Hi everyone, I’ve been reading the threads on laser and professional electrolysis and they have been soooo helpful. I hope you guys will be able to give me some much needed advice and a recommendation.

A little bit of background first (though you can prob skip this bit). I’m 25yr old female of Indian descent with reasonably fair skin and dark hair. I’m commonly assumed to be of Greek descent to give you a clearer idea of skin colour. I have hair all over my body and face and it’s all black. On my body I do a combination of waxing and bleaching. I have hair all over my face and neck, it just varies in thickness and length, the thickest and longest being my sideburns
It pretty much looks likes a beard. When I was 19 I started bleaching my the lower half of my face and neck. It made a huge difference to my appearance and confidence since from then I just look like a normal person with peach fuzz! The hair is only noticeable close up or in sunlight - except my sideburns. These really bother me. I’ve never given in to waxing/threading/shaving them like most other people I know because I have never wanted to make the problem worse or to ruin my skin (I’m quite susceptible to ingrowns and they scar quite badly). I always wear my hair down to try and cover the sides of my face but I really wish I could wear it up sometimes. In photographs it’s the only facial hair that really shows up. I’m getting married in about a year and I really want them gone so I wear my hair up with confidence and not worry about how the pictures will look.

I have been considering laser for ages now, finally being in a position that I can afford it. But a combination of things have started me thinking that it may not be the best option. From what I’ve read it sounds like I will be needing a yag laser – not so good for the face? (Even though to me, my sideburns seem coarse). I don’t want to risk laser induced growth and I’m really scared about scarring or in any way damaging my skin. Especially since it’s summer and it’s going to be really hard to completely avoid sun exposure. I also hear that the area is shaved prior to treatment, is this correct? I wouldn’t be keen on that. I’d also like to keep on bleaching between treatments but that also is not advisable?

My questions are, are my fears justified and am I better off going for electrolysis for this area? From other threads I’ve gained quite a bit of knowledge about what I should be looking for in a practitioner and what to expect. Am I correct in thinking that I should be going for a thermolysis practitioner?
Would anyone be able to recommend me an experienced one in London, UK?

Thank you so much for your help and for the existence of this forum!

Unless the hair on your face is coarse (like underarm hair) and plentiful, I would advise you to skip laser and go with electrolysis. You won't really need to bleach because you should be going in to remove all the hair you want gone right away. Afterwards, you need to come in as soon as new hair pops up to kill it while it's weak.
Shaving does absolutely nothing to the hair. So you should feel no problem doing this or clipping. The methods that can affect the structure of the hair are those that remove it with the root (i.e. threading, waxing etc).

For the other areas on your body with coarse hair, a Yag laser would be the right type.

You can find some past recommendations in London by running a search here with your city name. And yes, thermolysis type of electrolysis in good hands will be best and quickest for you.

lagirl - thanks. i'm feeling much happier about starting electrolysis on my face than i ever did when considering laser.

Since I could only find one recommendation for an electrologist in Central London, I'll continue to update about my consultations and treatment so there's some more info about electrolysis in London.

I'm going for a consultation at Renew Medica - http://www.renewmedica.com/
and http://parksidebeautycentre.com (which was mentioned on here).
I hope I can find some more recommended electrologists to try!

i can reccomend a lady in Walthamstow. I have seen a few different electrologists, and she is the only one i would want to reccomend.

please PM me for her details if your intrested.

Hi Morrissey.

Is your recommended practitioner asking you not to post her details? We have so many people from the UK wanting leads for good electrologists. Of course, we always respect one's right not to be recognized on an open forum.

hey everyone,

So today i had my first consultation at The Parkside Beauty Centre (Diathermy, Galvanic and Blend) The electrologist was really nice and addressed my main concerns. She has been registered with the BIAE for yonks, as have all the electrologists at this clinic (I think there are 4). She says she treats many women similar to myself and it's very rare that there will be any scarring from the treatment. She seemed to take pride in doing good treatment and spoke about some of the women who come in who have had bad treatment elsewhere. I had a 5 minute treatment on my sideburns. I felt some discomfort but I wouldn't call it pain - it was more like a prolonged pull on a hair. That was this morning, it's now the late afternoon and there is no redness either.

I know it's best to check out as many places as possible but I'm thinking of not going to a consultation at renew medica now. When I spoke to them on the phone it sounded like the consultation wasn't even going to be from the electrologist herself. And she only has 5 years experience.

I will hopefully be seeing the electrologist that Morrissey recommended. The thing is, if she uses the same method as the electrologist I saw today and even if gives me a short treament, from this how can i distinguish if she will give better treatment over time?

My remaining concern at this point is that is seems awfully slow (which of course I was aware of). At the rate of 5-10 hairs/min I will be doing hours and hours of electrolysis just on this area = costly.
I have read that the computerised electrolysis is much faster. Would you all suggest that I go for this method if I can find a practitioner? Unfortunately the only recommendation I have found in this forum is too far for me to go to every week. Searching the internet hasn't lead me anywhere either - they are all far faaar out of London. Can anyone recommend anyone using comp elec in London?
Would it actually reduce the overall cost significantly? If not, I won't feel so bad about continuing with the traditional treatment. Is it also significantly less damaging to the skin?

Thanks everyone

Five to ten hairs per minute is nothing to sneeze at. It will not take forever. If she goes after the thicker hairs first, you will be greatly elated. Removing those coarse hairs makes a huge difference early on. If you have a found a good electrologist, then increase the time on the table and aim for a first,full clearance.

Computerization is a great development for electrolysis. Computerized epilators help the electrologist and the client in many ways, however, if you find someone that does not have a computerized epilator, you can still get excellent results with good skin outcome (healing). This is and has always been about skill, but I am sold hands down on good equipment and say so ad nauseum here on hairtell.

Think about what you have found and increase the time on the table. Move forward and stay on a schedule.

Dee

If your looking to try out a couple more places, there's one on one of my old threads about electrolysis and I think a couple of others mentioned on there.

http://www.hairtell.com/forum/ubbthreads....html#Post49292

Regards,
Benji

Hi Dee, thanks for your advice. It's true what you say - once i got home and had a proper chance to examine my face it was clear what a difference the 5 mins had made. The thickest most visible hairs were already gone making a marked difference. I think my problem is that I feel I won't truly be able to tell how my skin is responding until I've had a few treatments with one electrologist at least. Which is fine except most places offer greatly reduced costs when you buy in bulk!
I'm totally committed to keeping on track and going as much as I can, which is why I'm so keen to find someone in Central London as this is where I work.

Benji - the link doesn't work but is the thread the one about your various consultations? I found that really helpful. Sara sounds perfect but it would be a real trek from Surrey
Do you think she would be able to recommend someone more Central?

It's a shame about the apparent lack of electrologists using computerised systems in the UK, especially in London. Everywhere is obsessed with Laser or IPL.

Hiya,

Yeah that was the link, seem to be having trouble with links recently. I don't know Central London so well, she might have some information, but who knows.

Good luck with everything hun.

Regards,
Benji