Imagine this happening to you at Johnny Rocket’s or Chili’s. Would you summon the manager or would you sit back silently and take it all in?

Threading is a hair removal technique long used in our part of the world to give a clean, smooth look.  Some women do full facial threading and that is removing all unwanted facial hair. Others just opt for shaping eyebrows and upper lip hair removal.

Men also can have some facial hair threaded (if they can withstand the pain of course - most men have low pain threshold). This is performed at most local men’s salons.

When having facial threading done, a woman will be asked to stretch the upper skin of her lips by pushing her tongue against the inside of her mouth. This lessens the pain and ensure a swift and clean hair removal process. In addition, when having eyebrows shaped, a woman will sometimes be asked to hold down her eyelid with one hand and above her eyebrow with the other hand. This is also to ensure the skin is taut before hair removal.

I have noticed at some salons during the hotter summer months, some talc is applied to the facial skin to ensure dryness.

Some salons will offer you rose water or some other refreshing lotion on a cotton pad to apply to the threaded area to soothe sensitive skin, However, this is not always offered and sometimes the rose water is not always the sweet-smelling pure kind but one that has an over-powering perfumed scent.

Threading certainly leaves one with a fresh clean feeling and some beauty artists are so good at it that they leave your face looking radiant.

Some women however suffer from the after effects of threading (break outs, rash) which is why the utmost care should be practiced when selecting a salon: it should be very clean to avoid any infections.

Also, the person who does the threading should be recommended.  There is nothing worse than someone performing threading breathing her garlic breathe into your face or having to smell her unwashed hands as she threads your upper lip. Disgusting.

In Kuwait, Iranian and Indian threaders have the best reputation for shaping beautiful eyebrows and doing a clean job.

Nowadays, with the popularity of laser hair removal, I wonder if this has affected how many woman go to the salon for threading?

Below is an interesting clip on a threading salon in America:

On Friday I went swimming for the first time in 2008. It was beautiful. The tide was full and the water was nippy but refreshing. And all around me, little zoori or fish swam around in circular schools.

The cleansing ritual was long over due; the spiritual encounter shed many undesirable monkeys on my back. I did not emerge as a transformed mermaid but I returned to shore feeling peaceful in the same way I would feel after visiting a longtime friend.

Later on in the evening, the elements would continue to tease this bond with nature. Sitting on the darkened balcony, I watch the storm. Lightning strikes and lights up the shoreline briefly. The tide is far out and the scent of sea permeates the wind that blows forcefully. It is a strange storm, with a gale of dust blowing across the balcony and then moments later, comes the rain in heavy muddy drops.

The purge lasts only minutes and then moves on down the coast line where thunder rumbles and lightning seems to laugh as the wind carries them onwards.

This is the beauty of April and May. Sarrayat. Unpredictable. Sudden. Temperamental. Passionate. Volatile. Dangerously calm. Consummate.