haha! i did the same thing upon the encouragement of my mom, here is my take on it: http://www.indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=5e391423341988a925ef08fc4d7ae1c2

:)

Love the Amazon list link...

Shout out to Daksha Ben at Khoobsurat in Newark Avenue in Jersey City, the only woman allowed to touch my brows.

Yessss!! Something I have authority on -- as someone who's gotten her eyebrows done since she was 11, I feel verrrrry comfortable dispensing advice on this topic.

I get threaded every 6-7 days at my cousin's salon here in Chicago (in Lincoln Park; Clark and Belden to be exact). Devon is like a second home but it requires BOTH the el and the bus to get to, not to mention that the salons are kind of gross.

To tide me over I use the Tweezerman slant despite my cousin's threat of bodily harm if she catches me tweezing in between threadings. A wee bit pricey, but well worth it. Plus, mail the tweezers back to the company if ever they get dull and they will sharpen and return the precious tweezers in a jiff.

Is that the normal recommended time period, 6-7 days? Well, color me mortified.

I'm not as lucky as Anna. My eyebrows are somewhat sparse, but they have the world's worst natural shape. They need regular maintenance. Unfortunately, I'm pathologically lazy, and go about 3-4 weeks before getting them done.

I use a very nice pair of tweezers that I actually bought (believe it or not) at Target. They're blunt on one end, and slanty and angled on the other, and this really seems to help with the grip...for those rare days when I've got my act together enough to tweeze.

I was just looking through all of your Devon pics...I LOVE Annapurna!! Is it really that dirty? Maybe I'm just very comfortable with grime. I do live with a boy, after all.

And is that Dilshad where you were threaded? The artists there are very hit or miss. Salon Rupa was my fave place on Devon; unfortch the owner closed shop and moved.

One last question...I am moving to St. Louis, MO soon. Does anyone know of anyone that threads down thar?

I'm not as lucky as Anna. My eyebrows are somewhat sparse, but they have the world's worst natural shape

Oy, so do mine gf...especially since mine are anything but symmetrical! And I'm STILL no expert with the brow pencil, but I make do. Meanwhile, my little sister has eyebrows that Brooke Shields could relate to...and that's her natural hair color, too. I used to use the latter as proof that she was adopted, when she was a gullible toddler.

One last question...I am moving to St. Louis, MO soon. Does anyone know of anyone that threads down thar?

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping would happen-- we'll compile an informal directory of fur-removal strategies/where to get it done.

I think I am the only one who thinks threading hurts like a mofo. I prefer waxing anyway - the whole one fell swoop thing appeals to me. And I like the way Bloomie Nails (NYC represent!) smells. ;)

Anna's posts always lure me back to SM, although I worry that revealing my didi presence on a thread might terminate the steamy conversation (as in the mango post).

I am the opposite of you, Anna darling, and came into the world extra-chunky with a uni-brow. My older sisters trained me using the exact same tweezers described by hema above.

Hey, how do glam desi chicks get rid of the stash these days? Is Jolene still a drug of choice?

Can you be any more photogenic than Anna??

Is that the normal recommended time period, 6-7 days? Well, color me mortified.

I know. I'm a freakshow. Even the hair on my scalp grows at a cancerous rate.

Anna's posts always lure me back to SM, although I worry that revealing my didi presence on a thread might terminate the steamy conversation (as in the mango post).

Nooooo. I always wanted a didi. :) I love having you and EmDee-di around, it's a lovely respite from being the eldest girl.

When I first went to India I thought, "how is it that all these women have such perfectly shaped eyebrows"??? I thought it was genetic or something. Then, a few years later I saw a friend putting string on his face and was like, "what's that"? "Threading to shape my brows", he said. "Women do it in beauty parlours". So I went and it was painful as hell but I came out with bangin' brows. Now I'm hooked!

Secret is to not let your brows grow out fully between appointments - more hair, more pain. "Touch-ups" are less painful. Less hair, less pain.

Tweezerman Slanted is my tool of choice. But I prefer to be threaded. I have the opposite problem. I am a fuzzy monster... hair everywhere. It's disgusting. It takes me forever to tweeze all the damn hair I have.

Tamasha: Threading totally hurts like a mofo. Waxing scares the sh*t out of me (yes, I've done it many times) but I wait for the hot wax in complete and total fear. I prefer the pain to the fear.

I am with tamasha(#8) here. Waxing is way better. Threading is just prolonging the pain. I go to Ulta in Austin. Desi Auntys are good for waxing of hands and legs. I think we should compile a list of good desi-aunty run beauty salons.

Anna: Have you ever thought about getting your eyebrows tattooed? My best friend's mom did it b/c her eye brows are really sparse. At first she looked like a scary side show freak b/c the eyebrows were so dark but in a few weeks they looked awesome.

i have pretty sparse brows if i dont' get them done. i know some girls say that if they dont' get their brows done they look like complete hairy monsters. i dont' experience that, i just look blah. i get them threaded with an arch so they have some sort of shape and if done right, i am in love with the shape!

my mom has NO eyebrows, not even enough for a shape, just some faint hairs here and there and she tries to shade them in with eye pencil, sometimes to the point of crazy hilarity, and then my sister and I intervene and just tell her to sigh and accept the fact she has no brows.

