Electrolysis advice

[mrstrickland]

Hi All!
Looking for advice please. I started electrolysis a couple of months before lockdown on my very hairy chin and although I can't say I noticed any difference the beautician said it was helping but had to wax after each session to get the rogue hairs not ready to be zapped.

Then of course we went into lockdown and my hairy chin chin kept growing . I messaged the beautician for advice and she said to keep regularly waxing as it will help the hairs to grow in finer.... except they aren't. I am waxing my chin weekly and they are still very coarse. So I then did a bit of research and it looks like advice is not to wax as it makes the hair think its being attacked (or something!) so rushes blood to that area making the hair stronger and that you should trim or shave?

Anyway, my question is to anyone who has had electrolysis; does it work? how long did it take? and did you wax/shave/trim in between appointments?

thanks so much. My hairy chin chin is the bain of my life

Waxing will actually make electrolysis less effective as it distorts the follicle. Can I does your beauty therapist have a qualification as an electrologist or did she just do electrolysis as part of her general beauty therapist course?

I had a huge amount of PCOS induced hair (face and elsewhere) and once I went to someone who was specialised in electrolysis I noticed a huge change. Its one of those things thats a marathon not a sprint, it took me 2 years but I went from shaving sometimes twice a day to now every few months plucking a straggler.

I had electrolysis many years ago for my top lip mainly and it made the hair grow more. I would love to find something that works well and have tried waxing and creams and epilators and of course plucking.

I looked at philips lumeas? and there are so many I lost the plot.

I got Phillip’s lumea and found it worked well on facial hair. I used it more regularly than recommended though. 🤷‍♀️

I had electrolysis and found it to be super effective.
I was told no waxing for 3months prior, 6 months ideally so this is what I did. I know each practioner is different, however they all agree on no waxing at all otherwise its counter productive. I'm sorry you've been fed wrong information about this. I think you should reach out to a few different people and ask for their advice on what clearance plans they follow to see the general idea of what to expect.
I did 3 complete clearances spaced 10 weeks apart and only have a few strays that appear now that I will sort out later in the year. This is 'best case' scenario so I know I have been incredibly lucky.
I chose to go to an expert who only dealt with electrolysis rather than a salon. You can find accredited practitioners here electrolysis.co.uk/. It really is worth travelling to a good person rather than using someone because they're local or cheap.

this video is posted by a clinic in Belgium who offer electrolysis but is really insightful into how the hair cycle actually works so can help to manage expections. Hope this is helpful for you!

Hi thanks for confirming what I suspected. She is qualified and has been doing it for a long time. I wonder as she is older perhaps this is what the advice used to be when she did her training? I am So glad I have asked here! She is cheaper than other places so happy to stick with her once out of lockdown but no more waxing!

I have ginger hair so sadly laser isn’t for me. I wonder if it’s worth buying a device like the jml flawless to shave more easily? Does anyone have experience of this?

Thanks so much everyone x

@Notanothercherrybakewell thank you for the link I will have a look. I’m pretty rural so there prob won’t be much choice but will see if there is anyone else.

Does it hurt when she does it? And do you use any emla cream? I found if it wasn't hurting then those hairs were the ones to grow back. I absolutely needed the pain relief from the get go and I'm no wuss.
If you email a few of the key players in the industry and they can offer you some reassurance in their time lines then it might be worth travelling to have it done.
Cheaper but more frequent will be more costly in the long run than paying for the train (or a hotel etc) to visit a big city 3-5 times over the course of a year or 2.
Just as a reference point the average price in my city is £60-100ph. The price reflects the machine and equipment used which has a direct impact on the success rate AFAIK

It worked well for me. But yes it took a few years, bikini line 20 years later only has a few stragglers, eyebrows as well.

Hi all and thanks
@Notanothercherrybakewell She is £20 for a session of around 15 minutes and yes it does hurt and the hair definitely comes out with each insertion of needle. I think I had maybe 6 sessions before lockdown (maybe more). The first few were weekly then it drop down to every 3 weeks when she saw progress. I do wonder if all the waxing I (and she) have been doing has really set me back. I have ordered a cheapo version of the JML flawless device and will use that rather than waxing and when she is able to start doing electrolysis go back to her to try and see if it works any better. I do suspect she is just very old school and her training is from so long ago that maybe waxing was the done thing?! who knows!

Hopefully she will be receptive of your research in not wanting to wax anymore. Weekly is too much - the hair hasn't grown back that quickly it is different hairs depending on the point in the cycle. That video explains it really well.
I would recommend going every 8-10 weeks, and having a full clearance of whatever is there on the day rather than just 20mins. I think you'll see a massive improvement trying it this way.
Good luck! I wish I'd done this years sooner!

@Notanothercherrybakewell thank you for the advice. Its been wrecking my confidence doing waxing as I always feel stubbly in places and never smooth. Got the little shaving device delivered today and wishing I had bought it ages ago, took a few seconds to whip all the stubble off and feels smooth!!

I'm wishing I had more choice of beauticians nearby but it is what it is and I either persevere with her or give up and just daily (at least for now...)

I had electrolysis and it was massively effective. Far more than IPL as the hairs were just growing finer and paler with IPL so they weren't getting zapped.

However no waxing just shaving and initially I was going every week for ages to get all the hairs, then as they slowly stopped popping up down to every 2 weeks, then shorter appointments until eventually I was just 20 minutes once a month for maintenance.

Wish we could go back, they've all started bloody growing again. Unfortunately with hormones I'll always start growing new ones.

Is plucking a no no for the same reasons as waxing?

I have a few chin hairs I have always plucked (tweezers) but am now considering something more permanent like electrolysis, especially as I always get spots where the hairs area.

Should I stop plucking them and start shaving them instead? Will that help make electrolysis more effective?

No plucking during electrolysis as then there are no hairs for them to sizzle and they are all out of cycle. It was just shaving them off.

However until you start electrolysis - and no facial electrolysis at the moment anyway - you can do what you like.

Ok thanks!

Yes I know no facial stuff at the moment. It’s taken me years to get around to thinking of electrolysis so I can wait a bit longer!!

Out of curiosity, for those who say its hormonal, did you ever go to the GP for testing? I suspect my hairy chin is years and years of plucking hairs that probably initially didn't need to be plucked (unfortunately I'm a face picker..) and they have, over the years, become thicker and darker. But then, thats just me guessing. Maybe it is hormonal?

You can't really get hormone tests like that unless your GP thinks you have another diagnosis eg PCOS. But your hormones drive you producing the hairs, even when all my hairs are completely eradicated I'll have the drive to grow new ones so laser was becoming an expensive waste of time.

A monthly electrolysis top up after eradicating the bulk of the offenders was much better.

Plucking your hairs doesn't change the hairs. They are still just hairs.

I may or may not have PCOS (I have other features) or just be hairy - my DM is also hairy - but it causes me no other probs in my life so it's not worth finding out.