HairLabs International HairLabs International is a distributor and
manufacturer with offices in Nashville, Tennessee. Until 2000, they were associated with "transcutaneous" hair removal devices, but no longer offer these products and services.
Below is a 2008 letter with updated information about why HairLabs no longer sells the devices or treatments with them.
June 08, 2008
Dear Andrea James,
It has been brought to my attention that on your website, “Hair Facts,” you continue to list me and my company, Hairlabs International as distributors of the TransQ-2000 hair removal system. Since you evidently pride yourself on presenting facts, you should be aware that neither I, nor my company has in anyway been associated with any aspect of transcutaneous hair removal in more than eight years.
We were distributors for a company called Rejuvenue for a short time and offered the service in our Nashville clinic, believing it to be a viable alternative to laser hair removal and needle electrolysis. When the clinical results did rise to our level of expectation, we discontinued the therapy as well as our association with the manufacturer.
My background for more than thirty yeas has been in hair restoration; surgical, cosmetic and therapeutic. My focus is now on the distribution of hair management products as well as the distribution of a laser hair therapy devices produced by Lexington International. In January 2007, Lexington received FDA clearance on their HairMax laser comb.
Your negative reference to HairLabs International and me is neither accurate nor appropriate and is also hurtful. When you present the facts, your website performs an important public service. When you continue to link my company’s name to a product or service with which we, (of our own volition), disassociated ourselves nearly a decade ago, you are no longer providing credible or accurate information.
If your website is what it professes to be; a forum for hair “facts” then I am sure you will want to preserve your credibility and delete the inaccurate references to me and my company. The information is not only untrue, but it does not in anyway reflect the mission or character of HairLabs International. Thanks in advance for your immediate attention to this matter.
I was sorry to learn from your website that Mr. Cole had died. I had only met him on two occasions, but he appeared to be a kind man. I’m sure his family and friends will miss him.
Best Personal Regards,
James Britt
Hairlabs International
Historical information
Websites and
printed materials promoting a "transcutaneous electrolysis"
patch made by American Hair Removal Systems (AHRS) have listed
him as an expert. He is also listed as a distributor of the "transcutaneous
electrolysis" device made by  International
Hair Removal Systems (IHRS) and marketed under the name TransQ-2000.
IHRS is simply a new name for AHRS. Both companies are operated
by the same people.
Treatment with the TransQ-2000
or other IHRS devices should be avoided by all consumers. There
is no published data showing these devices can remove hair permanently.
Reputable doctors usually do not associate themselves with these
devices.
Contact information:
Address: 1105 16th Avenue South, Suite
B, Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (877) 719-5993 or (615) 320-7984
Fax: (615)
321-0911
website: http://www.hairlabs.com/
email: info@hairlabs.com
Contact: "James Britt" jbritt@hairlabs.com
Also listed as: 1105 16th Avenue South, Suite A,
Nashville, TN 37212
Devices sold:
- variously written as the TransQ2000, the Trans-Q 2000 or the
Trans Q 2000. Sometimes abbreviated as TQ2000 or TQ-2000.
- http://www.hairlabs.com/transq2000/home.html
- TransQ-2000 EPI-CENTER (the device mounted in a plastic stand)
- In cabinet for $7995.00
- Portable case 7495.00
Britt also wrote the article below, which appears in the National
hair Journal, on his sales site, and on the IHRS sales site.
Notable quack comments
Scammers helping scammers
This slick site sells all sorts
of bogus products like breast enhancement creams, and a
"laser hair stimulator" to treat thinning hair. A glowing
article written by Britt on the Laser Hair Therapy 3000 appears
in the "National Hair Journal," a sales site
masquerading as consumer information. This device is made by Harmonix, which also
sells a version of the TranQ-2000 under the brand name Pinnacle
1250. Another site selling the SuperPhaser Gold, Branigan's Hair, also sells this laser light
therapy.
I'm limiting my comments to their
TransQ-2000 hair removal device.
This site claims to reprint the
article appearing in the "National Hair Journal," a sales site masquerading
as consumer information. It's uncredited on the National Hair
Journal sales site, but this Transcutaneous
article also appears
on Britt's site. According to the IHRS site,
it was written by Britt himself.
Illegal claims
are in bold.
The Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch System... even better,
below the surface.
( article published in National Hair Journal )
On the surface, a number of hair removal therapies appear to
work. It's when you measure their efficacy below the surface
that you begin to separate fact from fiction, fluff from follicle.
Essentially, there are two ways in which a hair follicle can
be disabled for the purpose of long term or permanent hair removal.
One, is with heat (thermolysis) which literally cooks the germative
cells disabling the follicle. The other is by provoking a chemical
change within the hair follicle (electrolysis) which permanently
impairs the ability of the follicle to produce new hair.