I think your brows are fine! less is more. and besides, you have beautiful eyes and lashes. I think that is wayy more important.

I am with tamasha(#8) here. Waxing is way better. Threading is just prolonging the pain. I go to Ulta in Austin. Desi Auntys are good for waxing of hands and legs. I think we should compile a list of good desi-aunty run beauty salons.

I used to do waxing before I discovered the stream-lined, precision of threading. Yes, it's more painful but the defined shape is worth it.

Hey, how do glam desi chicks get rid of the stash these days? Is Jolene still a drug of choice?

Ok, not ashamed at all to field this one, ladies - I also thread that. I bleached once in the 8th grade and haven't done it since, and here's the traumatizing story behind that decision: right after I bleached, I went to my friend Amanda's birthday party, where we sat in a circle and played spin the bottle. The lucky guy who scored with me got a mouthful of Sally Hansen bleach. Soooo much the sexxy.

I too learned the painful Jolene lesson in junior high. All my friends were doing it. I just looked like I had a yellow milk moustache. Ugh, so embarassing. I didn't stop until my sophore year of highschool... took me that long to get a clue.

I get my eyebrows waxed by an Indian beautician. When I first started going to her, she would always complain that I had no eyebrows to wax. She then let me in on her secret: massage your eyebrows every night with baby oil and brush them back with those little combs you use for your eyelashes. Voila. I go to see her every month now to get my eyebrows done!

i am in complete agreement with tamasha: i take waxing over threading any day. i have had my eyebrows threaded 3 times and each time, i left the place in tears (from the physical pain, not emotional -- my brows looked great). waxing is much faster and is not as painful for me; it also takes much longer for the hair to grow back after waxing.

i personally believe the tweezerman brand is overrated and overpriced. revlon makes a number of quality tweezers and if you are started out with few hairs to begin with, no need to drop so much coin on the tweezerman.

(ps. people love my eyebrows and i am fairly neurotic about them.)

PG (#18): I lived in India till I was 21 so I went through a few years of threading before shifting to waxing. My facial skin is sensitive and I always came out looking scary because of how red my skin turned after threading. Now I am just glad.

i personally believe the tweezerman brand is overrated and overpriced. revlon makes a number of quality tweezers and if you are started out with few hairs to begin with, no need to drop so much coin on the tweezerman.

I think you may be right - tweezerman is definitely for heavy-duty hair removal needs. For hirsutes like myself. There is this picture of me and my dad side by side, which I like because it's like a before and after of my eyebrows. (I also inherited my dad's eyebrows. And there was alot to go around.)

rupa: great eyebrows! :)

i sometimes wish (*ducking*) that my eyebrows grew more densely because it would give me a better template to work with, so to speak. although i have nothing close to sparse eyebrows, a lot of my brow grooming is with the intention of creating a somewhat more dense effect. for this, i greatly enjoy clinique's brow sculpting shadow, whatever it may be called.

tweezerman wins hands down for plucking..

threading is the best.. the detail is simply superb..

waxing can lead to early.. wrinkling. no wax, just thread. i sleep through it. it's nap time.. just got mine done today!

i sleep through it. it's nap time.. just got mine done today!

I hear ya - I don't feel a thing anymore, even with my forest up there.

waxing can lead to early.. wrinkling.

Dr. Chick Pea, you got me worried :-(

I don't feel a thing anymore, even with my forest up there.

you have forest, i have caterpillars :)

Dr. Chick Pea, you got me worried :-(

skin above your eyelid is thin.. extra strain, not so good...that is what i was told..and i like the shape and detail that threading does.. plus, it doesn't hurt me at all.. no joke, when i say i nap through it.

i say threading or tweezing....

so now, moving on to other body parts..
arms? do you wax or nair?

Rupa, what's the name of your cousin's salon? :) And how much does it cost?

Anna you dad eyebrows rule. Like you father, I too have sparse very thin eyebrows. Mote then once I have had females tell me that I'm lucky to have my eyebrows.

And the best part is that my daughter will have thin eyebrows too.

arms? do you wax or nair?

Wax, but like twice a year. I am VERY lazy. Should I be doing it more? I'm pretty furry - do people notice? Should I be doing this regularly? Oh lord, now I'm going to be self-conscious.

i sometimes wish (*ducking*) that my eyebrows grew more densely because it would give me a better template to work with, so to speak.

arms? do you wax or nair?

Wax. Arms and legs. Every month. I am very hairy and need to do it. I hate looking furry. Women in USA seem to have no problem with hair on arms and legs. In India, women who wear clothes baring arms or legs (and those who don't bare them too) get waxing done regularly. My Indian mother got me doing this since I was 14 and I can't stop.

I have an appointment for waxing my arms tomorrow! Back when I lived in MN, we had a girl who came to our house to do our eyebrows, not being blessed with an abundance (or any) salons that did threading. Now I live in South Jerzz and I drove to Edison to get me browns done. I do waxing only under dire circumstances like I can't get my furry cattepillars threaded in time for an event.

