How long did electrolysis take to clear your face?

[Barbara Ann]

I just started electrolysis (the blend variety) on my face. We started working on the chin; and after three hours, there is just the part under my lower lip and as narrow section down the center of my chin to finish. I'm taking two hours next week, and we should be able to clear that area. I have a terrific electrologist; she started giving me a discount.

I'm curious as to your experiences with electro. How long did it take to clear your face? What method was used? How much did it cost per hour?

Love-
-Barb

[Hazumu]

We have 100+ hours on blend, then my electro got an Apilus, and we're trying the flash modality.  Flash's strong point is speed, with practice and skill the tech can clear more hairs per hour than with blend.  My pain management technique is to watch in a mirror, so I see bulbs and sheaths being extracted on most of the hairs (an indication the follicle has been adequately treated.)

A typical beard takes 200~300 hours to clear.  You can either spend it rapidly, in big chunks, or spread out in shorter sessions over several years.  The ideal for speed of clearing is go every weekend and get your whole face cleared, taking whatever time it takes.  After a while, you're down to under an hour each week, and you can start making appointments every two weeks (to keep the discount rates,) then monthly, then touch-ups whenever needed (and you've saved up enough active hairs).

Karen

[Jeannette]

186 hours.  Almost two years.

[katia]

three years.  electrolysis is the greatest investment i ever made.

[gothique11]

I got laser, and electro on a couple of red hairs I had (I had very, very few). It took me 5 laser appointments to clear up my face. I may go in the future and get electro for the odd hair if anything grows back. I just finished my 7th laser for my upper lip.... that has taken longer to get rid of, and has been stubborn. Although, at the current time, the hair barely noticeable and I just look like a girl with some lip hair -- I actually have less than my girlfriend, who is GG. And you won't notice she had upper lip hair unless you came nose to nose with her.

I think that I'm lucky that I got everything done so fast -- I have light skin and dark hair, the perfect combo for laser to work. Laser doesn't work for everyone, and I know so many people with limited results because there hair isn't dark enough, or there skin is darker.

But, getting the hair removal is so worth it, what ever method you use.

**Edit** In terms of hours, maybe 5. Full face laser was usually 30 and hour to 45 mins (mostly at the start). Upper lip is about 10 to 15.

[Robyn]

My facial hair was very stubborn since I began in my early 60s.  Took five years @ 2 hours per week, although my second electrologist told me the first two years were a waste of time and money.  So, really, three years.  I had a sweet deal of paying $380 for 10 hours and then receiving 11 hours.  Genital electrolysis was $50/hour and required 40 hours.  Lots of miles on my car, too.

Blend for face, throat and chest.  RF-only for genital.

Robyn

[StevieAK]

Ive not had my first appointment so perhaps a little lot ignorant but is thete anywhete to go west coast to just get it done in a week? The person who does in Fairbanks is 70 an hour and can only do an hour a week. I waited too long as it is and dont want this facial hair another day ro say nothing of years.

[big kim]

Aproximately 420 hours of blend method,there was no laser then though not sure it would have worked as I had a lot of white and grey hair in with the dark.. It works differently for everyone I had a lot of  facial hair as a guy some don't.Cost not sure but electrolysis is great, nothing gives a girl away more than thick heavy make up.It will hurt but you have to suffer to look good! I found breathing in when the current was applied helped manage the pain.

[smooth]

I always found slow steady breathing worked for me to take my mind away from the discomfort. The Blend is more uncomfortable than the more advanced methods of flash (thermolysis) which are possible with the more advanced machines. Rather than a sensation that can last a few seconds the energy is delivered in normally no more than 0.12 seconds, sometimes less and sometimes two pulses depending on the hair that is being treated.

Having treatment with a modern machine can be reasonably comfortable by comparison with blend. Most if not all practitioners who still say blend is the best technique just haven't upgraded their machines because of the cost involved. Of course they're going to say blend works the best and so are the people still being tortured by this method. Until you have experienced treatment from a modern machine you cannot appreciate the difference. Once you have experienced it you wont want to go back to the Blend.

Something else that I think I may have mentioned in another post. Lots of people are asking about hairs treated in a minute and obviously this is a concern for clients because of the money involved. More important than this though is the efficacy of the treatment, is the follicle being killed first time... It's all very well treating however many hairs per minute but if a high % of them are returning hairs per minute becomes meaningless. Far better to receive treatment where you know the hairs are being killed first time with very little re-growth....Which is a topic all of it's own

[LizMarie]

Ive not had my first appointment so perhaps a little lot ignorant but is thete anywhete to go west coast to just get it done in a week? The person who does in Fairbanks is 70 an hour and can only do an hour a week. I waited too long as it is and dont want this facial hair another day ro say nothing of years.

You can't get it done in just a week. Why? Because hairs grow in cycles, including facial hairs. While some hairs are growing, others are at rest and not visible at all.

The E3000 people in Dallas, Texas say they can generally clear a face in 5-7 sessions. Each session has two electrologists working on a patient for the entire day. Sessions are usually scheduled about 8 weeks (2 months) apart to allow time for the next cycle of hair to fully emerge. Total hours invested this way will be around 100.

