Eyebrow Threading Is The Grooming Technique For Ultra Precision

No matter what you choose to do with them — bleach them, microblade them, or laminating — eyebrows make a big difference in your facial appearance. Because they play a vital role in framing the face, eyebrows can also make or break your look. "The brows can accentuate and frame the eyes and lend balance to the face," makeup and brow artist Dani Kimiko Vincent tells InStyle. "When the eyebrows are optimized, they can take years off your look." 

One of the many options out there for keeping eyebrows looking fierce is threading. An ancient technique with its origins in Asian countries, eyebrow threading was around long before waxing, but not before tweezers — those actually go way back to 200 BCE or so, per Oxford University. "Threading is very precise and allows our specialists to have greater control over which hairs are removed," eyebrow artist Shobha Tummala tells Town & Country. If you're someone who is all about precision when it comes to your perfectly groomed eyebrows, then threading might just be what your face and overall look have been missing.

Threading got its name because it involves — wait for it — a thread. When you arrive at your appointment, the technician will clean your brows as well as the skin underneath them. Next, they'll take a cotton thread and twist it in such a way that when it's wrapped around a single hair and gently pulled, it removes it from the follicle. This gives a very precise and clean look; cleaner than waxing. 

"The thread is twisted in order to efficiently roll over the skin to individually pluck the roots of unwanted hair," eyebrow threading expert Nitasha Dahiya tells Allure. "Unlike tweezing, threading does not create ingrown hairs and is safer for all skin types. A good practitioner has light and painless movements with the thread and skin." 

When the tech is done, you may experience some redness, but that's totally normal. To protect the skin around your brows, make sure you follow proper aftercare. Refrain from putting heavy moisturizes or makeup on the area, and of course keep your hands away from your perfect new eyebrows for a day or two after the threading (via Lavoom Salon). The quickest way to ruin anything is to pick at it. And, just as you would with any type of face-related treatment, you'll want to stay out of the sun and avoid heat — like hot showers and steam room.

Eyebrows come in different shapes and sizes. Although embracing your natural brows is great and definitely low-maintenance, for those who don't want to rock that full, bushy look, threading is fantastic option. While threading can be used to completely thin out brows — a trend from the 1990s that's been making a comeback — it can also keep full brows perfectly groomed. Threading doesn't change your eyebrows, but rather follows the natural arch, tidying up the rogue hairs, and delivering a sleek appearance. 

"If your aesthetic leans toward more sharp-looking brows, then you'll like the look that threading can achieve," makeup and brow artist Dani Kimiko Vincent tells Mind Body Green. Because eyebrows are such an important asset to the face, a sharp brow can really change or update your appearance. If you decide at some point that you're over the look, then you can go back to your natural brows.

One of the big selling points of eyebrow threading is that it's great for sensitive skin. It's all natural in how it's performed without any risk of chemical or wax burns. "It's an organic natural technique where you aren't putting any foreign or unknown chemicals on your face," eyebrow expert Umbreen Sheikh tells Women's Health. "What sets threading apart from other hair removal techniques is its precision... Waxing, if done correctly, is okay as well, but threading is considered a safer way if you have very sensitive skin or very dry skin, as there is less chance of skin ripping off with the wax."

It's can usually be done within 15 minutes and lasts longer than tweezing. Threading inspires slower growth in the follicles, so you can go two to three weeks between appointments, eyebrow expert Vanita Parti tells IPSY. If you're wondering if it hurts, the answer is yes. "I would say it has a pain factor of five out of 10," says Parti. "The first experience always hurts more, and then you become used to the sensation." But it's also worth considering that people have different levels of pain tolerance, so someone's five could be another person's 10.

When it comes to eyebrow maintenance, threading is the way to go. Although the price of a session can be anywhere from $5 to $100, depending on where you live, per Women's Health, its pros outweigh the cons. There may be no such thing as perfect hair removal, but threading comes pretty darn close.