Speaking of, does anyone know of a threading place in Philadelphia? The post came up on the LJ Philly thread but no one had any good answers, boo.

arms? do you wax or nair?

Wax, but like twice a year. I am VERY lazy. Should I be doing it more? I'm pretty furry - do people notice? Should I be doing this regularly? Oh lord, now I'm going to be self-conscious.

P.S. If you're in Mumbs, get a pedicure at Lakme. They use, like, actual razor blades to scrape the dry skin off your feet.

Wax, but like twice a year. I am VERY lazy. Should I be doing it more? I'm pretty furry - do people notice? Should I be doing this regularly? Oh lord, now I'm going to be self-conscious.

i wax rarely (takes too much damn time--plus you have to make an appt for that, and i go on moments notice), nairing is easier.. 'nair on, nair off'.. without the hand gestures.. kinda zen like in a way...when i go to india, i get waxed there in bangalore..by a lady who i've gone to for over 15 years.. i trust her..

you must trust the eyebrow artist, some might f*ck it up..happened to me recently, and i got pretty peeved...i always suggest if you're moving to another city (rupa), get names from people you trust who have good eyebrows..

no joke, the first thing i look for (even before an apartment) when i move to another city, is 'where to get my eyebrows threaded'...sad but oh so true.

eyebrows can make or break a face.

Rupa, what's the name of your cousin's salon? :) And how much does it cost?

Ok, so this is kind of weird, but it's the Merle Norman cosmetic studio. My cousin's name is Veena. They're open Tu-Fr 12-7 and Sat 10-5. You can even drive there - there's a parking lot next door which is free after validation.

And oh yeah, it's $11 a pop. A little more expensive than the holes on Devon, but worth it to not have to schlep that far north.

and here is where i go on and on about 'brows', cuz, they are hella important.

i have hairy arms and i shaved them once in the ... 5th or 6th grade. my mother was SO pissed off at me and gave me a big lecture on self-esteem and the idiocy of shaving one's arms. she was correct in noting that the itch and ugliness factors were not worth the bareness.

i used to be very self-conscious about my arm hair (i used to get made fun of a LOT in elementary school for it) but i promised myself to learn to just accept it. i've talked about it with all the men i've ever dated, and each one of them, even the guy who did make a lot of comments about my appearance, said that the arm hair was no big thing -- a couple even thought it was sexy. i feel grateful that i'm not super hairy in other areas and try to not feel hideous when my two best friends (korean) prance around with their stupid hairless arms in a tank top. :)

Hey, how do glam desi chicks get rid of the stash these days? Is Jolene still a drug of choice?

I don't know about glam desi chicks, but this desi chick still bleaches. Threading/waxing the stash never worked for me, but bleach seems to do the trick.

So many lovely ladies dropping depilation knowledge! I'm happy to be learning new things here... just one thing, though (because procrastionation=nit-picking):

I am a fuzzy monster... hair everywhere. It's disgusting.

Only if you believe it, my friend. I think you should do whatever you want to do (or have to do) to your body. I confess that I'm of a northeastern stock that never had to face the worst of the hair dilemma. Besides, I rarely take my own high-and-mighty feminist advice -- and given my body image history, I'd be the last person to judge. And I'm sure that once I get out of Santa Barbara and away from the hippies, I'll have to face the bitter reality that I have to look impeccable to a certain standard in order to stand out or just get by.

But come now, women are humans, not "monsters" or "rodents" just for having hair. Certainly not "disgusting". It's all in jest, I know, but I work with little girls who keep me aware of the horrid standards and expectations they deal with from day one, esp the ones who don't fit the archetype (and never will in their lifetimes). There's got to be some hirsute little desi girl out there who reads this stuff and hears it IRL and will decide not to wear shorts or tank tops or join waterpolo because she knows that, humor or not, what is basically being said is that hairy women are something less than women.

And since we're paging Mango Pickle, one of the best blog comments I've ever read was by some dude on one of her depilation posts. Apparently Spiked Chutney has been hijacked, so I can't find the comment, but it was something to this effect: "You women know that if you stopped shaving en masse, we'd still fuck you, right?" Aye, words of wisdom, my sisters, words of wisdom... :D

(He's absolutely right, btw.)

I work with little girls who keep me aware of the horrid standards and expectations they deal with from day one, esp the ones who don't fit the archetype (and never will in their lifetimes). There's got to be some hirsute little desi girl out there who reads this stuff and hears it IRL and will decide not to wear shorts or tank tops or join waterpolo because she knows that, humor or not, what is basically being said is that hairy women are something less than women.

To be realistic, I think most guys will notice some outstanding facial hair. Arm hair, meh. I think they can even get over some leg hair. (Especially in the winter. OH COME ON. I have better things to do in the morning, like defrost my car locks. It gets cold here!) Once, in the winter, as a "special treat" for my (now ex)boyfriend I decided to shave my legs, but my building ran out of hot water and I wasn't that dedicated to the cause so I only shaved one leg. We were watching TV and I had my feet propped up on his lap and he was like, "OH. MY. GOD. Did you actually shave your legs?! Wait a minute - why did you only do one?"

