Hubby and I were walking in Paris yesterday afternoon when in a narrow hidden street, off of the rue de Montorgeuil we suddenly walked past a little beauty salon with a sign of their services posted on the window next to another that said "sans RDV" (no appointment required). For some time now I had been trying to find a new place to get my eyebrows done ever since I found out my old beauty parlor went bankrupt and had to close over the summer and since this place looked nice and clean I figured what tha heck. I turned to Hubby and made a plan with him to meet him at a park around the corner in 20mins and then I walked in.
At the front counter was a young girl taking down a reservation over the phone and no one else to assist me, so I picked up their brochure and started going over the list of services once again while I waited for her to finish up her call. That's when I noticed that under the "sourcils" option (eyebrows) was another line that read "sourcils au fil" which roughly translated to "string eyebrows". This intrigued me as I'd never heard of such a thing and couldn't possibly imagine what it meant other that perhaps a particular look of plucked eyebrows that was so thin it made them look like strings... :s
After I finished reading the brochure for the third time I was starting to get impatient and I looked up at the girl to let her know that if she didn't hurry up I was going to leave... and that's when I noticed the string. Literally, a thin string of white thread was hanging out of her mouth all the way down until it was hidden behind the counter.... for the life of me I could not think of a single explanation for this (even though I admit several crazy possibilities did cross my mind) but it immediately freaked me out. She on the other hand didn't seem to find it weird, even though I was standing in front of her with my mouth open and my eyes glued to the string, she just kept talking on as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
It's not like the thing itself was weird... I mean after all, she could have been caught right in the middle of some mending work when the phone rang and the thread in her mouth was just a spontaneous reflex... but somehow that didn't seem plausible to me... especially since she didn't remove it after seeing my obvious incredulous reaction.
And then there was the enigmatic "sourcils au fil" thing... so was this somehow related to the string eyebrows thing??? If so.... how?!! ...... and eiw?
This was literally freaking me out and I was just on the point of turning around and leaving the shop when the back room door suddenly opened and a little man in his 50s came out and greeted me with a smile. Dang! Too late to bail.
I told him I was there to get my eyebrows plucked and when he confirmed that they could take me sans rdv I gathered up my courage and asked about the string eyebrows thing. By this time the girl on the phone had finally finished her call and gone back into the back room.
The man told me that the "sourcils" option was the classic procedure done with hot wax and the "sourcils au fil" was done with a nylon string...... Okkkkkaaaaayyyyy.... I kinda had that part figured out, thank you very much.... what I really wanted to know was how it was done with a string. I should add that the man had a really heavy accent and it was a little confusing to understand what he was saying but basically he explained that this was a very ancient hair removal method used for centuries by women in Nothern Africa and some parts of India. I still couldn't understand how exactly it was done so I asked the two questions that really mattered to me: did it hurt and were needles involved. At this he laughed and said no, no needles were involved and yes, it "piccotted" (pricked) a bit, but it remained very tolerable. Plus, this method was much less harsher on the skin than wax and the effects much more lasting.
Remembering how nervous I'd been all those years back when I'd first waxed my eyebrows only to realize it wasn't that big of a deal afterwards, I decided to give this string thing a go. Plus, I should admit that by now I had already started mapping out this blog post in my head! *smile*
I was shown to one of the several little back rooms with a long bed and mirrors hanging on all four walls. Candles and pretty flowers were carefully set around the room and a soothing music was playing in the background. The whole effect was quite lovely. As I settled on to the bed a young woman came into my room. She too had a lovely accent and a gentle voice. I told her this was my first time doing the "string" thing and she smiled gently and told she was from Tunisia and back home this was the most common facial hair removal method. She told me to relax and promised me she would give me "lovely eyebrows".
And then she put a string in her mouth.
Dear readers, I sincerely wish I could explain to you how this is done, but as soon as I saw that thread dangling from her lips over my head I shut my eyes and didn't opened them again until she told me it was over. I will say this: no needles were involved, it didn't hurt any more than conventional waxing does (which is to say it is quite tolerable) and it is the MOST freakish sensation EVER!!! I cannot rationally describe this sensation but the only thing that I can remotely associate it with is what I suppose having helicopter propellers yank the hair off my face might feel like.
In any case, I have since googled this procedure and learned that it is quite common, safe, successful and apparently it is even something you can learn how to do it yourself! If you're interested, I found this website with a lot of info although sorry it's only available in French. However, it does have a picture and even a video a the end where I suppose it shows what exactly is involved in the "stringing eyebrows" procedure (I confess I haven't watched the video yet - for some reason the dangling string thing really freaks me out).
As a final note, I confirm, she did give me very lovely eyebrows. =)
Fned.
11 comments:
LOL - it's called "threading" my dear, and is actually quite popular in the US!
I think while I was getting my hair cut one time I read in some celebrity magazine that Avril Lavigne got her eyebrows threaded and the article made it sound really special. Celebrities adopting the technique is probably the reason for it's rising popularity in the US/Europe.
This seems to be the regular way of getting your eyebrows done in a salon these days (based on friends' reports - I can barely be moved to get my hair cut!). It is kind of a crazy technique. I remember being surprised the first time I heard about it. Glad you're happy with the results!
Interesting-sounding procedure, but need a picture to confirm the results!
At my grad school, the south east asia society did this to raise money. People loved it-- and yes, I never really understood how it worked.
Oh, but I did know you could do that! I LOVE threading...waxing irritates my skin and gives me lovely red marks to replace the hair, but threading just gives me perfect eyebrows. I discovered it in LA, but even after many a session I still can't quite understand how it works. I actually saw a dato for someone who does it in Santiago a few months ago and want to try to find it again because me being in charge of the state of my eyebrows is a bad situation. I'm glad you liked it!
Ok, so OBVIOUSLY I'm the last gal on the plaanet to hear about threadimg!! :)
In any case, it was mighty impressive for my first time, and as Emily pointed out, another good point about it is the no red marks afterwards, which actually came in handy since Hubby and I bumped into a colleague of mine from work right after I walked out of the salon!!
Definitely going back again!!
Fned.
In India also, this is the primary way ladies get themselves tortured - eyebrow wise. :-)
I once accompanies a friend to the procedure. Could not watch. Too painful. Why would one do it to herself?
I was laughing thru the whole read...Ksam said it, VERY popular here in the U.S. Out here in L.A. you can't go a few blocks without finding an Eyebrow Threading salon. It's fast, cheap and less painful than waxing.
Nice!
I'm Canadian and I used to get my eyebrows threaded about 10 or 12 years ago, when I was still in high school! I used to go to a salon run by ladies from India, and it only used to cost $4. It always yielded the best results!
Basically, they form a little "triangle" with the thread that they stretch over the fingers of both hands, then kinda pull the string so i kinda creates this "loom" sorta thing that cuts... The hair that gets between the "apex" of the triangle is the hair that gets yanked out... Really hard to explain... But such great results!
Fned, Don't feel bad, I had never heard of it either, but now I'm dying to try it!
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