I moved to San Francisco so I have to find a new electrologist. I went to one yesterday who is a CPE and has a Clareblend. She had me fill out a long questionaire and talked to me about electrolysis. I couldn’t answer her question about what type my old electrologist used on me, but she guessed blend when I told her she would put the thing you hold on my neck. This one does all types of electrolysis, but I guess she decided to do blend because she thought that’s what I had been getting. She said she normally didn’t do test patches, but when I looked really surprised at that she did one anyway. It was so much less painful than my regular electrologist. Could it be the more humid weather here, or was my old electrologist not that good? This electrologist was also surprised that I’d been going in for an hour every week for a month and still hadn’t got full clearance on my face. She booked an appointment with me for an hour in a couple of weeks. She didn’t mind when I told her I use Retin-A. The area near my ear where she worked looks fine.
Today I went to another electrologist. According to her website, she has a Silhouete-Tone Sequentium (VMC). She asked me a few questions and was not sure what method my other electrologist used and asked me to call her. (Why does it matter so much what method was used before?) I said I wanted to do thermolysis since that is fastest. Then she said she wanted to do a test patch and did an area on my chin with coarse dark hairs and then an area near my other ear. She was really quick and painless compared to my regular electrologist, but by my ear I felt some plucking. I told her about this when she was booking my first appointment and she said it was good feedback for her and that she had kept the setting really low because she was worried about my skin’s sensitivity but that next time she can try the same setting that she used on my chin. She said she thought she would only need to see me for 30-45 min every 2 weeks. I asked if that would be enough time to get full clearance, but she said that not every hair needed to be removed, only the ones as dark as my eyebrows. I would rather remove even the fine ones if they are long or brown as I have fair skin. When I talked to the receptionist she said that this electrologist is really fast so she needs less time and that she has her evenings and weekends booked till October. I booked appointments for the next 3 weeks but may adjust the frequency of visits after the first session. She wants me to not use Retin-A in the areas she will treat. The areas she worked on today look fine.
So any thoughts would be appreciated. I will go see the 2nd electrologist this Friday for the first appointment and that should help me decide. But what do you guys think? And was my original electrologist really slow and were her insertions that bad if they hurt so much more? It would feel like she was stabbing me with the needle a lot.
Your old electrologist may have used the ground (the cylindrical metal object she has you hold or puts behind your neck) for blend (or in theory, galvanic), but could have also been used if her machine had an auto-insert “footswitch-less” feature.
The one with the Silhouet-Tone VMC sounds like a good bet, the VMC is one of the very best machines available today and a skilled practitioner can do speedy work with it. Just make sure she understands you want all of the hair removed, not just the dark ones.
I use Retin-A myself and try to avoid using it about a week before electrolysis (on my face); the Retin-A seems to make electrolysis a bit more painful than it would otherwise if I stop using it for a week.
Either brand of epilator will deliver permanent hair removal, but the Silhouet-Tone VMC is an awesome epilator. I used this model for four years. In fact, I owned TWO VMC’s when I had two office locations. The VMC is now my back up unit, as I have moved upward to the Apilus Platinum. The VMC is one of the best professional epilators available today, on par with the Apilus SX-500, — almost. There are some slight differences between the two, but nothing that would be noticeable to the paying client. However, the Apilus Platinum sits higher above the SX-500 and the VMC. There’s nothing better than the AP in 2009.
Given that both electrologist’s have quality skill and quality magnification, the one using the Silhouet-Tone VMC would be the better choice. Clareblend is a respectable epilator (I have used that brand, too), but there are special qualities about the VMC that you will like better, I think.
Thanks for everybody’s advice. I forgot to mention that the one with the Silhouette Tone said that she was worried about scarring so she wanted to do thermolysis only on my chin and blend on my cheeks and upper lip. Is blend really better to prevent scarring?