Shruti, you're right. And you made your point in such a kind way. You gave me a lot to think about...

Ugh eyebrow woes and don't I know it. I have FAINT eyebrows that you couldn't see from afar but they are wide as caterpillers so I HAVE to do them. I do them myself by tweezing and I fill them in with Lancome powder pencil, the best and closest thing to natural soft color I can find anywhere. I'm seriously considering getting the eyebrow tatoo and look like a freak for a while...

When I lived in Bangladesh, a friend informed me that Bangladeshi village women systematically pluck and remove EVERY HAIR ON THEIR ENTIRE BODIES from puberty onwards. Can anyone confirm this? Bengali Chick?

i know that bushy tufts of ear-hair are in my future. can that be shaped by threading as well?

Speaking of eyebrowless freaks...

:)

Shruti ~ I totally agree with ya. I REFUSE to friggin' deal with continous arm and leg waxing and shaving and plucking blah blah blah...My bf doesn't do it (thank god) ... why the heck should us women spend hours and hours doing this when it just grows back so soon...argh. In fact, I've been told I look younger when I haven't plucked or threaded for a long time. I'll take that over perfect eyebrows anyday. ;)

Plus, my parents say that being on the "hairy" side is LUCKY for a girl...teehee. All that testosterone I suppose?

But for my wedding of course I'll need to get these arms waxed (for henna purposes). Not looking forward to that.

This is one area where I have no real expertise. While not blessed with a thick and luscious mane like ANNA and some other ladies here, I was born with decent eyebrows that rarely need depilating. Yet, I keep one of these Revlon babies handy just in case something unsightly rears its ugly head.

Ooh, you do have very nice shapely brows! Lucky :) (Incidentally, is the name of that place really "Cooter's"? Sorry. I'm a 14 year old boy.)

Thanks, Rupa! The brows were inherited from my mother who, in the oh-so-fashionable late 70s, decided to pluck hers to oblivion after which they never really grew back. Now, with greying brows, she really has to pick and choose what to get rid of lest she get a votai (hole) in her brows. Most Indian women have naturally thick (read: beautiful) brows that the vestern vomen lust after, so we've got it going on, y'all. Just a little pluck here and there should do.

As for Cooter's, it's Cooter Brown's - Cooter is a common nickname here in southern Louisiana.

muralimannered, I make the older men of my family shave their ear hair but it's really up to them in the end, isn't it?

A final word to the wise: Those of you who have sensitive skin, like me, should think twice before putting hot wax anywhere near your face. My epidermis has been ripped off on occasion making me look like I have bloody cold sores. Not worth all the "beauty" treatments.

Fascinating comment thread. It could do with a dash of stupid machismo. Mine are like the Scorcese caterpillars and the lady at the barbershop I visit silently implores me to get them trimmed. I usually have a good deal of fun seeing her squirm, cringe, and try to look away while she is cutting my hair. But she cannot look away, they lure her horrified attention back again and again. Once, she actually asked if I wanted them done but I smirked and refused. It felt good. You ladies helped make the manly mustache unfashionable, and now you want to go after the burly brows? I'm not giving up my flip-shades that easily.

Since you ladies started the hairy topic and before you rush for your mani/pedi, wax/threading what's the verdict on brown men and shorts?

I've never understood why some South Asian guys are ashamed of wearing shorts, we already have restricted wardrobe options what's the point in limiting it further?

Damn, girl, it took you this long?? A good eyebrow person is worth her weight in gold, can make the most overplucked icky brows look good. Iranians do it best IMO (except for my favourite Gujarati eyebrow grrl back in Bombay). I used to go to Jeniette New York on Union Square, Rosa is the woman to ask for, she gave me the most amazing eyebrows ever that I SWEAR made me look like a different person, not sure if she's still there as this was about 8 years ago. And my brows are scraggly yet bushy and uneven with a gap where I once tried to shave them for fun as a kid, so it's not an easy job. BTW, I've been reading about the recent fashion police crackdown in Iran and they are targeting men as well as women, and stopping barbers from giving men "Western haircuts" but also from threading their brows! Now that's a bit metrosexual even for me.

Shruti, profound words from the guy who assured us that action would not be lacking if our legs were unshaved. Desi men are pretty damn hairy too, and they don't do anything! Look at their backs!! (I speak for my, um, sample, which is mainly north Indian).

For upper lip it's Nair all the way. A word of advice for you girls who bleach - fuzzy blonde hair is still visible fuzzy hair on your face and it turns orange over time and does not look so great, particularly in daylight.

I never seem to find the time to go to a threader so I use the salon wax strips at home. They've always done me pretty well except for the one time I got distracted by the telly and took my entire left brow off. Now I'm like the pharm nurse in ICU, making double and triple checks before the yank.

Also, can anyone tell me if its true that threading can cause folliculitis?

Oh, and another vote here for the Tweezerman slant tweezer, the $20 kind that will make you wince (but only once! You'll be glad every time you use it!), not the $4 mini version they sell in drugstores.

