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
Establishment Registration Number: 1063744
Establishment Operations: Initial Distributor
Establishment Status: Active
Date of Registration Status: 2001
Owner/Operator Number: 9033719
Owner/Operator Phone Number: 561-447-7170Official 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:
Carolyn Veroni was listed as Director of Sales & Marketing: email:
Liliana Gardner was listed as head of Design and Advertising: email:
Birgit Strickland was listed as head of Accounting: email:
Michele Boermeester was listed as Receptionist and Secretarial: email:
Available products
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"