[flamesabers]

Was so excited but now I'm gutted :'(

The initial consulation at Centros Unico earlier in the week went great. The girl there was lovely and we talked for almost an hour about what I wanted done. She did a test patch and I paid for 8 sessions up front. The first one was today.

But the girl there this time (don't know where the other one was) told me straight off the bat that I would have to pay for ANOTHER 8 sessions on top of the ones I already paid for because they considered face and neck seperate areas :'( This was never explained to begin with. If it was I would have been happy paying the full amount but out of principle I asked for a refund.

This is the second failure so far and going to have to look for another place again. It's like my presents were taken away on Christmas morning.

I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out for you.

The laser place I went to was a small business. The lady who lasered my face and chest owned and operated the business. As far as I know, she was the only employee. I found her to be very flexible with scheduling hours and payments for laser treatments. After getting several treatments of facial hair, I decided to prepay for lasering my chest in order to get a discount. In the end I didn't use all of my prepaids for my chest, so she offered to either refund the remaining balance or she could apply the balance to more facial treatments. I went with the latter option.

While it's understandable I think that the neck and face are considered separate areas (if I'm not mistaken, the face itself is divided up into several different sections), I think it's totally bogus none of this was explained to you during your initial consultation.

If you're still looking for a place, maybe you would be better off looking for a smaller firm that is more client-orientated?

[-Tasha-]

thanks flamesabers. I've found an independent place through groupon. Don't want to end up spending that much money with the success rate so far It's a bit out of the way but the website does indicate they are experienced with complete beard removal. Will give them a ring today. Third times a charm, right?

Centros Unico used a lightsheer duet which seemed pretty good. This place uses e-light which is apparently a combination of ipl and rf? It's supposed to be more effective at removing light hairs than other 'laser' methods but that could be all marketing speak!

[EvaMarie]

Good Luck Ellie, I hope it works out for you... Its great to be rid of the beard shadow It will take at least 2 treatments until you really see that though

So I was supposed to have have had my 5th laser treatment two days ago... I had to push it out 2 more weeks because I just had voice feminization surgery....

So 2 months after number 4 there arent many dark ones coming in but they are still there Really not many though and they are coming in pretty thin, nowhere near the nasty thick manly stuff I used to have though!!!

So I guess I can go 2 more weeks but I might do number five in about a week and get it over with... All depends on how my voice sounds after the one week of no talking is over....

There are more new ones coming in though and they gotta grow to be killed I guess.... I just hate em I pre paid for six treatments and I will probably switch to just electro for everything once I have my six done...

I will start up electro again soon too, been about 3 weeks and there are some very weak annoying white hairs coming back...

Just gotta keep at it I guess, someday they will ALL be dead and shaving will be a distant nightmare

[GoneGirl]

Hey, Eva, laser doesn't affect the colorless hairs. Gotta get those with thermolysis.

Next week I go in for two full days of 27 mhz thermolysis (electrolysis is rarely if ever used anymore). I spend two 7-1/2 hour days under the probe with a practitioner working on each side of my face to fully clear my face and neck of hair. I'm growing out my beard now in preparation. They inject me with lidocaine to numb the face and neck so there's no pain as each follicle is cooked to death.

That first beard clearing only kills about 30% of the hairs so I have to come back in 6 weeks to have it done again. At that point about 70% of my beard is gone. I go back every 6 weeks until every hair is killed (6 to 9 cycles will be needed). If I allow more than 6 weeks to go by between sessions, it takes even longer. It's important to get the hairs when they are struggling to grow back (the so called 'baby hairs').

Once all the hairs are gone, they're gone for good. Cost? $10 - 12K. Time? 9 - 12 months of treatments.

The work is done by electrologist Belle Brine who works at the Zukowski Center for Cosmetic Surgery in Wilmette, IL.

Clara

[EvaMarie]

WOW Clara... Id have went for that if it was an option here but its not... Only one lady that does electro (actually blend) here... One at a time 2 hours per session.... The EMLA cream helps but it still hurts....

I hope they numb you up good, sounds like its gonna be rough!!!

Of course I know that laser dont work on light hairs, Im way ahead of you here at least

I disagree on the strict 6 week time frame though... I go 8 weeks minimum with laser but after each treatment it seems to take the hairs longer to come in...

Electro we just did twice a week to totally clear the white hairs... Gonna have to go at them at least 1 more time though but they are MUCH finer than they used to be...

Im guess Im lucky I like my electro lady and she seems to be pretty good at it with 25+ years experience....

[Dianna1395]

So, has anyone tried a Tria laser system yet?
Or the home IPL systems?

I have an old "One Touch" electrolysis unit, but have never gotten around to using it. At $20, it wasn't a huge investment, and i'm getting to the point where electrolysis might be the only option (too many grays) - but there's a young girl in the family who resembles a wookie, so I wanted to do some "market research". (Her legs, not her face. ;-) )

[GoneGirl]

Yesterday I completed the clearing of hair on my face and neck using electrolysis. It's actually thermolysis whereby high frequency microwaves heat the hair root to kill it and seal off the blood capillaries so another hair cannot grow. It took 32 tech-hours (2 girls working a total of 16 hours over two days) to clear all the hair under local anesthetic. I have to repeat this process every 6 weeks for about a year until all the hair is killed permanently.

Here's how a session works. I arrived at 6:00 am the first day. I was instructed to put on a gown and then seated in a reclinable chair. My electrologist cleaned my face and neck with alcohol which had a mild burning sensation. She then applied a prescription lidocaine numbing ointment to my beard area. It was stronger than prescription EMLA. I could feel my lips getting numb within a few minutes.