Laser, needle and tweezer thermolysis all use heat to destroy
the hair follicle. Laser hair removal is currently the most
popular of these thermolysis techniques and employs a laser
beam to seek out the pigment in the hair follicle and vaporize
it and surrounding cell structures. Because the heat is focused
at the end of the laser beam, only cells at the base of the
follicle in the derma papilla are destroyed. Stem cells which
burrow downward from the hair bulge to create a new follicle
are often not disabled, allowing the hair to regrow. (see "The
Fascinating Fickle Follicle" NHJ Fall Issue) This is why
the FDA does not allow laser companies to promote laser hair
removal as being permanent.
The Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch system is based on the
scientific principle of electrolysis. Electrolysis is not a
machine, not a needle for removing hair, but a clinically controlled
physiological process that takes place when galvanic current
is introduced into a hair follicle provoking a chemical reaction
which converts saline in the follicle into sodium hydroxide.
It is this conversion of water and sodium into sodium hydroxide
which permanently disables the hair follicle preventing it from
regenerating a new hair. In the past, the only way to introduce
the current into the hair follicle was with a needle forced
into the follicular channel. This method is not without a certain
degree of discomfort, some would say...real pain. Needle electrolysis
is also extremely labor intensive and tedious, requiring weeks
if not months to treat large areas follicle by follicle.
The Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch system, on the other
hand, is non invasive, virtually painless with almost
no side effects and allows the technician to treat
large areas, such as a man's back, in less than an hour. Each
electrode pad or "patch" is 1.5" x 3.5"
and as many as twelve patches can be applied at once permitting
treatment of an area 18" x 42. " The patches are applied
to the area where unwanted hair is to be removed over a thin
layer of gel which is formulated to conduct the galvanic current
down into the hair follicle. Once the patches are in place,
an electrode is inserted into each patch delivering a mild current
to the offending hair follicles and permanently disabling
all hairs follicle beneath the patch.
As with all other hair removal therapies, only the hairs in
the anagen phase are vulnerable to treatment and thus permanently
affected. This necessitates the client or patient returning
at predetermined intervals to treat the next crop of hair follicles
graduating from the telogen phase to the anagen, or growing
phase. Because the Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch does not
attack the pigment in the hair or skin, as do some lasers, it
is now possible to safely and permanently remove hair of any
color from any type of skin.
The transdermal electrode pads or "patches" are the
centerpiece of the Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch, a uniquely
versatile hair removal system which features not one, but three
hair removal modalities integrated into the same Class 1, FDA
approved, medical device. The unit itself is 10"
wide by 20" long by 2" deep with clean medical lines
and features two separate channels which are easy to read, adjust
and monitor. The two separate channels allow the technician
to either work on two areas of the body at the same time, or
two patients simultaneously .
Far from being tedious, the system is virtually "hands
free." When hair removal of a more sculpted nature is required,
as in the case of brows and hairlines, the device offers a transdermal
tweezer which permits the technician to "tweeze" single
hairs while delivering a mild current through the tweezing instrument
which permanently kills the hair follicle. For areas too small
to address with the patch and too large to treat with the transdermal
tweezer, the same system provides a transdermal, non invasive
probe which transmits current, again through a specially formulated
gel applied to the surface of the skin allowing the technician
to remove unwanted hair from areas like the lip, nipples and
under arms.
On the surface and below the surface where if counts, clinical
studies indicate that the Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch
system is vastly superior to other methods of hair removal.
The fact that the FDA has certified non-invasive transcutaneous
electrolysis as being permanent and patient studies
reveal the procedure to be virtually painless with few, if any
side effects, places this new technology in a class by itself.
Add to this the astonishing fact that this equipment can be
purchased for less than $7000, a fraction of what laser hair
removal equipment costs, and you have not only one of the most
exciting cosmetic developments of this century, but one of the
greatest cosmetic bargains of the next.
In the waning days of the 20th century, exciting new technologies
are emerging on all fronts, ready to take their place at the
door to the new millennium. When that door swings open, the
newly patented Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch, is certain
to be the most important and most enthusiastically welcomed
scientific development ever, in the field of permanent hair
removal.
TransQ2000 Press Release
An article in the National Hair Journal trumpets, "in
the waning days of the 20th century, new technologies continue
to emerge, ready to take their place at the door to the new
millennium. When that door swings open, the Transcutaneous Hair
Removal Patch will be the most welcomed scientific development
ever in the history of hair removal."
HairLabs Inc. of Nashville TN is proud to announce that we
have been awarded the exclusive distributorship for the new
TransQ-2000, the FDA certified permanent, Transcutaneous
Hair Removal Patch system. The TransQ-2000 allows a
qualified technician, using the newly patented electrode "patches,"
to treat unwanted hair on two separate body areas or two clients
simultaneously. As many as twelve electrode patches are placed
on the skin over the target areas where a specially formulated
gel conducts a mild electric current through the patches, down
into the hair follicles.
