to go higher. At the end of the session she seemed very uncomfortable, with a cringe-ish look on her face, and said “Well, I hope I didn’t mess you up too badly” or something alone those lines. She has had experience with transgender women, and currently has one client besides me, but I almost got the impression that she either doesn’t enjoy the challenge or is afraid of making errors at my expense; I felt a bit like a burden to her. My upper lip was very red, as if I’d had a red Koolaid smile, but that went away by the time I got home. She could have just been reacting to the redness and underestimated how well my pain tolerance was and how pleased I was with the procedure.
She almost gives me the impression that she is mainly focused on money, and I hope that I am wrong here. This could be a miscommunication and me just being paranoid. I asked her on day one about a free consultation, and I could have sworn she said “Yes, I do free consultations of 15 minutes”. I was concerned that 15 mins wasn’t enough time to ask questions. It ended up being longer and she even worked on me for I think 45 minutes. I thought she was just going to test a few hairs or something, and it ended up being $45 which is her $1/min rate. She keeps saying that because I have to come all this way (45 minutes) wouldn’t I want at least an hour? She seems a bit pushy with the appointment schedules, as for now I still have big question marks before committing to her for what could be months or years. It’s frustrating because she seemed to just shrug and say “time will tell/everyone’s results are different” when I needed some questions answered. The second appointment she basically made FOR me, saying the time and either I didn’t hear her or she didn’t even give me the date first. I had to ask if she wanted me back on Monday, and she said no Wednesday. It was so abrupt that I didn’t get a chance to think how this conflicted with my doctor’s appointment on Friday (I’m suppose to wait two days for the healing process before I shave/makeup, right? I know this is within the 1-2 days, but I’m super new to this and wanting to do things correctly/safely.)
Could you guys please answer this question to the best of your ability: About how long do you think a first clearing of the lip will be for me? When will I actually start to get relief from shaving/benefits from electrolysis? Right now it feels like a conflicting battle between razor and electrolysis as this lady wants me to avoid shaving for 3 days prior to her appointment, then 1-2 days without shaving/makeup. This gives me maybe 1-2 days to dress appropriately in public out of a week, and I have no idea how ladies manage this with having to go to work. She also couldn’t tell me when I could start seeing her biweekly, and please for my own sake of hope I’d like to have an idea of when this will get a bit easier, to where I don’t have to hide away with a mustache for most of the week.
I do want to continue seeing her, but I have a somewhat complicated dilemma for this week’s appointment. I was suppose to shave yesterday, which I forgot about, and that would have made the appointment 3 days of hair growth to her desired length. I was thinking of canceling this appointment because I’m afraid if I shave today, it may be too short for her to work with and I’ll be out 1.5 hours of driving and $60. If I don’t shave, that’s 5 days worth of growth that may be too long for her, and I’m not sure if I can trim enough without trimming too much hair which could also mess things up. Then there is my doctor appointment on Friday, which I’m afraid the healing process could conflict with being able to shave and wear makeup for that day. She only did a small amount of hair, so I’m not sure if the full hour of electrolysis will need more time to heal without shaving for a few days. She wasn’t clear on when I was allowed to shave, just about avoiding makeup and even touching my face which seems a bit overprotective.
I’m sorry for the very long posts, but I’m trying to be as informative as possible. From experience I’ve learned that if you make posts too long for people to read online, often times it may not all get read and my questions may be overlooked. There’s a little added stress because this was a holiday weekend, and I haven’t been able to get in touch with her for questions. Thank you all so much for being here for me and putting my mind at ease. I feel like I’m in this completely on my own, and new things can be scary.
Could you guys please answer this question to the best of your ability: About how long do you think a first clearing of the lip will be for me? When will I actually start to get relief from shaving/benefits from electrolysis? Right now it feels like a conflicting battle between razor and electrolysis as this lady wants me to avoid shaving for 3 days prior to her appointment, then 1-2 days without shaving/makeup. This gives me maybe 1-2 days to dress appropriately in public out of a week, and I have no idea how ladies manage this with having to go to work. She also couldn’t tell me when I could start seeing her biweekly, and please for my own sake of hope I’d like to have an idea of when this will get a bit easier, to where I don’t have to hide away with a mustache for most of the week.
