I can relate to feeling like that.   Had a recent visit to the dentists to have my teeth scaled and polished a while ago and she did one third of bottom teeth and proclaimed that after that $90 session, I’d need another two $90 sessions to remove all the plaque totally. (In the past I had had this done all in one go!)  When I got out of there and into reception to book the second appointment--it was going to be two months away!  I walked out in disgust to the next nearest dentist and had the rest removed--she did the lot in 30  minutes and said she could have removed it all--cost?  $50!!!  I could not believe that the other woman would leave me with jagged rough feeling I had for two months!!! (The same thing use to happen when I went to the Hairdressers!  If they do a bad job, I sneak out and go around to the next one and get it corrected!  I did once tell the girl she had not done what I asked and she asked me to come back to correct it another day--never again--she stuffed it up completely the second time around and it took ages to grow the mess out.  Now I cut and style my own and have not been to the Hairdressers in about 2-3 years.) 

I had read about the hair removal by electrolysis and that it can take time and some people had had so much hair to remove that they bought their own home eletrolysis kits.  Not the ones that just grasp the hair at the tip like a pincer (which don’t work because they do not transmit enough to affectl the root of the follicle) but the ones that are just like the real thing where you poke a very fine needle into the follicle.  I was reading that this can be hard though as you not only have to poke the needle in but have to do this at the precise angle (same direction that the hair grows in) but also hold this steady when you feel the zap (and not jump out of your skin with the shock!).  Also that some hairs are coarser and therefore need to have the tool held in place and zapped for longer--lol-- for want of a better word.  Also that you can only really work in small areas at a time or at one sitting-i.e. 15 mins.  

I have heard of people managing to remove all their excess hair successfully themselves though with these machines (one touch?), and they had SO much to remove that eventually they became electroysis experts!  It would pay to practice on an area where it won’t matter if you go a little overboard first and burn or damage something--which I read was possible---it can scar or make the pore look odd, but the pores on the face are larger than elsewhere on the body so easier to do apparently.  The face also is the place that most people see everyday, so that is priority above all other places.  I personally could live with excess hair on my legs, but facial hair on me--nah--has to go and would be top of most ladies list.   

On using the emla I read that if your doing electrolysis yourself and just starting, it’s best not to use a skin numbing cream as you need to feel the discomfort fully then you can gauge how long to apply to each follicle or which setting to use for you personally.  if you used emla straight off you could not feel or gauge this and possibly do some damage or go overboard with the zapping!   Facial hair is finer and therefore generally needs less time than say hair on the leg.  You would obviously not nehable to do your own bikini line unless you were a contortionist--so would probably need a friend you trust (very much) to help there.  I once watched a friend have facial hair done--upper lip and the sessions are only about 15 minutes long.  As I only have upper lip area to do, I will probably have that done professionally--as it won’t take many sessions.  Someone who has much more hair to remove facially or bodily may benefit from buying the kit and learning though.  Apparently it can take years to remove it all and you have to be really dedicated to it, but I would imagine it is worth it in the end and each session you are more adept and a little less hairier. 

Regards,

Anne-Marie