In my 30 something years on this planet1 I have never plucked, tweezed, waxed, “razored” or even combed my eyebrows. They are just these two bushy things on my forehead that people have always complimented me on… why I don’t know. As a child, the church ladies would ask my mother who was plucking her daughter brows. My mom would constantly have to tell them they were natural, and she would never allow her teen daughter to do that.
As I got older, I began to take pride and great joy that I didn’t have to do anything with my eyebrows. I have watched my mother have hers done, and it looked like she was enduring great suffrage for it. Yeah, no thanks. My best friends also have theirs done and as usual it never looks like it’s a good time. Ever.
However… this year I had begun to notice that my eyebrows were getting a little thicker… a little bushier. I had hairs going in directions I didn’t like. Something like a uni-brow was beginning to form and that also was making me a little anxious. For the first time ever, I used that little comb/brush thing that comes with most make-up sets. But even that wasn’t doing it for me.
A Solution
In the mall, they have this booth where three Indian ladies stand offering eyebrow threading.2 I would often walk by to see if the clients were being tormented, or maybe had to be given a local anesthetic to endure the pain that comes with having their hair ripped from its follicles. But, I have never once seen any of the women look even slightly uncomfortable.
So, I began to ask my husband what he thought. Maybe I too should give in to the trend and finally have my eyebrows professionally done.3 Of course, as usual he said he would support me regardless of what I decided. Oh, he also mentioned that they might ruin the shape, make me look like a freak, destroy the natural look of my eyebrows or even completely screw them up so I would never want to leave the house again.
Of course, since he was so encouraging I decided to go ahead and try it. It took me walking past the place 5-6 times before I got up the nerve, but then FINALLY, I sat my ass down and did it.
Bring the Pain
After she motioned for me to sit, she reclined my seat so that I was looking straight up in the air. This is not exactly the position you want to take in the middle of a busy mall. Then she asked me to hold my eye and forehead. I wasn’t exactly sure what she was wanting so she ended up positioning my hands for me. I really hope I did not look as ridiculous as I felt.
And then she began. I could hear her tearing the thread with her teeth and then off she went… attacking my eyebrows as though she was trimming some out of control hedges. She moved super fast, like a cheetah on crack.
It did not feel pleasant… it was not nice. It hurt like holy hell and I really wanted to punch her in the face.
And then it was over. She handed me a mirror and said “You done.”
The Results
The afterburn sucked. She was so kind as to rub alcohol all over it which just made the burning turn into stinging. I looked like someone had exfoliated my face, with little bits of skin and hair all over my nose which was really gross. But it looked good. She did kind of what I wanted, which was to clean up the excess hair I was growing. She did especially well on my babyfuzz uni-brow so I was quite happy about that.
When I got home and got a close look, I noticed she over-trimmed my left eyebrow, but no one else noticed other than RoRo.4
Overall I am pleased. Ten dollars for a 2 minute session is pretty worth it… considering that threading is far less painful than me personally trying to yank them out with some tweezers. I might actually make this a part of my regular beauty routine.
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It’s funny — the older I get, the LESS hair I have (like everywhere, not just eyebrows). As a teen, I had to pluck my eyebrows in order for them to have any shape to them at all. Now that I’m nearly 60, I never have to pluck them, don’t have to shave anywhere all that often and am kind of enjoying all that freedom from grooming
Your brows are beautiful and so expressive! I hope the brow job really did work.
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@ Margaret - Thank you so much for your kind words
I noticed less hair in other places, but my eyebrows were looking so odd. People have always said my eyebrows were veeeeerrrryyy expressive so I am hoping that getting them done does not take away from that.
I get my eyebrows waxed and I use tweezers in between visits. If you plan on doing this again I would recommend going to Sally’s and getting an post epilation lotion…it will cut down on the burn. I would probably deck someone who came near me with alcohol after removing hair.
as they say ‘ No Pain No Gain’
but i guess it went out fine right
Good Times
I’ve seen those booths in the malls before and always wondered what it felt like. I’ve had my eyebrows waxed before which doesn’t hurt at all.
I don’t think I’d be able to do it right in the middle of the mall like they have it though. I always stare at the others getting theirs done and don’t want to be stared at! haha
i haven’t been to the mall in about a year. so this is what goes on there.
i do pay for my torture, but only get my eyebrows done every so often. i prefer the hot wax and rip. just get it over with.
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@ beeker - I had no idea she was going to rub alcohol on them, but if I had, I am sure she would have gotten punched.
@ Chris - Yeah, I’ll pass on gaining if pain is the requirement.
@ Sabriena - It was very awkward laying there while people walked by. I did not like it at all. Thankfully she got done pretty quickly.
@ Natural - How can you live without going to a mall???? I do not think I could tolerate having someone wax and then rip. The threading is just straight up ripping without warning.
I’ll have to stick to plucking. I haven’t been in a mall since I was in my early 20s and I like it that way!
Plus I think my eyebrows looks great with no plucking. Sometimes I just want a little arch, so I do that myself.
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I just went through this same experience last week. If I didn’t have friends around I probably would have cried. It sucked…but I will be back in two weeks.
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LOL Monique, glad to see you didn’t try and respond to all those comments from your last post.
Hm.. I am much like you were… I haven’t had to touch my eyebrows and I hope I never do. I have the same fear you had, where they might go over board… or have you ever seen the Friends episode where Joey went to the salon and ended up with one less eyebrow? Yeah, no thanks!! lol
Unrelated ignorant question of the day: Are the footnotes a plugin or did you do those by hand?
Given the choice between pain and somewhat uncontrolled brows… I’m gonna go with the somewhat uncontrolled brows. I’m such a wus. Or they’d slice ‘em both right off, and then I’d be eyebrow-less. How freaky would that be? I’d have to paint them on like Bette Davis did. No, no. Thanks anyway. I really don’t mind that my eyebrows grow into my ears.
LOL! I still haven’t had this done. Maybe I should. Glad you enjoyed it.
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okay I admit it, I love my brows waxed. It is the best feeling in the world to me! I know I am weird!
I never had the threading done but have seen it on tv and in the mall. I always wondered if that hurt, well now I know! Something about being in the middle of a mall getting anything done to you sounds so wrong…
Wow - torture in the mall. It’s kind of like the dark ages! Personally I prefer waxing because that threading thing sounds diabolical! Loved the cheetah on crack.
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LOL! I feel your pain…I also just got my first threading experience a few weeks back and it really hurts. The lady who did the job didn’t apply any alcohol on my eyebrow but her rubbing is just as painful.
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I’m one of the few guys I know who actually enjoys plucking his eyebrows. I’ve never really found it painful, and it helps keep the hedge under control.
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