I have tried contacting the referrals from the older posts.. but many of them are not in place... can lagirl or James W. Walker or someone who has undergone this treatment refer someone in Bay area CA please.. I have found this forum to be the best by far. I will really appreciate any help I get... thanks..

Where in the Bay are you located? There was a regular posted here before from Hayward, who can probably help you more. But you'd really have more options by using the "how to find an electrologist" links in the sticky post on the electrolysis sectoin of the forum and going in for sample treatments.

thanks... i live in san mateo in bay... I can travel anywhere in nearby cites as long as I get an electrologist that has a reference. I did check those links too. I found some electrologists.. but as they are not refered.. I am not sure of them..

Most electrologists are not referred here, mostly because we only know about people in our area. Don't let that put you off. There are lots of competent electrologists out there. Read the electrolysis forum and learn what you should be looking for. Then go for consultations and sample treatments. You'll be able to judge quickly who leaves your skin looking perfect.

Thanks a ton for building my confidence. I have been reading the "professional Electrolysis" thread very much... I kinda got an idea what to look for.. I will be visiting for sample treatments soon.. Thanks.

I've been to Cindy Green in Palo Alto... Nice lady, left no scars. However, she works too fast end ends up plucking most of the hairs. She claims she doesn't, and I don't think she does it intentionally. However, my hairs grew back thicker and darker, which always happens when they're plucked.

I recently switched to Sanae in Santa Clara (http://www.bodyandskincare.net). Only been to her once, so too early to see if the results are permanent. However, she definitely does not pluck. She is very meticulous and takes her time on inserting the needle to get it in proper placement. I can feel the hairs slide out effortlessly. It's been 2 weeks since my appointment, and the hairs have not returned yet. They always returned pretty quickly after my sessions with Cindy Green. No scars either.

~M

Thanks. I am having a consultation with both of them tomorrow. Lets see how that goes.

Good luck on the consultations! Word of warning, Sanae has a pretty heavy accent and may be difficult to understand sometimes. However it appears that she has a much more professional training background, and her method feels more focused and thorough.

If the hair was in fact plucked, the hair wouldn't be returning in only a few weeks anyway. The same exact hair would only show again this early if it broke off on the way out. You can't judge whether they're plucking by trying to figure out if the hair regrows fast or not. You can only judge based on whether the hair slides out without resistance on the way out.

What machines do they both use? What electrolysis method? I would recommend to try to find someone who uses a type of thermolysis (flash, microflash, picoflash, etc) and one of the newer epilators like Apilus.

I don't know the science behind it. But I know for a fact that on my body, if I pluck a hair, the hair in that immediate area will grow back thicker and darker. Can't tell you if it's the exact same hair, or hair from a folicle half-a-millimeter away, but thicker and darker is the end result. Shaving never changes my hair texture or color (except for the tip being more blunt). Just the way my body reacts to plucking - not saying that other people will react the same way.

Now after having been to both the electrologists mentioned in the previous post, I can say for certain that the first one I went to plucked. If you ever plucked your eyebrows, then you know how plucking feels: like a pin prick with a slight tug of the skin. She told me that the plucking sensation I complained about is just the electricity zapping the hair. I had started with just 3-4 dark hairs on my chin, the rest was peach fuz. She recommended to zap the longer peach fuz as well, and I agreed. Now all the peach fuz is growing in thick and dark. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed at myself for not having trusted my pluck-suspicions from the start. Now that I tried another electrologist, I know how it's supposed to feel when the hair slides out effortlessly, without being plucked.

Moral of the story: when you are attempting electrolysis for the first time, try several different people in the beginning. It's very hard to tell how good a professional is unless you have others to compare them to.