I'll be adding a lot more on this soon, but the main scams and
dubious devices in the world of hair removal are:
Sadly, there are too many scams to list them all here. If you
aren't sure if a product or device is legitimate, visit my 
hair
removal forum.
The following companies make my list of all-time most dubious
companies and products involved in hair removal, in descending
order, starting with the all-time worst:
Brand (maker): The
Tricho System (Tricho System)
Type of device: X-ray epilator
Guilty party: Albert Geyser, M.D.
This device removed hair with x-rays. It was used in the
20's and 30's by beauticians throughout the US and was promoted
as safe and permanent by its inventor. By the 1940's it became
clear that the device was causing cancer, disfigurement, and
death in patients. It was subsequently banned in the US, just
a little too late for the unsuspecting consumers injured and
killed by this quack device.
Brand (maker): IGIA
(Tactica International)
Type of device: Electric
tweezer
Guilty party: Avi Sivan
In the early 1990's, this company began selling millions
of IGIA electric tweezers through a barrage of infomercials
and catalogs, claiming the device was permanent without adequate
scientific substantiation. In 1997 alone, Tactica sold over
$75 million of IGIA electric tweezers. Tactica continues to
market IGIA electric tweezers, even though there is no published
medical proof they can work as claimed.
Brand: Global
Electrolysis Supply
Type of device: All (see below)
Guilty parties: Chris Williams/“Deb
Shatz”/”Greg Manning”/"Chris Limon"/"Gregg
Mannon"
This dubious distributor operates from mail drop boxes in
North America and Europe and sells just about every bogus
hair removal device out there:
Epitron
( Electric
tweezer)
AAVEXX
( "Transdermal")
Laser
Perm (Home use laser!)
Micro
1000 ("Microlysis")
V2R-G (Overpriced probe electrolysis)
Psoret
( Topical)
Hammond
and Weis Liquid Electrolysis ( Topical)
Brand (maker): Ultra Hair
Away (Victoria Bodyworks)
Type of device: Topical solution
Guilty party: “Geoff MacKay”
He's a spammer. He's a pornographer. And he's a scam artist
selling a bogus "hair inhibitor" with no proof it
can work as claimed. He's also gummed up most web search engines
by using multiple domains to promote his snake oil.
Brand (maker): Removatron
(Removatron International)
Type of device: Electric
tweezer
Guilty party: Fred Goodman
This electric tweezer has been sold as a method of permanent
hair removal for 25 years, primarily to beauticians and cosmetologists
as a franchise. These small businesses then use the unproven
device until clients run out of patience or money, thus ruining
their credibility. In a landmark case, Removatron was charged
with deceptive ad practices in 1985 by the US Federal Trade
Commission.Undaunted, Removatron continues to promote the
device as permanent, even though the the US Food and Drug
Administration stated in 1998 that there is no statistically
significant evidence that Removatron can achieve permanent
hair removal.
Brand (maker): Finally
Free/Forever Free (Mehl/Biophile)
Type of device: Electric
tweezer
Guilty party: Thomas Mehl
Sort of a poor man's IGIA, Thomas Mehl sold his home use
electric tweezers under such company names as Classy Lady
by Mehl of Puerto Rico. After a long career selling electric
tweezers as permanent under the names Finally Free and Forever
Free, Mehl branched out into lasers. With his money from ripping
people off with electric tweezers, he bought his way into
the laser hair removal industry His Mehl/Biophile sold a ruby
laser called Chromos 694 and attempted to cash in with bogus
"patent infringement" suits against legitimate laser
manufacturers. After the suits were dismissed and Mehl's inflated
stock price fell, the company defaulted on loans and began
repossessing lasers from doctors. Even though Thomas Mehl
is now dead, the legacy of his electric tweezer scam lives
on under new management.
Brand (maker): Super Phaser
Gold (Rejuvenu/International Hair Removal Systems
(IHRS))
Type of device: Electric
tweezer "Transdermal
electrolysis" "transcutaneous
hair removal"
Guilty parties: Lee Cole/"Mark H.