Eyebrows do make a big difference, they frame your face and can adjust the "balance" of your features, make your eyes stand out more, and I swear my skin looks better when the brows have been done. The teeniest bit can make a difference, look at Preity Zinta's brows in her first few films and now.

i'll be honest...i get the occasional chin hair that's as dark as a lash. sure, my revlon buddy can yank it out...but over the last couple of years, i've noticed that the skin near the follicle has darkened permanently. any tips? and what's y'alls take on getting lasered? my gf has had it done, but she still has to shave from time to time.

I used to get my eyebrows threaded by a woman named Nadia in Boston. She was with FX and then moved to Leeba Salon. No one else has been able to make my brows look that good. After I moved from Boston I used to book appointments with her whenever I was in town. Alas, I don't know which salon she has switched to now. :*(

Has anyone gotten lasered? What about vaniqa? I've even heard some birth control pills make you less hairy. Thoughts? (I'm one of those girls who gets a 5 o'clock shadow on her legs!)

can anyone tell me if its true that threading can cause folliculitis?

Has anyone gotten lasered? What about vaniqa?

Different kinds of lasers work for different skin tones, the first generation of lasers didn't work well on brown skins and darker but the new gen do, I'm told (cold touch or something?) A friend in Bombay has had her arm hair and excess facial hair lasered off as is very happy with the results. It must be great not to have to worry about depilation again but honestly it feels kind of unnatural to get rid of one's hair forever.

I wonder if any brave men have made it this far into the thread, hehe.

Different kinds of lasers work for different skin tones, the first generation of lasers didn't work well on brown skins and darker but the new gen do, I'm told (cold touch or something?

obviously there are diff. lasers, they still haven't perfected one for the darker hair type.. currently the laser removes coarse hair easily, however the fuzzy kind is harder to permanently remove via laser.

Ah, OK. Thanks for the gyan, chick pea.

Since you ladies started the hairy topic and before you rush for your mani/pedi, wax/threading what's the verdict on brown men and shorts?

I just don't find men in shorts attractive, no matter how nice their legs are. They either look like 5 year old boys or like they're wearing a skirt and sorry neither of those options do it for me. What's with the shorts that practically come down to the ankle? Do those few extra inches of skin really keep you any cooler? Why not just look dignified in pants...

I'm not sure if this has been addressed already or not (I only skimmed the comment portion). Advice for eyebrow shaping: middle-eastern, specifically women from Iran do it best. I think they did it before the trend was even there.

As far as beefing up your sparse eyebrows, the best advice I've heard from many beauty sources is to shade in with eye shadow (rather than with an eye pencil, it looks less fake). But you wouldn't choose black, I would choose medium to dark brown for your skin tone, so you don't look like that lady from Mommy Dearest. Oh yeah, and it works too since a lot of my asian (not south asian :-) friends have the same problem as you and use eye shadow, and it's not noticeable.

Rupa, what a small world! I'm a fellow Chicagoan and used to go to Veena for my threading way back in the day when she was at the salon in Westmont. My sister has followed her from there, to the salon in Palatine, to Lincoln Park.

And incidentally, I spent five years in STL and used to get my threading done by a woman who worked out of her home. I could try to dig up her phone # if you want, but I did notice on my last visit that there is a threading stall at the West County Mall at I270 and Manchester. Don't remember the name of it, but it's on the 2nd floor and is the only one there so it should be easy to find.

I agree with the suggestion about using dark brown, not black, eye shadow (or brow powder, which I think Sonia Kashuk's line at Tar-jhay has?) and a small, angled brush (best one I've ever used is one from Rite Aid's store brand, but MAC #266 also works) to "fill in" brows. Even if your brows are full to begin with, brushing them into place and using a bit of brow powder makes them look neater. I've also heard of people using moustache wax on unruly brows.

Tattooed brows look atrocious, sorry to say. The colour tends to fade to a weird reddish brown or grey and they look SO fake.

Anna, you are absolutely hilarious. I've been a loyal lurker here for a while and finally had to comment when words like Chicago, Devon, and threading came up! I used to go to Devon for threading until I found another place named Betty and Nicks (or was it Nick and Bettys)in Skokie that is run by Assyrians (I think). This place resembles a drive through salon. You go in and come out in practically 10 minutes. And to top it off- only $5 for threading or haircuts!! Can a desi ask for more???

How funny. I used to do the threading on Devon thing, too, when I lived in Chicago: I'd go to Yoga Circle in River North and then run up to Devon for food, shopping and threading.

Rupa, I am so checking out that salon as I am moving back to Chicago. Yeah!

Hmmm, reading through some of the other comments: waxing actually hurts me more than threading and it makes my skin too pink and splotchy. I look insane for the next hour or two, like the joker or something. And, I've supposedly tried the best of the best, so I think it's the wax, not the heat or technique, that I don't like. I suppose everyone has different thresholds.....

Hmmm, reading through some of the other comments: waxing actually hurts me more than threading and it makes my skin too pink and splotchy. I look insane for the next hour or two, like the joker or something. And, I've supposedly tried the best of the best, so I think it's the wax, not the heat or technique, that I don't like. I suppose everyone has different thresholds.....

MD, I concur. I find threading to be an overall more pleasant experience. The day they offer effective Brazilian threading, I'll be the first one in line. Oh come on, someone had to go there...

I've never understood why some South Asian guys are ashamed of wearing shorts, we already have restricted wardrobe options what's the point in limiting it further?

Dunno. My husband wears shorts a lot in the summer, particularly when we go hiking and/or camping. He has nice legs too! :)

Threading has always made me come out of the salon crying - it's worth it, but still. A good eyebrow-waxer will be done much faster and you don't have to go through the torture hair-by-hair. But good eyebrow-waxers are very very rare. Sigh.

For true masochists, there's the Middle Eastern version of waxing, aka halawa, with thicker wax made of sugar that sort of stretches out and serves as both the waxing strip and the wax. Hurts like a mofo, smoother and longer-lasting than waxing, but not for wimps like me.

can anyone tell me if its true that threading can cause folliculitis?

not to my knowledge

i'm not a doctor... and i'm not really sure what folliculitis is... i tried to look it up online but it didn't really help.

but threading makes me break out -- only where i got threaded. and i used to go to the same place that chickpea still goes to [which by the way is fabulous if you're not me--they really are great!]... i guess different people have different reactions. so even though waxing isn't as good for the skin i get waxed b/c at least i don't break out. i just don't do it often.

and for all of you who use revlon tweezers... i LOVE THEM!! hehe...

Shout out to Daksha Ben at Khoobsurat in Newark Avenue in Jersey City, the only woman allowed to touch my brows.

Also, why are so many guys getting their brows done??

I don't know what's worse, the blond highlights that flatter no one (of the male species anyway) or the perfectly arched brows.

Threading has always made me come out of the salon crying - it's worth it, but still.

Oh me too. And the woman who does my threading thinks I'm such a baby because I always tear up when she's doing it.

I do know someone who does a great wax job, and I go to her sometimes, but waxing just doesn't give you clean line/shape you get from threading. Ah, the pains we endure...

I've never understood why some South Asian guys are ashamed of wearing shorts, we already have restricted wardrobe options what's the point in limiting it further?

I'm a very hairy man. My second summer in the US - I took the trouble of, er, reducing the hair on my legs - so I could walk around in shorts, but have never bothered since. I've seen lots of American, European and Latin American men (Most East Asians and Africans don't have this 'problem') walk around with all their hair, and I assumed it was an acceptable option.

And BTW - what is threading in this context?

When I lived in Bangladesh, a friend informed me that Bangladeshi village women systematically pluck and remove EVERY HAIR ON THEIR ENTIRE BODIES from puberty onwards. Can anyone confirm this? Bengali Chick?

Girl, I have never heard of that shiznit.

Also, why are so many guys getting their brows done??

Unibrows are NOT attractive. *Sigh* There was one flaw with my husband: unibrow. Few weeks into the dating I attacked him with the tweezerman. He agrees, his brows look much better.

Rupa -- HOT eyebrows!!!

I'm a very hairy man. My second summer in the US - I took the trouble of, er, reducing the hair on my legs - so I could walk around in shorts, but have never bothered since. I've seen lots of American, European and Latin American men (Most East Asians and Africans don't have this 'problem') walk around with all their hair, and I assumed it was an acceptable option.

I think hairness on men (besides the unibrow) is uber sexy. I f*cking love it. I love everything about it.. running my hand over all of that hair (such a turn on). YUM! You do no need to "reduce" your hair unless you want to.

Hema, doesn't it seem like all desi waxing and threading ladies are such unsympathetic martinets? I remember howling when my mother got me waxed the first time, age 15 or something, and the lady said something like "so hairy AND a real baby"! Yowch.

Unibrows are NOT attractive. *Sigh* There was one flaw with my husband: unibrow.

I must be a freak. I love hairy eyebrows/unibrows on men. On women too, though maybe with some shaping. I don't rock my unibrow though, I use a variety of things to remove facial hair.

I think hairy men are very sexy, however- beards and male facial hair really enflame my sensitive face and neck to the point that I will ask a guy to shave, for the discomfort factor.

It looks great but hurts too much.

I'm putting in a vote for the cheapo Revlon tweezers. I only tweeze my brows (live in a desi-devoid corner of the country and also don't trust anyone else to leave them looking relatively natural) and that's what I use. They work great. Make sure you get the angled kind, not the pointed kind--makes it easier to grip the hair.

Shruti, you are right. I am an infrequent de-hairer (although I generally don't let my hairy legs be publicly exposed. Arm hair I live with) and it's never been an issue with guys. To all those hairy teenage girls out there--you can stay hairy and still be attractive. But if you choose to de-hair, that's okay too. As my dog-groomer says, it's just hair.

Hema, doesn't it seem like all desi waxing and threading ladies are such unsympathetic martinets?

Totally. I have a sense that they're tut-tutting me, all while thinking "if she can't even handle this chota-mota pain, how will she have babies one day?" Tsk tsk.

Few weeks into the dating I attacked him with the tweezerman. He agrees, his brows look much better.

I talked my husband into letting me tweeze his crazy eyebrows for our wedding. But in the end, I couldn't do it. I never changed a single (physical) thing for him so I couldn't bring myself to change him. I'm actually glad--I would have been stuck doing it forever if he had liked it!

