Posted on Sun, Jul. 30, 2006
BEAUTY BY A THREAD
A CERTIFIED AESTHETICIAN OFFERS ANOTHER TIME-TESTED WAY TO ERADICATE UNWANTED FACIAL HAIR
Special to The Miami Herald
BY EILEEN SOLER
Nisha Mohammad twists unwanted hair in a strand of white cotton thread and plucks it from the root as smoothly as James Bond zaps bad guys.
Calm and cool, dressed in a white jacket at Maria Hairstyles in Miramar, the certified aesthetician maneuvers the thread using her mouth and hands to gracefully shape eyebrows, eradicate unwanted hair from upper lips, chins, foreheads and sideburns and leave clients glowing.
‘‘There is a little sting, but I love it,’’ said Kimberly Christian of Cooper City, admiring her freshly plucked pair of perfectly shaped brows. ``I’m a regular customer now.’’
Called ‘‘threading,’’ the hair removal technique rooted in ancient Egypt is the latest beauty import from the East and is gaining popularity over common tweezing, waxing or chemical depilatories that often cause irritation.
Mohammad said women and girls of all ages with all types of skin suffer no side effects from threading because it is totally natural. It also lasts about two weeks longer than other methods.
‘‘The result is cleaner, longer lasting, and very beautiful. No wax, no creams, just 100 percent cotton thread. Everyone who has it done comes back,’’ Mohammad said.
Mohammad, of Miramar, said threading is a beauty tradition passed down generation to generation among women in Middle Eastern and South Asian nations, especially her native Pakistan and neighboring India.
Only a handful of Broward and Miami-Dade beauty salons offer the service.
Owner Maria Smith, who opened the full-service salon at 14455 Miramar Pkwy. in February, said she has been in the beauty business for nearly four decades but only learned about threading when Mohammad called to offer her service, called Threading by Nisha.
‘‘Now it’s bringing in new customers every day,’’ Smith said.
But don’t blink. Threading removes hair lightning-quick at a rate of 15 to 20 hairs per second. In fact, Mohammad took care of five clients in 40 minutes on a recent morning, including her 12-year-old daughter, Yamna, whose first treatment transformed one bushy unibrow into two girlish brows.
‘‘It’s not painful at all, and I feel so much prettier,’’ Yamna said.
Known as khite in Arabic and fatlah in Egyptian, the practice winds multiple hairs at one time and plucks them simultaneously from deep under the skin. Meanwhile, it also lifts and removes dead skin.
Mohammad said the treatment does not remove hair permanently, but over time some hair will not grow back and most hair returns thinner and is a lighter shade.
Costs include $12 for first-time eyebrow shaping, $10 for a brow cleanup, $6 for the upper lip, $6 for chin, and $30 for a full face.
‘‘Sensitive skin, teenage skin, older skin, leathery or smooth – it doesn’t matter,’’ Mohammad said. ``There is no redness, bumps or marks with threading, only beautiful, smooth skin.’’
For a threading appointment with Mohammad, call 754-204-8080. For Maria Hairstyles, call 954-447-2046.