My electrologist told me today she thinks I have 10 maybe 12 hours of electro to go before my beard is pretty much gone good. Today marked 103 hours (over about two years) under the galvanic needles... even now, if I don't shave for four days you can hardly notice the growth. That means I've finally almost reached the end of the tunnel. OMG... at one stage I thought it would never happen and now I'm almost there. Although I get along with my electro and would recommend her to anyone for her skill and professionalism, I won't miss it. The day I never get another electro needle in my upper lip can't come soon enough. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: Ms Grace on July 03, 2015, 05:01:13 AM
My electrologist told me today she thinks I have 10 maybe 12 hours of electro to go before my beard is pretty much gone good. Today marked 103 hours (over about two years) under the galvanic needles... even now, if I don't shave for four days you can hardly notice the growth. That means I've finally almost reached the end of the tunnel. OMG... at one stage I thought it would never happen and now I'm almost there. Although I get along with my electro and would recommend her to anyone for her skill and professionalism, I won't miss it. The day I never get another electro needle in my upper lip can't come soon enough. ;D ;D ;D
JEALOUS!!! :)
Congrats Grace.
I'm about 150 hours in and there are still parts of my face they're struggling to clear. Neither of my electrologists will dare venture a guess how far I have to go.
And I'm thinking I may have to start!
Just blonde fluff but.........
Jealous too! I am just at the beginning, about 12 hours in, and am almost finished my upper lip and chin. My gal has indicated it should take one or two sessions to finish the lip. Still a long way to go for the rest! Patience!
Yay - happy for you Grace...
All those hours and grimaces have brought fruition....
Katy xx
Quote from: suzifrommd on July 03, 2015, 05:09:42 AM
JEALOUS!!! :)
Congrats Grace.
I'm about 150 hours in and there are still parts of my face they're struggling to clear. Neither of my electrologists will dare venture a guess how far I have to go.
La, la, la... For financial reasons, not even started... Yikes!
Katy xx
Quote from: Ms Grace on July 03, 2015, 05:01:13 AM
My electrologist told me today she thinks I have 10 maybe 12 hours of electro to go before my beard is pretty much gone good. Today marked 103 hours (over about two years) under the galvanic needles... even now, if I don't shave for four days you can hardly notice the growth. That means I've finally almost reached the end of the tunnel. OMG... at one stage I thought it would never happen and now I'm almost there. Although I get along with my electro and would recommend her to anyone for her skill and professionalism, I won't miss it. The day I never get another electro needle in my upper lip can't come soon enough. ;D ;D ;D
Congratulations :icon_biggrin:
I'm at 80 hours of electro with 8 laser sessions. (I had a mix of light and dark hair). My electrologists is able to clear my entire face and lip in under 30 min now and within the next few sessions it will be mostly upper lip which is all blonde and you can't really see. She said that my face is pretty much clear now and from here on out it will be just maintenance, but the upper lip may take a little longer, but it will only be 15 min every few weeks soon.
Its a jolly good investment - true fact - in my experience its by far and away the BIGGEST contributor to the way people will read your gender. If you have facial hair then most everyone will read you as male (irrespective of whether of not they actually say so). My point is if you want to be reliably read as female then having good electrolysis is way more important than HRT FFS and all of the rest put together.
So to those put off by the cost or the pain, I would strongly encourage you to take the plunge. These days its less painful too because these days you get "blend" shortwave diathermy and laser whereas in my day it was old fashioned DC galvanic - which was agony!
I am happy you stuck with it and are finally seeing the end. My face was cleared with the Blend process and one day when I was scheduled for an appointment, I realized I didn't have anything to remove. That was my last appointment and over 30 years latter I have about a dozen hairs I give special attention once every few weeks but I don't have enough to go back and get them zapped.
Congrats Grace. All the those hours have really payed off. Just made the switch from laser to Electro recently myself. Hugs.
Mariah
I'm around like thirty hours in with thermolysis and only just recently noticing large baldish patches on my chin and my upper lip. There's just so many little hairs in between and my whole neck area left to go almost untouched, ugggggggggh. Well, the most important to me is my upper lip and the contours of my chin.
" The joy of electrolysis" - a book that's unlikely to ever be written!
Well done to you Grace. I am 50 hours up after 6 months and can honestly say......it's better done than not done. Beardy shadow is my least favourite friend, so I am delighted to bid it goodbye, as slow and irritating as it is. The cost is a real problem, I am lucky to have ways of paying it.
Yay! well done Grace! I really disliked the discomfort of electrolysis, but I kept on doggedly going to my regular Saturday morning appointment until it was all done and my face was clear. I completely agree that electrolysis is essential if you want to be correctly identified as being female.