Candela can you provide the name of the electrologist that you’ve visited, I live in the bay area, and i’m always lookiing for someone more experienced and with better equipment.
There shouldn’t be any scarring with any method if everything is done correctly. I’m actually surprised at her suggestion since blend is really only necessary for the deeper, curlier and more coarse hairs sometimes. So like the ones on your chin. The other stuff should be easily tackled with thermolysis.
Not true from my experience. ANY MODALITY OF ELECTROLYSIS CAN CAUSE SCARRING IF PERFORMED BY AN UNSKILLED PERSON. If one has worn out skills and equipment, you are at higher risk of having unsighty healing after effects. Scarring is rare when electrolysis is performed even with mediocrity. You have to be really careless to scar someone. I don’t think your second lady is in that range and she could do more than she thinks with that particular epilator. I do not think her statements are inaccurate about blend, electrolysis and the potential for scarring for certain areas, but she has to make decisions for you based on her comfort level.
I went to the 2nd lady today for 30 min. She used blend and asked me if it felt like the treatments with my original electrologist, which it did–very painful and long insertions compared to the test patch she did. She put numbing cream on my upper lip for free although you have to pay to have it on other areas. She got a lot of the noticeable dark hairs, especially on my upper lip, which I thought was good for half an hour, although there probably wasn’t that much hair left. But I’m worried because she said again that not all hairs need to be taken off, just the dark noticeable ones, and that she was going to target mainly my chin to make the hairs thinner. When I got home I looked in the mirror and I see long fine hairs sticking out of my chin. You can’t see unless you look close up, but I don’t like having those kinds of hairs because I remember when I was a teenager a male friend said, “You have more hair than I do!” and also I’ve noticed that this kind of hair is noticeable on other women even if it’s blonde. I wouldn’t mind short blonde hairs that laid flat on my skin. She was saying I could try birth control pills or Vaniqua to control the hair. It’s also funny because she recommended an electrologist to me who I hadn’t heard about but is closer to where I live. She didn’t use the Silhouette Tone I don’t think, but another machine that said “Elegance” on it on top of a Clareblend.
So I’m wondering if I should go to the first lady who was less painful even with blend, who would make 1 hour appointments and didn’t say anything about not removing all the hairs. However, I don’t think she uses vision equipment. The 2nd lady and my original electrologist did. I didn’t notice plucking with her, though.
I think the 2nd lady probably likes to keep appointments short because she has so many clients. But I want to work on my neck (because the hairs are long and dark though fine and I’m afraid they’ll turn coarse too one day) and my nipples and toes too, so I don’t know if 30 min would be enough.
Personally, I love long appointments. I think the problem lies with her vision equipment. Trust me, doing electrolysis with a great epilator, but using a poor vision set up, it is like having a mammogram performed on one breast only or doing a colonoscopy for only the lower portion of the colon. Maybe I could have thought of a better analogy, but that’s what popped in my head. James, you probably would have made a car analogy, right?
Anyway, it is possible to remove those hairs you see at home. The birth control pills and Viagra suggestion is lame. She needs better vision wear so she an serve your needs and desires. Take your mirror next time and examine the area. If she can’t see the hair that you can, then she will not satisfy your need to get rid of certain hair structures.
I don’t know much about the ClareBlend Elegance, but it is ClareBlends newest high tech epilator. I would be interested in any news about this epilator from an electrologist who uses it or a client who has experienced a treatment. i’ve always been curious about the Elegance.
You need longer appointments if you want work done on several areas.
Actually, the one I saw today does use surgical vision equipment, as did my old electrologist. But I was thinking about going to the other lady here because her blend patch test was a lot less painful, although I don’t think she uses any visionwear. But she must be able to do it well anyway since I didn’t feel any plucking, right?
I guess the one I saw today is probably stressed by all the people she has to fit in.
No traction is good when the hair is treated and lifted out, but there are some qualifying “buts” that go along with that statement. I won’t expand on that here right now.
