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Profile Threading raises eyebrows in San Diego By Romina Cleary December 5, 2005 San Diego--I finally discovered the fine art of hair threading, a method of facial hair removal popularly used in countries such as Turkey, Iran, Egypt, and India. In my continued quest to keep my hair looking fashionable, I decided to hone in on my facial hair, that is to say, my brows and the bit of fuzz sitting above my upper lip. Upon hearing my sob stories of facial hair gone bad, one of my female Indian friends suggested I try threading. I had no idea what she was talking about, until I gave it a try this weekend. I liked it. Threading is a simple process in that it creates very little waste —just a long piece of 100% cotton thread hits the trash basket rather than a mess of waxed-up tongue depressants and cloth strips.
The threading esthetician’s tools consist of her hands, her teeth, and her thread. The esthetician will grip one end of the thread in her teeth and hold the other end in the left hand. Then, with the right hand, the esthetician creates a loop in the thread and uses the loop to trap the unwanted hair and pull it from the skin. I needed to remove the light fuzz above my lip and to reshape my eyebrows. I had let my brows grow out for a few months because of an upsetting wax job which removed way too much of my brow and left them asymmetrical. This time I had to do something different. I’ve tried waxing, plucking, bleaching and even razoring the hair off of my face. Waxing happens way too quickly and seems violent to me—in a split second the esthetician rips off the wax off and the hair is gone. There’s no pressing the pause button to rethink the maneuver. For me, waxing is a gamble. I never know how my brows will turn out. I may end up with a thin line and a high arch, or the brow might reach straight out to my ears or appear shorter than usual. Waxing also tugs on the skin and pulls off the top layer. Some say this is a method of exfoliating. I say it’s a method called painful epidermal peeling. Plucking should be easy, but for some strange reason plucking makes me sneeze. I have very little patience for plucking anyway. It takes too long. Razoring is out of the question. When I was fourteen years old I couldn’t find tweezers in my mother’s vanity, so I pulled out my Dad’s razor and razed off half my brow. So, no razors for me. I had no idea how to find a salon in San Diego that would thread my brows. So, I sent a message to an Indian e-mail list at a technology company where I work and asked where I might find a threading place in San Diego. All of the respondents suggested I visit with Dolly of Beauty by Dolly in Mira Mesa. I quickly made an appointment. When I arrived, I was greeted by Dolly, the expert threader. She owns the salon with her sister Kashmir, the resident facialist. A woman of Persian descent who was educated in India, Dolly learned the art of hair threading when she was fourteen years old. She told me that becoming a skilled threader takes a lot of practice and experience. I didn’t ask Dolly her age, but she did let me know that she has threaded in Iran, India, and the U.S. and has been doing it for more than 30 years now. Dolly sat me in a salon chair in front of a mirror and instructed me to hold down my eyelid as I anticipated some kind of a painfully jarring procedure similar to waxing. I laid back, closed my eyes, listened to the thread revolve through my hairs, and felt a tinge of pleasure. Strangely enough, I enjoyed the experience. It was very relaxing; in fact the sound of the thread flowing through my hair was soothing and meditative. People told me that threading would be painful. No way! They were wrong. I’ll have to say that for just $10, I got the best eyebrow shaping of my life. Clean, symmetric, and arching nicely above my eyes, my brows look better than ever. My little facial hairs came off easily as well. Not a tiny piece of fuzz remains. Dolly instructed me to return in about three weeks for upkeep. I’d say this is a good deal. As I waited by the front desk to pay my bill, two young and attractive Indian women arrived for facial hair removal and a facial. A few seconds later, an African man showed up to have brows threaded as well. Dolly has an eclectic clientele. Dolly says her typical client “comes from all walks of life, American, Indian, Persian, and African.” She added, “We get many Ethiopians in here who tell us they used to thread in Ethiopia, at salons owned by Indians.” Threading is less expensive, more precise, and even more relaxing than other hair removal services. And, it’s catching on in San Diego. Beauty by Dolly 9950 Black Mountain Rd., Suite D San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 693-0200 -------------------- Romina Cleary writes about hair and grooming for Vyuz. If you have any questions or comments about the subject, e-mail her at hair@vyuz.com. Suggested Vyuz reading... Who is Jane Doe? | By Larry Knowles The bare facts about Brazilian waxing | By Romina Cleary Of mice and men: an adult's visit to Disneyland | By Larry Knowles San Diego's three most dangerous animals | By Erin Blakemore What pilots look for in airports, women | By Rob Potochnik A serial networker walks among us | By April Labine-Katko |
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