Eyebrow Threading (Not Knitting)

by Valerie Gladstone — October 10, 2007

I am perfectly happy with plucking my eyebrows, but more and more of my friends are having theirs threaded, a depilation technique that originated in India and is also widely practiced in the Middle East. (If you've seen an Indian movie recently, you can be sure the heroine's perfect, crisp brows were threaded.) There must be something good about it; I see salons advertising the service all over the city, though I hear it's best to go to a place with an Indian clientele--I guess like checking to see if a foreign restaurant is patronized by people of that particular nationality.

Just make sure you find an aesthetician who is experienced at eyebrow threading. Inexperience can result in uneven brows, hair breakage, ingrown hairs, or unnecessary pain. Ask for recommendations from friends and specialists in salons.

What Is It?

Eyebrow threading involves twisting a piece of thread, usually cotton, into a double strand. This double stranded thread is used to pick up a line of hair and then remove it, creating a very clean, precise hairline. It can be used to eliminate a unibrow, raise the arch of the eyebrow, or add shape and definition to the brow.

Advantages

• Because it removes hair by the follicle, results last fairly long, with return visits usually after 3 to 4 weeks.
• The technique is not terribly expensive because it's easy to do quickly and does not require costly chemical ingredients.
• Unlike tweezing or plucking, eyebrow threading removes one clean line of hair all at once, making it much quicker and easier to shape the brows.
• It won't harm the skin like wax and some depilatory creams. If done correctly, the skin should not be red or irritated for more than a few minutes after the eyebrow threading session.
• Threading is especially good for those who have a large amount of eyebrow hair and surrounding facial hair, as tweezing simply takes too long
• The technique can also be used to remove other facial and body hair. I have a friend who goes twice a year to have the peach fuzz all over her face removed. She said it barely hurts (certainly not as much as wax) and makes her face nice and smooth for months.

Tips

• Most urban areas have a wide variety of spas offering eyebrow threading, and many online resources offer reviews of the service, including photographs of clients.
• To alleviate the pain, rub ice on the area to numb it. Apply astringent or toner after the process as pores open during the process.