I fired my last electrologist back in May. She had a fairly old single-probe machine, and OMG, was it painful. Even with Benzo/Lido/Tetracaine cream, the tears ran my eyeliner and mascara every time. The only reason I kept going to her was her extensive transgender clientele and a referral from my therapist.
Now that I think about it, pretty much everything about going to her sucked. Over an hour commute in traffic most days, showing up 30-60 mins early to apply the numbing cream (EXPENSIVE!), having to wait outside in the hallway when she was late (50% of the time) with goo on mah face and funny looks from passersby. Her taste in music was gawdawful, and did I mention the pain? Then I'd walk out of there every time with a face that looked like a raw hamburger patty and have to pay her parking attendant $10 each time I went there. Sometimes it would take 2 days for my poor face to be presentable again. My costs for the pleasure?
2 hours electro*: $180
Numbing cream: $20
Parking: $10
Gas: $10-$15
Total - $220-$225 per visit.
*50 minutes = 1 hour
The last time was the last straw. My usual electrologist went on vacation and I got her daughter instead. The pain was worse than usual and my poor face was swollen and pockmarked for so long that I couldn't leave the house for a week. Some of the marks lasted a month.
Well, now that there's nothing left to laser, it was time to find a new electrologist. After some diligent research I found a woman in Beverly Hills that also specializes in transwomen. $85 per hour (if you buy 5 at a time), less than 10 miles away, free parking, and a full 60 minutes per session. She has a state-of-the-art multi-probe machine with 16 probes, and OMG! No numbing cream necessary, much less pain, faster, and my face just looked a little sunburned when I got out of there yesterday. Today you can't tell I had anything done.
I think I'm going to let her finish me off now, and she thinks that after my 5 hours are up, all I will need for the time being is one hour every month to clean up the stragglers. This is a lot less time than my last electrologist estimated.
I highly recommend the multi-probe method to all you ladies.