My friend and I did the unthinkable today and ventured inside the mall on one of Seattle’s twenty-three sunny days of the year so far. Once in, we started to wander with a friend and somehow ended up at a kiosk advertising brow shaping.
Since my brows were in need of a little maintenance, we decided to learn more about the kiosk’s services and almost ran when I learned what was offered: brow threading. Threading is the art of using thread that looks like dental floss (but is probably more like wire) to pull off unsightly facial hairs and is in theory less harmful to your skin than either waxing or plucking.
It looked extremely painful, so I made my friend go first.
Allison*--she would only let me use her bar name-- said that the entire four-and-a-half minute threading process didn’t hurt her at all. Of course, since she is currently on pain medication and is an extremely good bluffer, I didn’t trust her opinion at all. I wanted to call in someone else to get it done, but no one was available or brave enough, so I had to try it for myself.
The first rule of brow threading is:
It hurts.
The second rule of brow threading is:
It hurts.
And the third and final rule of brow threading is:
Never trust the veracity of anyone ever who is on pain medication when they tell you that getting your brows threaded doesn't hurt. Because it does.
It’s really difficult to describe the feeling of getting your brows threaded; I would liken it to having your brows combed by an extremely evil stepmother using a wire comb. Brow threading is also a slower process than waxing.
But the results look better. The threading process does not leave little red marks above and beneath your eyebrows. My brows look cleaner and she didn’t need to clean them up further with plucking. The brow threading was enough to make turn me into a normal looking person instead of a woman with Frankenbrows. There wasn’t any residue left on my forehead from the waxing.
All of which doesn’t mean that I let her thread the hair above my upper lip. Threading is painful and the more sensitive the area is, the more likely it is that you will have to resist an urge to run away from the kiosk (or salon) kicking and screaming. Getting my brows threaded was more than enough pain for me for the day, thank you very much.