Hey there, skincare enthusiasts! Let's talk about the Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial— a treatment that’s got everyone buzzing. From celebs to skincare gurus, this is the facial that makes everyone glow. So, what’s all the hype about? Let’s break it down!

When it comes to electrolysis, the right equipment can make all the difference. Picture this: you walk into your electrolysis clinic, and instead of a sleek, modern machine with a touchscreen interface, you're faced with something straight out of the 1970s

In the world of smooth, hair-free skin, electrolysis stands out even above laser as the only truly 100 percent permanent solution that works for literally every hair and skin color. But before you decide to go for the deeply discounted service, here’s some good advice on why cheaper electrolysis might not be your best option.

One of the lesser known side effects of Tamoxifen can be an increase of hair growth in unwanted places — especially the face, arms, and shoulders. This is because lower estrogen levels disrupt the balance of hormones in your body in much the same way as menopause. Even as estrogen levels drop, androgen hormones often remain higher — a condition known as relative hyperandrogenism. These higher-than-normal levels of androgens that can prompt darker, thicker hair to suddenly grow in areas it normally wouldn’t.

Like lasers, at-home IPL devices heat hair pigment (melanin) with intense pulsed light. But, if you’re looking for permanent hair removal, there is one critical thing you need to understand! So, let’s get into the BIG things you should definitely know about IPL devices like the nood, Silk’n, ULike, and Iluminage, etc. so you can make a smart decision about whether this might be the right for you!

To become professional electrologists, we completed a combined 840 hours of training, including many hours of study dedicated just to infection control. Recently, we added an automated mouthwash machine to dispense an oral rinse — Listerine with Thymol essential oil has been shown to reduce infectious levels of COVID-19 by 99.99%, so we’re all in in asking everyone to do a 30-second swish! When it comes our clients, your safety is our top priority; we are always looking for the best way to ensure sure our salon is sanitized and ready for you.

Here are a few more highlights of how we’re addressing COVID-19.

The hard truth is that many clinics and med spas won’t tell their patients that laser doesn’t work universally for everyone. While laser hair removal works sometimes, there are definitely factors that prevent many patients from seeing results.

Beauty marks have a turbulent history.  In medical terms, they are often what’s known as a melanocytic nevus, which is nothing more than a slightly raised collection of melanin or pigment forming cells in your skin.  In the 1600s, they were sometimes seen as a witch’s mark and were enough evidence to convict a person.  Yikes!  Fast forward to the 1980s, however, and we see Cindy Crawford sporting her signature beauty mark as idyllic perfection on the cover of Vogue.  Whether you’re ready to embrace or completely erase your mole, electrolysis can often help you find that sweet spot (pun intended)!

All women have facial and body hair, but the hair is usually fine and light in color.  If you have excessive or unwanted hair on your face, arms, chest, or back that is coarse and dark, the cause is often hormonal, and it’s something that generally runs in families.  The good news is that the excess hair itself isn’t dangerous, but we understand that it may be making you feel self-conscious.  If you’re tired of the daily upkeep through shaving, and you’re ready for something better, electrolysis is the only 100% permanent form of hair removal recognized by the FDA, and it works great for hormonal hair growth due to health issues like PCOS.

For many women, a monthly allowance for beauty — including things like hair, nails, and makeup — is a non-negotiable necessity.  But whether you consider yourself low-maintenance, high-maintenance, or #WokeUpLikeThis for real, swapping out regular spend on things like mani-pedis, waxing, or facials for longer-term beauty treatments like electrolysis, permanent makeup, and facial fillers (e.g. Botox), can be very freeing and just makes good sense!

Finding a great electrologist isn’t as easy as you might think.  In about one-third of US states (including Texas), there are no regulations or certification requirements for electrologists.  This means just about anyone can purchase an electrolysis machine and set-up shop. You can ask friends for recommendations, but fair warning, this approach can sometimes be difficult as not everyone will openly discuss their hair issues!

What should you look for? Three things actually, including accredited training, board certification, and a professional, clean salon environment.

If it’s your first time for electrolysis, you may be wondering how long your hair needs to be to ensure a good experience.

The short answer is: 3 mm (which is about the width of a classic wedding ring).

But, here’s the tricky part — knowing how long it actually takes to grow your hair to 3 mm! If you’ve had any type of professional temporary hair removal, whether it’s waxing, threading, sugaring, etc., you are probably already aware that human hair growth is not a uniform process — it actually grows in cycles.

I remember the first time I noticed a real chin hair — not the blonde peach-fuzz kind of hair, but a coarse, dark, rogue hair!  I instinctually grabbed my tweezers and plucked it in horror (a dangerous approach because you should almost never tweeze).  Truth be told, bristly chin hair in women is more common than most of us would like to admit, so you should never feel embarrassed or abnormal if you have this issue.

Ahhhh…Aloe Vera! You are a stand-out botanical amongst botanicals! Full of vitamins, minerals, and anti-inflammatory compounds — we can’t say enough good things. If you don’t have cool, soothing aloe in your icebox right now, you should run (not walk) to your nearest apothecary to stock up! For sure, it’s one of our favorite natural beauty balms here at Prickly Pear!

While things were slowing down for many during COVID, we were busy spinning-up our new business, Prickly Pear.  The last four months have been a whirlwind, but the doors to our beautiful salon are finally open!  As we reflect during grand opening week, we’re filled with nothing but gratitude to the many people who jumped in to support us and help make our dream of bringing joy to the world through state-of-the-art electrolysis real!

We used to make little habits for ourselves like, “stop in the kitchen and chug a glass of water every time you come back from a bathroom break.”  Then we learned that the “eight glasses of water a day” rule has virtually no science behind it, and also chugging water doesn’t really hydrate you because your body can only absorb about 4oz of water in 30 minutes (if you’re working out and sweating profusely, that amount increases to 8oz in 30 minutes).  If you drink more than you can process, you basically just pee it out.  Who has time for all those bathroom breaks?

Underarms are one of the areas we’re most often asked about here at Prickly Pear. We think partly because it’s one of the most annoying places on the body to be fuzzy, and partly because we live in a warm climate here in Texas, which means spaghetti-strap tops and dresses are appropriate almost year-round!

Electrolysis is your best solution!

When you see an out of place hair on your body, it’s tempting grab the tweezers. Before go pluck-happy, there’s two important things you should know.

The best and most accurate way to assess your individual tolerance for electrolysis is to try it! We offer a free consultation for new clients with a patch test (where we treat a small area of hair with electrolysis). This allows you to experience the sensation before you commit to more, so we highly encourage everyone to take advantage of this no-pressure offering! That being said, I’ve personally experienced many hours of electrolysis and for me, electrolysis is not painful (certainly not like waxing or getting an IPL photofacial — those really hurt!).

If you’re excited by the promise of being hair-free, and you’re thinking of going to a laser hair removal clinic, make sure you read the small print on the back of the consent form. Alongside the client success stories, there’s also a risk that laser could actually make you hairier! Yes, you read that right. It doesn’t happen with everyone, but it does happen — even if you’re the perfect candidate for laser hair removal.