Eyebrow Threading

In the latest installment of "Crystal can pretend to be a girl," I impulsively got my eyebrows threaded yesterday. Katherine stumbled across a salon in Chinatown which offered it, and we had some time to kill, so for a belated birthday present, she provided me with excruciating pain.

Just kidding! To clarify, threading is an Asian hair removal method (apparently it's big in India), where you take a piece of thread, loop and twist it, and then somehow pluck out hairs as you twist the thread. It's fast, compared to tweezers, and relatively painless, compared to waxing. I was a bit apprehensive after watching Katherine tear up while getting her brows done, but the procedure really wasn't that bad, simply some uncomfortable pinches. After about 5 minutes, it was over, and I had drastically different eyebrows, with a more defined arch and neater presentation. All this without the mess and irritation of wax.

Of course, this didn't come without the obligatory chastisement that comes with these sorts of salons. As I sat down, I mumbled something about "never doing this before," as the stylist took a look at my face and shrieked, "Oh my god, so hairy! You have to come back next time, you'll see that this will keep things much cleaner, and it feels better too." Again, in my defense, I'd like to say I was simply born with really thick eyebrows. "It's ok," said Katherine, "Last time the woman looked at me and asked if I wanted to work on my mustache! I said no, and she clucked at me and pursed her lips." Oh, the guilt trips.

Here's the before and after: