Harmonix Corporation Harmonix is a Florida-based sales site that distributed a "transcutaneous
electrolysis" device called the Pinnacle 1250.
The Harmonix Pinnacle 1250 should
be avoided by all consumers.
2004 update
Harmonix claims they no longer sell this device.
On 16 August 2004, Harmonix President Oyvind Berg wrote:
This is to notify you that this company is no longer, nor have
we been since 2000 involved with the Lee Cole company. We ask
you to remove any reference to our company voluntarily from
your web site. We severed all ties with the company,and have
notified all customers of such.
I strongly suggest you do adequate research before you slander
a company like you have ours. Our involvement with this company
was of a very short duration. A small quantity of machines were
sold, of which most have since been taken off the marked or
re-purchased by our company.
I replied:
I find your claim hard to believe, since you are the first
company listed on the Rejuvenu distributor page.
Mr. Berg replied:
Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. The
company has been notified, and told to suspend the listing immediately.
Since this relationship is so far in our past, we failed to
follow up on what Mr. Cole was doing.
As a note to you, it is absolutely correct that we should have
done more research before we got into this venture. We were
introduced to the device by one of our long time customers that
had extensive experience in hair removal.They recommended the
device. Before we started a serious effort of selling this machine,
we did tests on a number of clients at our own training institute.
Those trials did reveal that the effectiveness of the machine
was questionable. At that time we stopped the marketing and
suspended any sales efforts, We also ended the relationship
with Rejuvenu at that time. All in total we sold only a handful
of machines, of which most have been upgraded to other FDA approved
devices by now.
On 10 September 2004, I received this follow-up:
It appears that our name has finally been removed from the
Rejuvenu web site. Please remove any mention of our company
on your site. If you want more information about our company,
I will be glad to provide such. We are not engaged in the hair
removal business, other than owning a Luminus Light Shear laser
with our doctor partners providing training and services at
our training institute in Boca Raton, Florida.
The information below is from the 2002 report on this company.
Contact information:
 Address: Plum Park Center 141 NW 20th
Street, Suite H-1 Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (888) 446-3747 (561) 447-7170
Fax: (561) 447-7133
website: http://www.harmonixcorp.com
email: info@harmonixcorp.com
order@harmonixcorp.com
Establishment Registration Number: 1063744
Establishment Operations: Initial Distributor
Establishment Status: Active
Date of Registration Status: 2001
Owner/Operator Number: 9033719
Owner/Operator Phone Number: 561-447-7170
Official Correspondent Name: MR. OYVIND BERG
Official Correspondent Phone Number: 561-447-7170
Official Correspondent Firm: LASER HAIR THERAPY, LLC 141 N.W.
20TH ST., SUITE H-1 BOCA RATON, FL 33431
HarmoniX promotional claims
The laser hair therapy system enhances hair treatments such
as coloring, conditioning, perms. Regular treatments with the system also will help thicken hair.
A call to 888.446.3747 yielded this information:
She also described various devices that are being used to stimulate
hair loss, all at high expense to the patient. The first is
Electrotrichogenesis, which is a hair dryer-type apparatus to stimulate hair. Laser Hair Therapy,
another hair-dryer shaped machine that a patient places their
scalp into for 15-30 minutes a few times a week. The last and most comical, was the Trichologic System
I, a special helmet that a patient bought for $1,000 and wore
on his head. Again, she emphasized that no clinical studies have been done with any of them. The first
two devices state that they are FDA approved in advertising,
but she said this was approval for safety, not efficacy.
Names linked with this site at the time they sold the Pinnacle 1250:
Oyvind Berg was listed as President.
email: oyvind@harmonixcorp.com
Carolyn Veroni was listed as Director
of Sales & Marketing: email: carolyn@harmonixcorp.com
Liliana Gardner was listed as
head of Design and Advertising: email: liliana@harmonixcorp.com
Birgit Strickland was listed as
head of Accounting: email: birgit@harmonixcorp.com
Michele Boermeester was listed
as Receptionist and Secretarial: email: michele@harmonixcorp.com (Ms. Boermeester contacted me by phone in November 2006 and said she was no longer with the company.)
Available products
Pinnacle 1250
Harmonix was connected with International
Hair Removal Systems (IHRS). They were listed as a distributor
on the IHRS site until 2004 (see above). Harmonix also sold an 8-hour "professional training" seminar on the
Pinnacle 1250 Hair Removal Unit for $250.00
Notable quack comments
Here is the Harmonix sales site making illegal and unsubstantiated
claims.
"Pinnacle 1250 Hair Removal System
Harmonix would like to introduce you to the new Pinnacle
1250 transcutaneous electrolysis system. The Pinnacle Transcutaneous
System is a non-invasive, safe method of permanent
hair removal that doesn't use needles."
As with other scam devices sold as "transcutaneous electrolysis"
devices, the Harmonix Pinnacle 1250 is sold as a hybrid device
with several ways to remove hair. However, the emphasis in sales
is on the bogus transcutaneous patch method.
"Unlike many other needleless units, the Pinnacle system
gives you a choice of three procedures: tweezers, probe and
hands-free transcutaneous patches. The procedure works by
placing one of the above choices with our conductive gel to
transmit galvanic current through to the hair follicles. This
current creates a chemical reaction, changing the water and
salt present in the hair follicle to sodium hydroxide. As
in the case of traditional needle electrolysis, the sodium
hydroxide destroys the germinative cells, thus achieving permanent
hair removal."
The needle option is really a red herring. The Pinnacle 1250
is sold on the "painless and permanent" options that
don't use a probe. They probably hope this will be a loophole
for them to claim permanence, since the needle method is the
only method of electrolysis with published clinical data proving
it is permanent.
"Transcutaneous hair removal is a safer and more effective
way to remove hair from any part of the body."
They also claim, "no swelling, bruising, scabbing, or
scarring" and that it's "excellent on distorted
and ingrown hairs." The manufacturers have provided no
clinical proof to back up these claims, either.
Harmonix attempts to get consumers to commit to 10 -15 treatments
"Transcutaneous hair removal can effectively treat up
to 90 square inches (6”x10”) every 15–20
minutes. This makes it possible and affordable for you to
treat entire large areas such as legs, back, chest, or arms
in one treatment."
For the first 9–12 weeks of your treatment series,
your client will need to be treated every 7–10 days
because the hair follicle may only remain in the growing stage
for two weeks after the hair surfaces.
After the initial 9–12 weeks of treatment, clients
should come for treatments only when they can see hair growing.
The treatments can be used successfully on any skin or hair
color. Also, makeup can be worn immediately after the treatment,
as there is no penetration of the skin.
As with many other hair removal scams, Harmonix includes "testimonials"
from people indentified only by initials so their claims can't
be verified.
"I have been working with a client who had needle electrolysis
for two years. She has scars all over her chin... She was
amazed to see such good results after the first hair growth-cycle.
Now she comes to me at lunchtime, returns to work, and doesn't
have any redness or soreness at all. She says she could not
do this before. BJP-NC"
"Now that I am using the transcutaneous system I have
satisfied clients driving more then 100 miles. MW-CA"
"When I first received my transcutaneous system, my
daughter asked me to try it out on her, so I had an opportunity
to test it out right away. She told me it didn't even hurt.
I was amazed to see that it worked, without pain, and with
no redness or soreness to the skin. CMN-NJ"
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hair removal
facts
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