May I ask why the electrologists with the surgical vision equipment are not removing the hairs you want? Are they deciding what they think is best for you? Take the mirror and examine the area. Then point then in the right direction. If they say they can’t see the hair, then I have to doubt that they have quality vision equipment. Perhaps they are not using their light source correctly? Blend is not necessary for fine, light hair. The varieties of flash thermolysis would remove more hairs per minute. If you go the blend route, you will still get permanent hair removal if she can see the hair. No vision aid really hurts the health of her eyes long run and it would be interesting to see what you end up with.
I can’t really know what is going on with the lady who doesn’t want to do flash, but I was thinking that the reason she is so careful about scarring is because she is worried about her reputation. On Yelp she always responds to the critical reviews about her. So maybe she’s worried people will say she scarred them.
I forgot to add, she said something about thermolysis not being good for oily skin like I have.
I just had a test patch done with another lady (the one the 2nd electrologist recommended) who has an Apilus Platinum and only does flash thermolysis. She worked on the underside of my chin and it looks ok although pink. I didn’t notice her wearing eyewear. I also talked to my original electrologist and she said that blend is better for tweezed hairs, so I wonder if it would be better to save flash for my body and maybe just clearing the fine hairs on my face. She said she thought it would take at least 3 45 min appointments to clear my face of all the fine hairs.
There was very little pain with this machine, and it doesn’t beep either.
Any method will work if done by someone who knows what they’re doing. I only felt blend was necessary on the nipple area where the hair was deep and somewhat curled. For everything else, thermolysis should be just fine. Is the hair being released without resistance? That’s important.
Please don’t forget to use aftercare. Witch hazel during the day and tea tree oil at night.
You certainly must expect some pinkness/redness and some swelling after an electrolysis session. We are disturbing tissue with electrical currents below the skin. How long it lasts is important feedback for your electrologist to know. Take good care of it and all should be well soon. This all normal.
I disagree with one modality being better for tweezed hairs than the other, but if that is her belief then permit her to do this her way. You are still going to get permanent hair removal. She has a lot of options available with that Apilus Platinum and she will do what is best for you, I’m sure. The AP is a great epilator and sensation-wise, it’s about as good as you will get, though I have been told that some electrologists can make their older epilators feel less sharpy.
I use the flash modes and Synchro on the Apilus Platinum for hair anywhere, any structure about 95% of the time. I do blend modes when my instincts tell me to.
It was kind of hard to tell, because she went so fast. However, I was impressed with the speed and I would like to do flash if I ever do my arms, stomach, or back.
I’m not sure if this one is good though. On Yelp there’s one reviewer who says that she had a hormonal disorder and got her chin and lip done without regrowth. Right below her someone else says that the treatments are no more effective than plucking and she didn’t notice progress. I found out that my original electrologist did blend, so I don’t know how to judge the quality of flash thermolysis.
Concerning the second yelper, what she says is without merit if she doesn’t delineate how long she had treatments for or if she got cleared each and everytime. Every electrologist should pound it into their new clients head that four months of time or four treatments is not enough time to evaluate because of hair growth cycles (I just used that as an example). Everyone needs a first, full clearance and that clearance must be maintained. Every electrologist needs to repeat early and often that hair will keep cycling in, over a period of 9 months and this is DESIRABLE so we can see all the bothersome hair and then treat it! They must be told not to give up!
Did the second yelper give this flasher her due time and maintain a regular schedule for 9-18 months? If she honestly did, then I would look closer at the electrologist or wonder about her hormonal environment or… wonder if the client was sneeking in some tweezing while having electrolysis.
Be careful of judging by reviews when reviews don’t have enough information. Some people go with ridiculous expectations and want to be done in a couple treatments. If they never went consistently for a year, they wouldn’t know whether it worked. Most people go for a couple treatments and quit because they’re not willing to commit to what’s needed to get rid of the hair forever.