Just came back from my first consultation for electrolysis. It’s at a spa close by so I thought I’d try them out. She’s been doing electrolysis for 20 years; she uses a silhouette (sp?) tone machine (Thermolysis) which is digital and 10 years old. She uses stainless steel probes.
Over all the consultation sucked. She may have the skill and experience but I felt as if I was bothering her by asking questions. She started in right away with a demonstration on the area I wanted to treat, explaining a little as she went. I felt the first zap and heat and then plucking of the hair. She adjusted the heat and I didn’t feel the other hairs for the most part - I definitely felt the heat though! It’s a different feeling than laser, it stings more. I’d say she did 10-15 hairs in total.
When we were done I asked her about after care and she said there was no need, she also didn’t use gloves (but did wash her hands before and after), she also didn’t cleanse the area before hand and she said there was no need to - she said in the “old days” they were told to run the area with alcohol but they don’t do that anymore.
Like I said, I asked her questions and she did answer them but was not too talkative and I felt like I was bugging her. I’m assuming she is used to ppl coming in without looking up info on electrolysis.
Also didn’t like the fact that she mentioned at the end that she is also the laser tech at the same spa but she didn’t know anything about the machine (which was a Gentle Yag) nor had she heard of an Alexandrite laser…I won’t be going back.
But on the bright side I was able to see how my skin reacts to electrolysis and its pink and little warm right now but not too bad. I was also able to see how it feels so I can judge my next consultation.
She ought to be really glad that you did not mention her name. She should be ashamed of herself. Some people should just retire and go away. At least warn your friends who might want hair removal not to waste their time to pay her a visit.
I have to disagree with everyone else. I am not an expert, just someone who is going for electrolysis.
First thing, she may have had a bad day. You know women issues?? So I don’t think you can judge someone by one consultation.
Second thing, my practitioner also told me not to worry about after take. She said as long as your skin doesn’t react in a negative way it’s ok not to apply anything. And here I am not applying anything and things are going really well.
You probably only have to apply aftercare when you see negative side effects. If something is not broken, why fix it?
Whatever do you mean, sir? Are you blaming her rudeness on her monthly cycles? She just can’t help herself?? If she can’t override her womanly issues or whatever is causing her unprofessional behavior, then she should just give it up and do some soul searching for another career. That first consultation is the most important encounter. If this is her manner of approach the first time, then she’s not going to become more polite for the second encounter. People need help for a problem and don’t expect to have to endure bitchy behavior for a service they a seeking to PAY for.
I never was told to do aftercare when I had electrolysis and I healed fine without it, but many people need some support. We all present with different skin types, so aftercare instructions should be given. It is then up to client to go forward and decide on their own what they need to do.
I have to say that I am impressed with the area treated. As of this morning you don’t see anything at all in terms of redness, bumps, irritation. In fact my skin was pink for maybe an hour and it looked like I might 1 or 2 small white welts, but my skin looked great afterwards.
This could be because I only had a few hairs treated? anyway, if all treatments go this way I’ll be happy, now I just need to find a friendly electrologist
I’d be interested to observe Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reaction if someone told her that she should be excused because she was having some womanly issues.
Personality or lack there of (as opposed to womanly issues) is something you will have put up with if she can deliver good care, but remember, you will be spending a lot of time with her over the next year or so. Can you override her attitude “disorder” and suffer through it all? Never, EVER, hurts to get as many consults as you possibly can. You will be a walking encyclopedia for any of your friends, family or co-workers who ask the question, “Do you have any recommendations?”
If you do a longer session, you may expect more skin reaction, especially if the hairs are closer together. Don’t confuse TEMPORARY SKIN REACTIONS like redness, swelling and some pinpoint scabbing with bad healing outcome. The first sessions are the toughest. On the other hand, they may not be so tough at all. Every case is different.
Washing hands is wonderful! However, it’s not enough. Blood and bloodborne pathogens are not necessarily visible, and for the protection of the client and the electrologist - gloves must be worn. Additionally, using an antiseptic to decontaminate the clients skin before and after treatment is essential. Working on clean skin will help prevent spreading pathogens around on the skin - and cleansing afterward provides added protection from bacteria. Clients must also know what they can and cannot do after a treatment - plus they need to know what to do in the case of problems.
I don’t know what to say. I am sorry my comments came across that way. Yeah maybe I should change my name to notcoolguy because I happened to make some offensive comments that were taken differently from what I intended.
Dee, just put yourself in the lady’s shoes for a second. We are all humans. We are not always nice and sweet and kind to people. We all have bad days. Everyone has a day where they are not perceived as so nice…so would you want one of your clients to write a whole post criticizing you because of one day? Me thinks not.
Careful what you wish for. We are all humans and will make some mistakes one way or another…
We all have bad days, for whatever reason, but it is just plain STUPID for anyone in business to show it to a client/CUSTOMER, especially during the first meeting.
When I have bad days, I give Oscar worthy performances!
As far as the no gloves and not cleaning the skin…setting aside the client’s safety for a moment, I don’t want to touch a strangers uncleansed skin with my bare hands!