Chandler"
In the late 1990's, they changed the company name to International
Hair Removal Systems and began offering an electrified patch
as "transcutaneous electrolysis." FDA has not evaluated
claims of permanence using the "transdermal" or
"transcutaneous" methods, and there is no proof
either the Q-Tip or patch methods can result in permanent
hair removal. Also sold as TransQ-2000 and Pinnacle 1250.
Brand (maker): Guaranty
Hair Removal/GHR (Stephens Manufacturing)
Type of device: Electric
tweezer
Guilty parties: Judith Stephens/“Katherine
Cook”
Judith Stephens has been selling an electric tweezer called
GHR since the 1980's. She sued a trade group which tried to
get the word out about her bogus credentials and claims. In
the late 1990's Stephens teamed up with the person hosting
her websites to promote GHR through a site designed to look
like a consumer website, called "Kitty's Consumer
Beware." These two promote the GHR device with fake
"clinical data" of disputed authorship.
Brand (maker): TE
629 (American Hair Removal System (AHRS))
Type of device: Electric
tweezer "Transdermal
electrolysis"
Guilty parties: Lee Cole/"Mark H.
Chandler"
This team of quacks started off selling an electric tweezer,
but they soon modified the device to use an electrified Q-Tip
(honest). They called this method "transdermal electrolysis."
There is no proof the electric Q-Tip can cause permanent hair
removal.
Brand (maker): ThermaLight
2000 (Jennifer Maxx)
Type of device: Photoepilator
Guilty party: Jennifer Maxx
This photoepilator technology was first introduced in 1970.
In the subsequent 30 years, there has been no published proof
they can achieve permanent hair removal as claimed. In the
late 1990's Jennifer Maxx began selling her photoepilator
as a franchise, which means the number of consumers who will
be ripped off will increase significantly.
Brand (maker): Lasertrolysis
(Proteus)
Type of scam: Laser marketing ploy
Guilty party: Wally Roberts
Not so much a quack device as a quack marketing term. This
guy has been working to blur the important distinctions between
laser hair removal and electrolysis for the last few decades.
He trademarked the term "lasertrolysis" and has
taken a "grant" from a laser manufacturer to promote
laser through an electrolysis trade organization. His latest
push is to make these medical lasers available to cosmetologists
with little or no medical training. See Tricho System, above.
Brand (maker): D'Plume
XXIII (Carol Block )
Type of device: Photoepilator
Guilty party: Carol Block
Following the failure of original photoepilator Omicron in
the early 1970's Carol Block purchased the machines and began
selling them as franchises. Despite company claims, there
is no published proof the device can achieve permanent hair
removal.
Brand (maker): MW-2000
(MW Medical)
Type of device: Microwave
Guilty party:
This device was brought to market with limited data on safety
and effectiveness. In fact, it is illegal to use on facial
areas until the company submits more data to FDA. Their dire
financial condition stated in their annual report published
in April 2001 suggests this company may not be around long
enough to see clearance for use on facial areas.
Brand (maker): SoftLight
(ThermoLase)
Type of device: Laser
Guilty party: Thermo Electron
The first laser available in the US was introduced without
adequate clinical testing and marketed as permanent. After
medical articles and lawsuits came out claiming the device
did not achieve permanent hair removal, the company folded
its operations.
Brand (maker): Epil-Stop
(Tactica International)
Type of scam: Topical preparation
Guilty party: Avi Sivan
Tactica's second entry on the list is a cream depilatory
and "hair inhibitor" that not only didn't work,
it caused severe burns in enough consumers that it was necessary
to do a recall.
Brand: Kalo (Nisim)
Type of device: Topical preparation
Guilty party: Tom Davidson
This is another Canadian company selling a topical "hair
inhibitor" with no published clinical proof it can work
as claimed.
Brand: Vector
(Divine Skin Solutions)
Type of device: Electric
tweezer
Guilty party: Valery Smirnov "Leo
Smirnov"/"Leo Smironov"/"John Gubin"/Valery
Smirnov"/"Paul Condering"
This electric tweezer claims it's permanent and appproved
by FDA. Both claims are illegal.