Next a medical tech came in to set up an IV drip on my arm. An MD then administered a quick acting, short lived, narcotic sedation. When it took effect, the doc injected lidocaine together with a vaso-constrictor at several locations around my face and neck. Without the numbing and sedation these injections are extremely painful. Within seconds my face and neck were completely anesthetized and I was wide awake shortly thereafter.

Two girls, one on each side of me, one left-handed and the other right-handed, began to extract the hair on my face. They used a 27 mhz Apilus electrolysis/thermolysis device using insulated probes. The probe is very thin like a needle. It is inserted deep into the follicle along the hair shaft. The tech then sends out a pulse of microwaves from the tip of the probe to literally cook the moist cells in the vicinity of the hair root (papilla). She then extracts the hair out with a tweezers. It usually comes out with little effort, indicating an effective result. The tech will make adjustments to power setting, type of probe, etc. until the best results are obtained. High skin moisture is critical for good results. It's wise to hydrate you body well before a session.

They work very fast pulsing 10 or 12 follicles in a row, and then coming back with the tweezers to extract them. It was completely painless. They chatted back and forth, myself joining in when they were not working on my jaw. You can't read of watch TV during these long hours due to the bright overhead lights. It can be rather boring when the conversation dies. I nodded off many times and could have slept through some of it except that my snoring would wake me up...LOL.

I spent 9 hours in the chair the first day. Both sides of my face and neck, as well as my upper and lower lip areas had been cleared on day 1. I experienced some swelling, and the anesthetic made is hard to talk and eat that evening. I was instructed to apply neosporin cream to the cleared areas and apply ice for 15 minutes on and off that evening before going to bed. I slept in a reclining position to allow gravity to help drain some of the swelling. In the morning of the second day I was still quite swollen in my lower face.

The second day started at 8:30am. They put me through the same preparations as the first day. It took 7 hours in the chair to finish clearing my face and neck, again with two techs working on me.

I presented as a mix of feminine and masculine, but they always called me by my preferred name (Clara) and used the female pronouns. They tried to make me as comfortable as possible at all times.

My face handled the trauma of being subjected to an estimated 35,000 microwave bursts pretty well. There was very little redness or secretions (except in the chin area where follicles where density packed). I had no lifting of the skin (blistering). I do have swelling in the lower face and neck. My lips are enlarged as well, but not grossly so (some clients are able to see their own lips due to swelling - yikes!).

It's strange to run my hand over my face and not feel any whisker stubble at all. My face will be back to normal in a week or less, followed by a month of almost no facial hair. A quick, easy shave every three days will keep new growth at bay during that month, but then in the sixth week post-clearing, thousands of hairs will return, but in reduced numbers than I originally had. 25 to 50% of the hairs will have been killed in that first clearing. The kill rate depends on the skill of the electrologist and your own physiology. On the second and subsequent clearings, the kill rate is even higher if you do another clearing shortly after the regrowth hair emerges. That's right around 6 weeks after a clearing. Allowing those 'baby hairs' to grow strong before hitting them again will reduce the kill rate substantially.

I've scheduled my next session for January 8, roughly six weeks from now, and I anticipate needing, at most, the 23 hour package instead of the 30 hour package. As I said, the second clearing if done right at the 6 week interval provides a better kill rate than the first clearing. After the 4th clearing, 90 to 95% of my face and neck hair should be permanently removed at an accumulated cost of about $10,000. Yeah, not cheap, but that's accomplished in just 6 months, it's painless, and it's permanent. The remaining hair can be cleaned up with regular short visits to my neighborhood electrologist over the course of another 6 months or so at about $75 and hour.

Laser will not produce permanent hair removal for most people. Some will get good results doing laser first, to weaken the hair, and followed up with electrolysis to kill it off for good. You'll always get some hair regrowth with laser, It works best for people with very dark hair and very light skin. The nice thing about laser is it's faster and cheaper than electrolysis. It gets you part way there. Keep in mind that if you do laser, you have to wait 3 months before doing electrolysis to get the most out of it.

PM me if you have any questions about the company I had do my hair removal, or other details.

Clara

[EvaMarie]

WOW, OUCH!!! That sounds brutal Clara...

Ive done 5 hours of electro myself in the last two days and Im gonna do two more on monday to totally clear my white hairs... AGAIN....
I estimate this is the third time she's killed them all off... She only goes one at a time though, usually 2 hours per session and I only use EMLA....

My laser girl is an MD dermatologist and she uses a state of the art machine... I paid $700.00 for six sessions... The results however are priceless... Number five is coming up and there aint much left to kill... My electro woman could take em out in about 2-3 hours Im thinking, but its prepaid... Laser doc said permanent results after six sessions, it is working very well for me

Id think what your doing is very similar to what Im doing but my laser is DONE in 10-15 minutes Im at an estimated 115-120 hours of electro now at $55.00 an hour plus time and fuel to drive an hour at 80 mph one way just to get there...

The approach your doing sounds brutal to me, I hope you start seeing good results soon and it doesnt hurt too bad!!!

[GoneGirl]

Well, Eva, it's not brutal at all. Once the pain blocks are in place, it's completely painless. It just takes a long time to clear an entire beard on the first clearing. Each successive clearing will take less and less time. Four passes should get me to 90 to 95% permanently cleared. Also, I had no choice in the matter; laser doesn't work for blond or gray hairs, so electrolysis was necessary. I chose volume electrolysis instead of the traditional spa type because it gets me to a permanently beard-free face painlessly in just a year, and I only have to grow out my beard every 6 weeks, not weekly.

Here's my face on day 1 after the procedure:



My electrologist said that my skin was mostly moist for an older girl, so I should see a high kill rate. Also, my recovery should be short given the minimal damage done as shown in the photo.
Clara

[-Tasha-]

Congratulations on a such great start Your skin looks great considering all the work they did in one go!