You said:
“I don’t know what to say. I am sorry my comments came across that way. Yeah maybe I should change my name to notcoolguy because I happened to make some offensive comments that were taken differently from what I intended”
Actually what you said was what wasn’t cool. Since it
came across as an insult towards women with the
“women’s issues” statement,I could see that Dee found it
personally offensive and frankly so did I.
Since you have never been on the the receiving end of
such comments and belittled or dismissed by such comments
you wouldn’t know how we might feel offended by such
a statement.
As to anything useful you might have had to say
regarding electrolysis, it was lost behind the other words.
If you really feel bad about your statement being taken wrong
then maybe you should have tried to understand how some
women might be offended by what was said and said something like:
“Sorry, but I shouldn’t have said it and I can understand
why or how some might find it insulting.”
Thanks for the input Barbara! Those were my thoughts exactly. I thought it was weird that she didn’t give me any advice for aftercare or what to look for in case there was a problem. When I asked her about aftercare she was completely dismissive. When I asked her about cleansing the area before hand, she said that you don’t need to clean the area before hand because the heat from the probe is enough to kill any bacteria.
The reason I said that you should look for someone else is because what you described was someone who has an arcane idea of what the work of hair removal should be. This person believes that the heat of the treatment sterilizes the probe/needle, and therefore, may be resusing them all day. If she is using a disposeable as if it were a re-usable, then the probe itself is deteriorating as the day goes on. Depending on the client, I can’t make a disposeable probe last the entire treatment, because the things self-distruct as you use them. Next up, she doesn’t believe in cleansing the skin either before or after the treatments. The states swab your arm with alcohol before administering a lethal injection. Need I say more on this subject? On a practicle matter, if she holds all these wrong headed notions, she probably also believes that a treatment setting is made by finding out how much pain the person can stand, and then turning the power up just a little bit higher. If it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work. Well, with that idea, the one saving grace you have is that she assuredly DOES NOT have an Apilus Platinum, or Silhouet-Tone VMC, because the settings that you would feel as painful would be dessicating your skin and leaving holes behind.
I hope that your experience with this person was not as bad as I envision, but I hold little hope. To put it simply, she may be economical, and she may very well deliver permanent hair removal, but you can do better on so many fronts, that it behooves you to check out the competition. If nothing better can be found, or you feel that the financial difference merits her tender mercies, then at least you will have made an informed choice.
(PS, The heat of the treatment does not actually “sterilize” the probe. In olden times, practitioners would hold their probes in the air and hit the foot switch 3 to 5 times in hopes of sterilizing them in between customers. What they did not know was that galvanic works via chemical reaction, and when holding the probe in the air, no chemical reaction is taking place. When using thermolysis, the heat comes from a reaction to the vibrations created by the FM signals generated by the probe. Since there is no moisture around the probe to boil, no reaction is taking place there either. Lastly, when in the body making the treatment reactions, it is the tissue surrounding the probe that is heating, and only for a flash of time. Sterilization requires high heat for long periods of time, like 90 minutes to 3 hours. Can you understand how people like me feel when we hear “the probe sanitizes itself”?)
Hi Alicia, I am not going to pretend I understand it. I don’t, and I don’t want to argue either. It’s not something I enjoy doing. Let’s just say the woman did not have a bad day. She was purely evil by nature and end it there. She just was a mean person.
I’ll spell it out for you cool guy, because you REALLY should avoid that kind of philosophy with the women in your life.
Your statement inferred that if a woman is having a bad day, it MUST be related to hormones, PMS, menopause, etc. It was inferring that we can’t have a bad day, just because…it’s raining, our stocks are plummeting, our last client was a chauvinistic pig, etc.
Equate it to me saying, cool guy is having a bad day, he MUST have erectile dysfunction (or whatever would insult you the most).
God, you made me laugh, Choice! It had crossed my mind to say that erectile stuff, but I refrained.
Cool Guy, I suspect you really are a cool guy and didn’t expect the roof to fall on your head with your statement. I guess you understand that women don’t like it when our bad behavior is blamed on hormones or womanly issues. A lot of us are just mean girls whether it is day one of our cycle or day 8 of our cycle. It’s a personality or behavior choice, same as with men. Just know that you’re okay and I realize that you were just trying to understand why this electrologist was so rough and unprofessional. We still love you.
Now, if she is the best around, you can just overlook her rude, unprofessional behavior or you can settle on the second best around. And… you can decide if you will give us another chance to answer your future questions.
Second Consult - last night I went for my second consult from the same woman who does my laser treatments. She uses a digital silhouette tone machine and used the blend method.
Definitely felt different from the therm. you could feel the zap and the current at the same time. It created a metallic taste in my mouth which was odd. She cleansed the area before hand, wore gloves and explained things as she went along.
I only did 5 minutes or so. It hurt, lol. She did the right side of my chin. The area was warm and pink afterwards and the follicles looked like little hives - white and swollen.
The redness was gone completely after 2 hours or so, but I’m still swollen today. Guess I should’ve done both sides so I wouldn’t look lop-sided.
I’m going to wait and see how it heals before deciding if I’ll continue with electrolysis to finish my face or if I’ll try one more laser treatment to reduce a little more before starting with the electrolysis.