Quote" The joy of electrolysis" - a book that's unlikely to ever be written!
You can say that again rosinstraya! The best thing about electrolysis is that it feels so good when it stops.
Even knowing it may hurt I am looking forward to it. I have been doing laser and still have like 3 more secession to go but I know I will have to have electrolysis as I started laser to late and the gray hairs are already coming in. So I figured do the laser first get rid of the bulk of the hair and then move to electro to get the left over gray and what laser does not get. Hoping that since it will be only the gray it wont be the years of electro needed but either way I am in it till the end. Just ready for the mustache to go away every time I see it, it reminds me of what I don't want to see.
Quote from: Rejennyrated on July 03, 2015, 10:30:57 AM
Its a jolly good investment - true fact - in my experience its by far and away the BIGGEST contributor to the way people will read your gender. If you have facial hair then most everyone will read you as male (irrespective of whether of not they actually say so). My point is if you want to be reliably read as female then having good electrolysis is way more important than HRT FFS and all of the rest put together.
I guess it depends on how dark one's beard shadow is, fortunately mine wasn't that dark (part of the reason I couldn't do laser I suppose), but yeah - beard shadow will more often than not be the thing that gives someone away.
Quote from: rosinstraya on July 03, 2015, 11:30:02 PM
" The joy of electrolysis" - a book that's unlikely to ever be written!
I now feel strangely compelled to write it!
Quote from: rosinstraya on July 03, 2015, 11:30:02 PM
" The joy of electrolysis" - a book that's unlikely to ever be written!
I now feel strangely compelled to write it!
[/quote]
50 Shades of Electrolysis ?
Bound to picked up for a movie!
Actually I was thinking of something more in the vein of Dr Seuss!
There was a hair that was there, oh why is that hair there? I do not like it on my face, I do not like it in that place.
"Worry not, I can zap that hair" the Cat said, "with a little zap that hair will be as good as dead".
...etc!!! ;D :icon_mrgreen:
Congrats Grace, I had my first electro friday and they are starting on my cheek to help me get used to electo, and to find a medium to settings. I look forward to when I can get my "completed electro tiara " as you will soon. I dread my upper lip, tech says that tylenol may help
Quote from: Ms Grace on July 03, 2015, 05:01:13 AM
My electrologist told me today she thinks I have 10 maybe 12 hours of electro to go before my beard is pretty much gone good. Today marked 103 hours (over about two years) under the galvanic needles... even now, if I don't shave for four days you can hardly notice the growth. That means I've finally almost reached the end of the tunnel. OMG... at one stage I thought it would never happen and now I'm almost there. Although I get along with my electro and would recommend her to anyone for her skill and professionalism, I won't miss it. The day I never get another electro needle in my upper lip can't come soon enough. ;D ;D ;D
How much facial hair did you start with? I still need to consult with electrologists over how long it may take me to go through it. I'm glad I don't have a full beard, but I am still nervous how much time it may take....and money...
You're pretty lucky. I'm at 220 hours and counting. I've had to double my time per week to six hours of treatment (usually 2x3h sessions) in order to keep myself presentable since starting full-time living. There has been obvious progress but I'm still needing concealer makeup by day two or three following each session. I'm almost always working on the day of my session so this makes for a very long, tiring day! I have to rush home from the session, throw on my makeup and then turn right around and rush off to work for another nine to ten hours. I can only dream of hearing the words "12 hours of electro to go"!
Good news Grace. My electro journey is in the 120 hour (over 2 years and 4 months todate) and I am fully cleared except for my chin and some pesky ones that pop up now and then. I never has a heavy beard and I did around 15 sessions of laser but with age came a lot of white hairs. I will be done by this December. Can't wait and I'm looking forward to be in your space.
Quote from: findingreason on July 05, 2015, 10:29:58 PM
How much facial hair did you start with? I still need to consult with electrologists over how long it may take me to go through it. I'm glad I don't have a full beard, but I am still nervous how much time it may take....and money...
I wouldn't consider it a full beard - before I tried to transition in the 1990s it probably was but back then I was on HRT for two years, had some thermolysis electro (number of hours unknown) and some beard waxings (yes, it's painful) but the overall effect was that even after I came off hormones in 1991 my beard never returned to full thickness. I could go three-four days without having to shave. The one time I did try to grow a beard it was a sad, sad affair. I think that has definitely been a boon this time around. The other thing that really was worth it was having multi-probe galvanic electro - the process is different from thermolysis. According to my electrologist galvanic is permanent, and that has been my experience. She claims to know of some people who have done well in excess of 200 hours with thermolysis. Having someone who has lots of experience with male strength beard removal is also essential, as opposed to some beautician who may only do it for old Mrs Smith's coarse chin hairs every second month.