Totally. I have a sense that they're tut-tutting me, all while thinking "if she can't even handle this chota-mota pain, how will she have babies one day?" Tsk tsk.

You made me laugh out loud and spit on that one.

beards and male facial hair really enflame my sensitive face and neck to the point that I will ask a guy to shave, for the discomfort factor.

I once had a Sikh girlfriend ask me to shave, so I don't 'blame' any girl who also feels that way. Still, I like having a beard. More on this will probably be a threadjack, and I won't go there!

I'm actually glad--I would have been stuck doing it forever if he had liked it!

Girl - you may have made the wise choice. I'm stuck tweezing hubster for life... though I'll admit, I like it.

And incidentally, I spent five years in STL and used to get my threading done by a woman who worked out of her home. I could try to dig up her phone # if you want, but I did notice on my last visit that there is a threading stall at the West County Mall at I270 and Manchester. Don't remember the name of it, but it's on the 2nd floor and is the only one there so it should be easy to find.

rekha -- Yes! I have heard of both these things of which you speak - would you mind digging up that woman's phone number for me? I have had my eyebrows done at that mall stall and it was fine but I have heard horror stories from others. Thanks so much!! :D

she tells me there are aunties in there getting their whole face threaded...wtf?

I have friends who get their entire face waxed. I can't imagine how they do it.

Btw, I saw Spiderman-3 last night. Kiki doesn't shave/nair/wax her arms. He he..

To all those hairy teenage girls out there--you can stay hairy and still be attractive.

Ya'll, I get where we're going here about holding women to unrealistic standards of beauty, but I am so sorry - I cannot keep quiet on this one. I am all for loving one's self as you are but we need to differentiate between body hair and facial hair. Arm/leg hair - who cares, no one but you will notice anyway. Facial hair - if you are comfortable remaining au naturel that is fabulous. But YES. Everyone notices, particularly the 'stache. I'm sure even Kajol, she of the unibrow, gets her 'stache threaded.

Anyone have any suggestions on great tweezing places in the DC Metro area?

Question for the sisters ( I am serious and need advice):

I have a BIG milestone birthday coming up next year and I have NEVER done my eyebrows( I'm a wimp @ physical pain) .My eyebrows are ok - not too hairy but are not as shapely as they once were.( I am too shy to post a photo so you will have to take my word for it)
So my question is :

Will I look weird if I start threading at this advanced age and also does that make me less of a feminist and very vain?( I shave my legs but let the faint arm hair I have be )

Will I look weird if I start threading at this advanced age and also does that make me less of a feminist and very vain?( I shave my legs but let the faint arm hair I have be )

Why not go for a series of gradual changes, that way you can determine if you like it or not before the big birthday?

And if shaplier eyebrows help you feel more confident on your special day, I don't see how it's any different than shaving your legs. Good luck.

also does that make me less of a feminist

I know this is a question for the sisters - but if I may - what would make you less of a feminist is not the specifics - and I won't say you are vain - but in not seizing agency yourself and doing what you think is right for yourself, by your own lights - and caring too much about what other people think. That said, keep your eyebrows natural :)

Massive props to Shruti.

Will I look weird if I start threading at this advanced age and also does that make me less of a feminist and very vain?( I shave my legs but let the faint arm hair I have be )

I came to the whole eyebrow grooming thing pretty late in life too...at 21, when I was in college and finally noticed that all the other girls had much shapeliers eyebrows than I did. When I did it the first time, it looked weird for about a day, but I got used to it.

In the end, you should only do this if you really want to, and not because you feel pressured to do it. And if you do want to, then don't worry about being a sell-out or anything. You're not less of a feminist because you engaged in a little personal grooming.

Will I look weird if I start threading at this advanced age and also does that make me less of a feminist and very vain?

I don't understand this perceived inverse correlation between femininity and feminism. The stereotype that a feminist has to look a certain way is such old hat.

"The stereotype that a feminist has to look a certain way is such old hat"

Exactly - old is the key word here :-)

Thanks all, every bit of advice helps

DC metro threading

try Naila 301 379 9333. Scary that I remember her number even though I haven't lived there in many years. She's very talented.

Runa, try to find a place with great recs for eyebrows, and ask them to be conservative, say you want a natural look, so they won't overdo it.

Does doing your eyebrows or depilating body hair make you any less of a feminist or a good example to little girls? I don't think it does, any more than men wearing ties or cutting their hair short and shaving their faces, or women generally caring about fashion or shoes. Beauty standards exist, and we all observe them, male and female. I'm a raging feminist, and I pluck my eyebrows when they get really wild. Hey, so I'm vain. What the feminist in me hates is when girls (it starts early) are taught to gauge their self-worth primarily on the basis of compliments about their appearance and approval from boys/men, and little girls get the "my, what a pretty dress/what a pretty little girl" reinforcement while little boys don't, and people of both sexes feel free to comment on a girl's hair, skin, appearance and weight and offer unsolicited advice and judgements. Grooming and fashion are arguably more a matter of choice, and somewhat different from physical features.

