Stay with us, this is confusing
‘ELECTROLOGY’ is a term that refers to the permanent hair removal methods, ‘Thermolysis’ and also ‘the Blend’. These 2 methods treat hairs individually with the insertion of a filament, but destroy the hair follicle through different processes.
THERMOLYSIS creates heat in the hair follicle through application of radio frequency. Radio frequency is really sound waves which oscillate at millions of times per second. This sets up friction between molecules, creating enough heat in the follicle to destroy it.
ELECTROLYSIS is a chemical process that was first discovered to kill hair in 1891. It is the result of passing a Direct Current (also known as Galvanic current) into a hair follicle. A by-product of this reaction is lye (NAOH) which destroys tissue through a caustic effect.
THE BLEND marries the 2 electrical currents, Thermolysis and Direct current (Galvanic). Direct current by itself is very time consuming, but once supplemented with Thermolysis, it can release hairs much faster, and it is very effective when treating deep roots of curly hair.
The term ELECTROLYSIS is a misnomer. Even though our technology has changed, the term is still in use.
Often technicians or subjects will have a preference for one of these methods, citing efficiency, discomfort or skin reaction. There is little evidence that one method is superior to the other in all ways and each method has it’s supporters and detractors. We believe that for certain hair types, the Blend has an advantage, but in most cases, thermolysis is more efficient.
Marcia, our Blend expert and enthusiast has all possible instruments in her tool kit, including micro-vision for the finest of hairs, specialized probes, desensitizing techniques, and before and after documentation.