If you are using a more traditional electrologist at an hour or two hours per week, then it will take longer and may involve more total hours to get all the hairs in all the growth cycles. It's very common to need 100-200 total hours. It's not rare to see people go above 200 hours either.

Facial hair removal is a long, slow, and expensive process. Your best bet is to just get it started and go from there.

[Zumbagirl]

I started with thermolysis (flash) on my face but switched to blend for the long term kill rate. I did thermolysis on other areas including genital electro. I want to guess and say that at about 100 hours of electro on my face (being flash and blend but a lot o blend at that point) I was able to feel that full time living was possible. The whole process for me took about 3 years or thereabouts. But once I was living full time, whatever was growing was light and not a problem. About a year into it was the last time in my lie I have ever had to put a razor to my face. I can tell you with blend after over 10-12 years nothing has ever grown back. My toughest hairs were the ones under my chin, they were twisted, some just below the skin. That area was a mess and slowed things down for a while, as she dug to get indvidual hairs. Still though the upper lip was the worst area. I used to call it "death by a thousand stings".

My first electrologist was a born again christian who felt she could save me, but I got sick of her hypocrisy, telling me how wrong I was and yet happy to take my money, that I sought out someone a bit more friendly and then I found the woman who helped to reshape my life. After many hours with the same person I got to know my electorlogist very well, and she was a great help when I was first starting off.

If you ask me it was the single best thing I did in my transition and also one of the most costly. Being able to be out in the world without makeup at all is worth every last penny I paid for it.

[smooth]

The kill rate is going to be determined by the person doing the work and every one is different and may have a different approach. Performed correctly blend and thermolysis both kill hairs permanently. Thermolysis, specifically flash is more comfortable than blend as hairs can be killed much quicker, fractions of a second instead of seconds. True flash cannot be done with just any machine. The pulses need to be controlled by a microchip to ensure that just the right amount of energy is released and no more. The hairs under the chin and on the neck in this area are tricky because it's sometimes hard getting the correct angle for a perfect insertion. Some electrologists will claim it's because of a twisted follicle but I personally think it's just an excuse for treating what can be a difficult area.
A lot of information currently available about electrolysis is out of date. It's backed up by a lot of electrologists still using old technology and not willing to invest in anything new in spite of the potential benefits to their clients. Of course they're going to say flash is bad because they mightn't be in a position to do it correctly... It's particularly bad in the UK where most electrolysis is brand influenced and wouldn't ya know it to date their machines cannot do flash...

[Shantel]

You can't get it done in just a week. Why? Because hairs grow in cycles, including facial hairs. While some hairs are growing, others are at rest and not visible at all.

The E3000 people in Dallas, Texas say they can generally clear a face in 5-7 sessions. Each session has two electrologists working on a patient for the entire day. Sessions are usually scheduled about 8 weeks (2 months) apart to allow time for the next cycle of hair to fully emerge. Total hours invested this way will be around 100.

If you are using a more traditional electrologist at an hour or two hours per week, then it will take longer and may involve more total hours to get all the hairs in all the growth cycles. It's very common to need 100-200 total hours. It's not rare to see people go above 200 hours either.

Facial hair removal is a long, slow, and expensive process. Your best bet is to just get it started and go from there.

Yes, best to start that process first of all and hopefully by the time you get to SRS it's done, but don't bet on it! As for the Texas deal, I've seen a lot of permanent scarring from that because of the heat delivered by that needle in the sub layers of the skin as they mow away. Best to start early and have the electrologist skip around and not do two hairs next to one another just to avoid damaging the skin. It takes a long time, lots of patience and buckets of money. I'm not done myself, got bummed out and quit after two years and a lot of dough.

[smooth]

Some good advice from Shantel. In cases where the hairs/ follicles are close together it's best to thin an area rather than jump in and zap  every follicle. If you don't do this you can create problems with healing as there needs to be healthy undamaged tissue around a follicle for it to heal properly and not leave a scar.
The treatment itself is not always responsible for scarring. It can be caused by poor aftercare, using products not recommended by your electrologist and picking or any activity likely to disrupt the healing process...

[CynthiaAnn]

It's not rare to see people go above 200 hours either.

Facial hair removal is a long, slow, and expensive process. Your best bet is to just get it started and go from there.

My friend @LizMarie is right, it's a long road, it took over 300 hours in the chair for me, over the course of 6 years to be free....

C -

[KathyLauren]

I am at about 120 hours, and seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  I think another 20 hours might finish the job.  My cheeks stay smooth for several days now.  My neck feels rough after half a day, but it is like emery cloth rough rather than 60-grit sandpaper rough.  This week, she started on my eyebrows.

She is giving me a 25% discount because I am her best customer. 

[Peach]

Well, In my case I used Electrolysis and pulsed light.. And it took me about 8 months to almost completely remove the hair on my face. Currently, only a few small white hairs appear on my chin, but that's it.

Good luck!

[Mendi]

0 hours on electrolysis.

12 times with laser, in total taking perhaps an hour?