I think Shruti has a good point, though, we could all stand to be more laid-back about women's appearance and bodies.

if you have thin/non-existent eyebrows, would shaving them with a razor make them grow back thicker? conventional wisdom is that if you shave anything, it grows back thicker.

Thanks for the upper lip tips, girls. Bengali Chick, turns out bald female bodies in South Asia are not shiznit. A friend emailed me off-list and said that removing hair from your body is

"true of many Pakistani women and some Afghan women, too. They wax and otherwise rip every hair off every part of themselves but their scalps ... I was told it was a Muslim thing. Pakistani men also rip their underarm hair off -- at least the Pakistani man I was involved with did, with his own bare hands."

Interesting conversation.

As far as personal grooming goes: it's up to you and your self-worth shouldn't be based on how you look. That's a messy way to go: look at the famous beauties who were so unhappy in their lives. Beauty is not nothing, but it's not everything.

I do find that in my profession, being well groomed (wearing a suit to work more than make-up, grooming, specifically), do kind of make a difference. Or maybe, it just helps to give me a little more confidence in a tough arena. I mean, it can be rough in some places I've been. If you are a woman intent on 'making it', you have to be good at what you do, obviously, but it sure doesn't hurt if you also act and look like a professional. Same goes for the men, I suppose. So, does this make a feminist or a sell-out? I'll take the conservative route :)

Of course, if you are good at what you do, the other stuff is superficial, but the superficial things can be a little bit important in the self-promotion that is, sadly, a part of academia.

Mitali - yeah, there's some sort of hadith that says even men are supposed to trim their public hair (!), and women wax or sugar everything off (including nether regions) before their weddings (Ahdaf Soueif describes this beautifully in one of her novellas). I remember the ladies at my mom's salon in Bombay whispering about visiting Gulfie women who told the waxing lady to take Everthing Off. I wonder if that's a trend that has transferred to desh from the West too. I agree with what you said about pre-pubescent creepiness, btw.

The fact that women remove their pubic hair bothers me because it strikes me as an attempt to stay childlike.

Who wants a mouth full of hair though? It tickles the throat.

Hair removal and beauty in general are a personal decision. Of course in every society there are standards of beauty, but being a feminist, it's your choice whether or not you want to join the masses. Personally, I'm an LA girl and I'm all about beauty, even if it's painful.

Why? Anna..WHY?

I had this big crush and you had to go and ruin it for me.. sigh! I also like the pic with you in the white dress and blue bag where you're flipping your viewers..so subtle but nice! :)

I had this big crush and you had to go and ruin it for me

I have heard it argued that a bit of mystery is nice...

But you'll get over it. Women have always bonded over beauty secrets and that's more important than tryin' to snag some man.

Will I look weird if I start threading at this advanced age and also does that make me less of a feminist and very vain?( I shave my legs but let the faint arm hair I have be )

I didn't start tweezing my eyebrows until I was 27. I didn't want to have super skinny fake looking eyebrows, so when I eventually started doing it, I did it myself. I basically keep their natural shape and just clean them up. So...I would recommend that you do it yourself. If you go to a professional, you might not recognize yourself when they are done. It can totally change your face.

So...does it make you less of a feminist? I have decided not..I think it's okay to do these things if you realize the folly of it all, and don't hold others to some imaginary standard. Does it make you vain? Sure...but a little vanity is okay.

Oh, and don't shave your eyebrows. They may never grow back (a scientific fact)--a certain percentage never do.

OMG, I was so busy at work yesterday that I didn't have time to read SM... How could I have missed the entire discussion on hair removal!!! As I said before, my Indian girlfriends and I somehow always bring the conversation to hair removal when we get together.

My two cents:
The Tweezerman tweezers are great for in-between threadings.
Threading is way better than waxing, no clogged pores and breaking out.
My hair growth is way less, not that I have started threading and I get my whole face done (alas I am a fuzzy monstser as well BC).

On a personal note, I have been self-conscious of my body hair from a very young age. It didn't help getting made fun of all the time about my arm and leg hair. At this point in my life I am so sick of hair removal. I shave my arms and legs, get my face threaded and it's a constant battle. I am willing to pay the money to get laser removal and I now there are places that can do it for darker skinned women.

Happy Friday and hair removing everyone!

Women have always bonded over beauty secrets and that's more important than tryin' to snag some man.

there's some sort of hadith that says even men are supposed to trim their public hair (!), and women wax or sugar everything off (including nether regions) before their weddings (Ahdaf Soueif describes this beautifully in one of her novellas). I remember the ladies at my mom's salon in Bombay whispering about visiting Gulfie women who told the waxing lady to take Everthing Off.

It's equal opportunity, under Islam both men and women are supposed to remove their armpit hair and pubic hair. A while back, I blogged about how men in Afghanistan were stopped by the Taliban for armpit shaving checks.

Five practices are characteristics of the fitrah: circumcision, shaving the pubic hairs, cutting the mustaches short, clipping the nails and plucking the hair of the armpits. (Reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) [Link]

The 9/11 hijackers shaved off all their public hair before they committed mass murder. It's one of the things that airline assistants look for - if you spend too long shaving in the airplane bathroom, they start to get nervous.