So here’s the problem with your question and what makes it unanswerable.
You haven’t posted a photo of your upper lip so we have no idea how much hair is even there.
It’s going to be hard to judge how long a clearance should take because a lot also depends on how your upper lip reacts to treatment. It is MUCH better to go slowly and carefully than it would be to clear the hair quickly and overtreat. (As a warning, this can be what happens if you’re overtreated – this is rare btw: http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/102688/Electrolysis_Upper_Lip_Scars_H.html). Long story short: it’s better to go slowly and carefully than it is to go fast and overtreat.
She’s right that she can’t tell you when you can start going biweekly. A lot depends (again) on how your upper lip does as treatments progress.
The reason she wants you to avoid shaving for a few days before your appointment is because then the hair can grow long enough where she can grab it with tweezers during treatment. If you’re treatment is Wednesday, you should be fine to wear makeup Friday before your doctor’s appointment. Unfortunately, there’s just too many factors to give the exact answers you’re looking for.
Thank you Brenton. Even though my question(s) can’t yet or can’t ever be answered with the exception of time itself, your clarification has helped put my mind more at ease. I just want to be on the same page of understanding here, because simply not knowing is scary and hard to deal with. I want to understand and be prepared as much as possible.
I wanted to post a pic of my facial hair on day one, but then I ran into this locked error on my SD card which has thrown me off. I’ll post a pic soon.
I have read through that overtreatment thread in the past, and I do appreciate the heads up. By no means do I want to rush this thing, but I do want to rush into finding out information based on what I can do and what to expect if at all possible.
I decided to shave today, even though it was a bit risky of having the hair too short for her. I had to get out in public for the sake of groceries and for my own sanity. 40+ hours should hopefully be enough time for the hair to grow out in time for my next appointment (Wednesday). From reading here, some cis women can get away with just 24 hours of hair growth. My hair grows like weeds, with the exception of taking estrogen/spironolactone that will eventually slow the growth down. Even if it is too short for her, it won’t be the end of the world. I do have to consider my own psychological well-being and place that as a reasonably high priority.
I like to leave at least 2 days growth, 3 if I can get it but it’s not always possible and I’ve treated hairs that were shaved the morning of though this becomes very fussy, slow and time consuming work because of the difficulty in grasping the hairs… Practioners differ on shaving afterward. I never minded any of my trans clients shaving immediately after, but I did warn most that the skin can be bumpy and inflamed, making it easier to knick yourself shaving. If you are careful, you should be able to shave within a few hours but you can check with your electrologist to see if she has any concerns.
As to going in with 40 hours growth, it should be fine. There will be enough for the electrologist to grab. IT might slow her down slightly if she is fussing too much to grasp the hairs but most should be treatable.
Facing daily living with hair on your face is one of the hardest things to deal with as a transperson. I faced it myself , and I help my clients with it on a daily basis. It’s reasonable to say that it’s your electrologists JOB to assist you in coming to terms on when there should and when you would prefer there not be hair growth. By this I mean facing a workplace when you are presenting as a female. If you are really needing to shave after an appointment, I say do it. As to worrying about when you can leave the house, it’s definitely a case where putting up with some short term dysphoria, can improve your disposition longer term. I was probably undeergoing electrolysis at a faster rate than you, but I did get to the point where I knew the hair didnt bother me anymore, because it’s showing became a badge of honour as to how much progress I was making( how much no longer was showing) , and letting it grow out, meant it was able to be seen to be removed, even slow growing hairs.AS much as it bothers you now, it will feel just the opposite when the hair starts to peter out to nothing
The bigger issue, seems to be the communication with, your current electrologists and her unwillingness to use enough intensity to get he job done. She may have treated one or two transpeople, but it doesnt sound like she has the experience she needs and some electrologists are taught to undertreat in order to have favourable skin reactions. If the hairs are plucky they arent dead. The answer to when can I expect to see results in such a case becomes, never.
Could I ask what state you are in ? Perhaps we could help you find someone nearby.
