Wedding Blog
Can induce some pain!! Last night I was able to check off a strange item on my June To-Do list: Try eyebrow threading for the first time! Like some of you, I’ve heard of this process before but never tried it, so here is my review for you threading newbies.
Yesterday I happened to see a recommendation on the Knot’s local board for a salon in my area that does eyebrow threading for $7. Not a bad price, and I’ve been looking for a place to go anyways. So I ventured over there, and plopped myself down in the chair not quite knowing what to expect. This is what happened:
(picture courtesy of a random Google image search)
If you look closely, you’ll see that one part of the thread is in the lady’s mouth (it doesn’t touch your skin), and then somehow the thread is wound around your hairs and yanked out. Now I am very fastidious about plucking my eyebrows every few days, so I was quite surprised when I literally felt tiny hairs flying all over my face!! The lady was efficient, and it took only about 2 minutes or so. And then all of a sudden she moved to my upper lip and made a motion asking if I wanted that area done too. Uhhh… sure? So she went to town on my face. Ouch!!
The Pain Factor (please keep in mind, this is only my personal opinion!!)
Eyebrows: 1.5 out of 5 (5 being the most painful). Since I am used to plucking, this did not bother me too much.
Upper Lip: 2 out 5. This was much less fun!! At least with waxing, it comes off in one fell swoop, but threading requires the technician to keep going in to pull out more hair. I guess my skin is rather sensitive, cuz this morning I had a few tiny pink bumps from my little hair follicules that were irritated. This would probably happen after waxing too (don’t remember exactly, only did that once as well).
Anywhoo… my eyebrows look pretty good, if not slightly thinner than I am used to. Maybe I’ll go back and just have the eyebrows done again before the wedding. Total cost of eyebrows + upper lip + tip = $13.
Beauty Concepts
Westmont, Illinois
(630) 663-9999
|
Share this post: A Little Piece of Thread
Oh, I’ve wanted to try this as well. Does anyone know of a good place in Manhattan??
There’s a good place around Devon Avenue that I could recommend to you. The only thing I hate about threading is the sound of your hair follicles being ripped out! I think it’s more painful than waxing but the result is definitely more precise.
I haven’t tried threading, but I am quite fond of “sugaring”. They basically use sugar and some other natural ingredients as a wax alternative. there is a bunch of info about it here:
http://www.sweetspotonline.net
DIY’ers: Take a strand of thread, tie a knot in it, then twirl it in opposite directions on your fingers so there is a twisted section in the middle of the long loop. Then open one hand big and the other small (then vice versa) so the twisted section goes right and left. Now stick your leg against the twisted section and move the twist right and left; all the little hairs that get caught in the twist are ripped out. Hours of free fun.
I’m confused. I just don’t get this. This seems ten times harder than just plucking your eyebrows (which I am also very fastidious about, maybe a little OCD). What on earth is the benefit of this over just plucking them? It seems so…barbaric…in a way. Do they pull several hairs at the same time or something?
@Shea: I usually go to Unique Threading Salon on 6th Av, between 23rd and 24th St.
Miss Emerald - how has your skin reacted to this? I’d like to try this but I’m scared that I’ll get bumpy in the areas where the hairs are pulled out from the irritation. So is it only painful as the hair is being pulled out? Or do you keep feeling the pain?
For you NYC girls, I get my threading done at The Perfect Shape just north of Union Square… it’s 23rd st and Park Ave south. They charge $7 for brows, but $5.50 with student ID (if you saved it from college or grad school!). Quite a deal… and lasts a long time! (But she’s right… hurts more than waxing!)
Andria,
When I pluck, sometimes I miss the really tiny hairs that just about to sprout. I think with threading, they get ‘em all (almost all, I still had to pluck a few strays this morning!) However, I figure this is good every once in a while for SHAPING. Maybe once every 4 months, and then just following the shape by tweezing.