Direct current transmitted into the hair follicle provokes
an electro-chemical decomposition of the derma papilla rendering
it incapable of generating a new hair. This physiological event
is basic electrolysis. 125 years after its discovery, this conversion
of salt and water in the hair follicle into caustic, sodium
hydroxide is still the only scientific method certified by the
FDA, as being able to permanently disable a hair follicle. In
clinical trials and in daily application, the TransQ-2000 is
proven to trigger this chemical reaction without needles, swelling,
scarring, scabbing, pain and the "hit-and-miss" tedium
associated with electrolysis.
With this new break-through technology, a trained technician
can permanently treat all hair colors and painlessly treat all
skin types. Far from being tedious, the therapy can be virtually
hands-free allowing the treatment of a man's entire back in
less than an hour
With the dawn of the new millennium breaking, its time to ask
yourself, how much of that six Billion dollars in revenue will
my business claim and how much will I surrender to a more motivated
competitor?
Call now for information on TransQ-2000, available for less
than $8,000!
Notable unsubstantiated claims
Even Better Below The Surface
http://www.nationalhairjournal.com/fb.php?read=1&form[id]=10
The new Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch system is non invasive, virtually painless and has almost no side effects.
It allows the technician to treat large areas, such as a man's
back, in less than an hour. Each electrode pad or "patch"
is 1.5" x 3.5" and as many as twelve patches can be
applied at once, permitting treatment of an area 18" x
42". The patches are applied to the area where unwanted
hair is to be removed over a thin layer of gel that is formulated
to conduct the galvanic current down into the hair follicle.
Once the patches are in place, an electrode is inserted into
each patch delivering a current to the offending hair follicles
and permanently disabling all hairs follicle beneath
the patch. As with all other hair removal therapies,
only the hairs in the anagen phase are vulnerable to treatment
and thus permanently affected. This necessitates the client
or patient returning at predetermined intervals to treat the
next crop of hair follicles graduating from the telogen phase
to the anagen, or growing phase. Because the Transcutaneous
Hair Removal Patch does not attack the pigment in the hair or
skin, as do some lasers, it is now possible to safely and permanently
remove hair of any color from any type of skin. The transdermal
electrode pads or "patches" are the centerpiece of
the Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch, a versatile hair removal
system which features not one, but three hair removal modalities
integrated into the same Class 1, FDA approved,
medical device. The unit itself is 10" wide by 20"
long by 2" deep with clean medical lines and features two
separate channels that are easy to read, adjust and monitor.
The two separate channels allow the technician to either work
on two areas of the body at the same time, or two patients simultaneously.
Far from being tedious, the system is virtually "hands
free." When hair removal of a more sculpted nature is required,
as in the case of brows and hairlines, the device offers a transdermal
tweezer which permits the technician to "tweeze" single
hairs, while delivering a mild current through the tweezing
instrument to permanently kill the hair follicle. For areas
too small to address with the patch, and too large to treat
with the transdermal tweezer, the same system provides a transdermal,
non invasive probe which transmits current through a specially
formulated gel applied to the surface of the skin, allowing
the technician to remove unwanted hair from areas like the lip,
nipples and under-arms. On the surface, and below the surface
where it counts, clinical studies indicate that the
Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch system is a superior method
of hair removal.
The fact that the FDA has certified non-invasive transcutaneous
electrolysis as permanent, and patient studies reveal
the procedure to be virtually painless with few if any side
effects, places this technology in a class by itself. Add to
this the fact that this equipment can be purchased for less
than $7,000, and you have not only one of the most exciting
cosmetic developments of this century, but one of the greatest
cosmetic bargains of the next.
NHJ has removed the article above and provided this statement in 2009:
"The National Hair Journal is a publication that informs hair loss professionals about products and services that could help them in their day-to-day business. In this function, it invites outside experts, educators and writers to contribute material and to share their insights. The opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and not those of the publication. The editors of The National Hair Journal requires that all content be objective and non-commercial.
The article containing references to the "Transcutaneous Hair Removal Patch" was written by James Britt and was one of several contributions he made to The National Hair Journal over the years. James is a serious and respected figure in the hair loss community and would not knowingly mislead our readers. However, the article in question is no longer displayed on our website and had any inaccuracies or misleading information been brought to our attention earlier, we would have corrected it right away.
The National Hair Journal has played an important role in sharing information and promoting higher standards in the field of hair loss. We invest time and money in attending medical conferences, regional workshops and educational seminars in order to encourage further education and raise standards. It is disappointing therefore, to find ourselves portrayed as a publication masquerading as a source of independent information when we are in fact working so hard to be just the opposite.
Once again, I leave it to your discretion to learn more about our true goals and objectives and to correct your criticism of us on your website.
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