A hair removal method that’s safe, effective, and chemical free

Yvette asks: I keep hearing about a hair removal method called “threading.” Can you shed some light on this?

The Right Brain’s catty reply:

Hi Yvette, I’d be glad to answer your question because hair removal is a hot topic for us – one of the Beauty Brains is known for having bushy, caveman style eyebrows. (I won’t mention any names, but Left Brain, you know who you are.)

What is threading?

There are two basic types of hair removal: depilation and epilation. Depilation only affects the part of the hair that’s above the surface of the skin. Shaving and chemical depilatories work this way. Epilation removes the entire hair, including the part growing beneath the skin so the effect lasts longer. Threading is an epilation process that uses thread to pull out hair from sensitive areas of the face like the lips and eyebrows. (Other types of epilation include tweezing, waxing and sugaring.) The threading method is very popular in Middle East countries as well as India and Pakistan.

How does it work?

Thread, usually cotton thread, is twisted and rolled along the surface of the skin. As the thread twists it entangles the hairs, pulling them out of the follicle. As with tweezing, it takes about 3 to 8 weeks for the hairs to grow back out. Threading aficionados claim that using a a growth inhibitor, like Emjoi Cream can help even more. We’re skeptical those products really work so let the buyer beware.

What are the advantages?

It’s supposedly more gentle to the skin, especially facial skin, than waxing or sugaring. That’s because it doesn’t strip the top layer of your skin. It’s also very economical. Really, really, economical. All you need to do is buy thread. If single threading session uses about 12 inches of thread and a typical spool of thread containing 150 yards of thread and costs $1.99, then the cost of a single threading is only about a half a penny. Now that’s a bargain! (Especially when you consider a bottle of Nair costs about $4.00.)

Are there any disadvantages?

It can be tricky to do on yourself and, like tweezing, it’s tough to cover large surface areas. If you want to epilate your bikini area, you’re better off with a product like Wax-cellance.

Have you tried threading? Or do you have another favorite way to remove unwanted hair? Leave a comment and share your secrets with the Beauty Brains community.