Didi, the skin on my upper lip did not like this at all!! Its definitely bumpy, and strangely ITCHY (I am an itchy person tho, I always itch). But the skin around my brows is fine though.
I think putting hot wax on bare skin and ripping it off is the more barbaric of the 2!
If you have sensitive skin after (bumps irritation) buy something called TEND SKIN. it works amazing, my FI uses it for shaving/razor burn and me after waxing. They have it at Sephora it is in a blue bottle. i kid u not, it works!!
Oooh! Where on Devon? I live in the city, so that recommendation would be welcome. Thanks!
I sometimes have trouble getting the small tiny hairs just coming in, but I’m so OCD about it that I find myself feeling for them at work and then getting them right when I get home. I find that being in natural light better reveals the tiny ones. This whole thing just amazes me because it’s quite the ordeal for me just to get them with the tweezer, let alone fashion a string around it! I am just amazed at this - but I have to admit, I think for me, tweezing is preferred and I think I could honestly do a better job myself tweezing than someone could with a string. And why exactly do they have to pull it with their mouth? I don’t know…I’m reading way too much into this…I’ll leave the rest of you to talk about it!
There’s a salon called Anita’s and she’s located on 2338 w. Devon, close to the intersection of Western Avenue. I believe her number is (773) 274-0778.. I haven’t been there for awhile but out of the three places I checked out in the Chicagoland area, she does the best eyebrow threading. Oh yeah, she has odd hours so I would call/visit her salon midafternoon.
I’ve been going to Nikhar on Devon and Western for a few years now, nice people and a good deal ($4 or 5) and they do a great job! I like getting the upper lip done too, but an ingrown hair is a potential bad zit, so be sure to exfoliate! (or so bad experiences have taught me)
I absoulutely love having my eyebrow’s threaded. I think is hurts much less and it leaves me with perfectly shaped brows!
sorry, I meant eyebrows not eyebrow’s. Too manyi mojitos tonight!
I LOVE having my eyebrows threaded! A woman in my neighborhood used to do it for me and since she moved, I’ve had to resort to plucking. I have bushy brows that grow like crazy, and I constantly have those teeny hairs I can’t pluck out. Threading makes it all nice and clean.
Yay, Beauty Concepts in Westmont! I live really close to that place, thanks for the tip! I may have to check them out sometime.
i’ve been thinking about getting this done too, but i always get scared that i’ll end up like dr. yang in grey’s anatomy (no eyebrows). any recommendations for a place around central NJ or eastern PA? Thanks!
I have tried threading and waxing and plucking my eyebrows, and they were all so painful that I have generally gone bushy without guilt. I must have very sensitive eyelids, because I wax many other more “sensitive” parts of my body without flinching. But the eyebrows: most painful thing ever. During the threading I actually had tears streaming down my face.
Then, on Friday I went for a makeup trial, and the makeup artist wanted to pluck my brows. I warned her that I find this amazingly painful and that she probably wouldn’t get very far before I would be forced to make her stop. She said, “Oh, I’ll put a bit of Ambesol on them.” I couldn’t believe how well this worked: I could still feel it, but it wasn’t nearly as bad.
So, a tip for you sensitive ladies out there: a bit of Ambesol applied with a Q-Tip works *wonders*.
[...] A Little Piece of Thread by Miss Emerald [...]
| Visit our sister sites | Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Fertile Thoughts Infertility Support |
Mrs. Emerald, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, Wedding Planner
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Paralegal
Engagement Date: October 8, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2007
Blogging Since: November 29, 2006
Venue: Hyatt Lodge, Oak Brook IL
About Me: I have been dreaming about my wedding forever, and flipping through bridal magazines since high school, so I am in my element! I am calling our theme "Vintage Inspired French/Asian Fusion." Mr. Emerald is very involved in the planning process, but of course he generally defers to me cuz I have a strong opinion of how I want everything to be :-).
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Latest Gallery Pics