Since Im tanned, the Laser hair Removal system is (temporary) out for me. Now Im considering electrolysis for the summer.

I wanna hear the good and bad of these treatments.

Most importantly, anyone scared from it?

How long does either last? What are the costs for both? How painful are the treatments and the after effects? For both!

There was a group of us that used to share office suites when I was practicing esthetics. We had a very nice and very experienced lady who made her living doing electrolysis. This is the little that I know just through visiting with her. Electrolysis is only effective when it is performed during a certain phase of the hair growth and since hair does not all grow on the same cycle, repeat treatments are necessary for desired results. It is expensive and it is painful. I had her do a couple of hairs on me because my clients were always asking about it and I did not know what to tell them the experince was actually like. EVERY hair follicle must be individually zapped......OUCH...and basically that is exactly what is going on ...the follicle is being electrocuted. I don't see how this would be feasible for larger areas, but I don't know what you are considering it for.

I am a huge advocate of safe sun/tanning rituals, as almost all the adults I know, including my husband, are getting all sorts of skin cancers removed from sun/tanning exposure. My advice would be to start using safe self-tanners or something like booth spray-ons, such as Mystic, and go for the laser treatments after you skin heals itself from the tanning damage. I think you will be much happier with the results and you will spare yourself from too rapidly aging your wonderful skin.

I hope this helps.

-Debra

Hello!

I had laser for face and neck, obesity made much worse my hirsuites as my polycystic ovaries got ever worse...

Anyway, long and short of it is laser is great! I had thick black hairs and a mustache i had to wax all the time, no pain, quite expensive here in the Uk but worth it! would definite do it again for other areas!

Any questions please mail me!

sonriose x

OMG, I absolutely hate waxing my top lip! I have the finest of hairs there and instead of being dark at all they are very blonde. The tiniest amount of time in the sun and they bleach to totally white and just shine like the dickens. It becomes very obvious....it bothers me more than the darker ones on my chin that I have to pluck. They are just a few scattered but that darned bleached upper hair literally glows in the dark, lol, and I am not happy until it is ALL GONE! So for me, I wax the upper lip and tweeze what I refer to as the goatee, lmao!

I had electrolysis done twice....it isnt worth pain or money IMO. The lady performing it explained it to me this way: The hair follicles grow in a cycle of 3 stages....the mature hair that has emerged, the hair growing in the follicle that has not emerged yet, and the root of a new hair forming. They slide the microfine electrolysis needle into the follicle beside the emerged hair, and it works with the moisture of the root bulb and kills the root and the mature hair slides out. So any given session will only work on the hairs that are emerged, only one third of the hair growth cycle. Plus it can take more than one go at each hair to totally kill the follicle. It takes multiple sessions to get any results. I didnt find it worthwhile at all.

Ive had SEVERAL Laser hair removal treatments at $100 - $200 a session. Thats serious cash around my house. It kills the hairs that are present - so Im hair free for about 2 months?? Then bam! The growth cycle starts again and its time for more treatments. I waited 9 months between treatments (due to sunning) and became SO upset at the amount of facial hair that had re-surfaced. Yes, there was a small reduction from my initial visit - but all the money/time Ive spent on this project, I feel like the info surrounding the Laser treatments are a little misleading... its NOT permanent.

So????

Now Im interested in electrolysis. If all of this malarky is only temporary, then I need to save my $$ and go with a treatment thats more cost efficient. Am I making sense?

Questions I have (along with Penni's):

Can you have this done with a suntan (unlike the lasering)?

Has anyone been seriously scarred from it?

How many treatments are usually needed to maintain a hair-free area?

I had electrolysis treatements over 10 years ago and have been thrilled with the results. None of the hair ever grew back. It is not a one time procedure. You have to go regularly until the hair stops coming back. It can be painful, but there is an anesthetic cream available by prescription called emla. I used it and felt nothing. My esthetician could not believe how painless I was. She was able to turn the machine to a higher level which may be why my results are so long lasting. Cost averaged to about $1 per minute. I went in 15 minute sessions 1 time a week for a few months. You can tan with it..I did , I have no scars whatsoever (from the electrolysis) My skin was a bit irritated immediatly after the procedure by in a few hours it was fine. Just ask around and get a good recommendation.