An ancient Asian practice of hair removal is starting to catch on in the U.S.

“Threading” is a techniqe that removes hair from the root at the follicle level, and yields better results than waxing or tweezing. Threaders use cotton or polyester thread to pull hairs from eyebrows, the upper lip or the whole face.

Threading removes an entire row of hair in a short amount of time, however it can be painful for some. It is a quick, easy and chemical free way to remove hair among men and mostly women.

Kanwaljit Kaur, an employee at Brow Bar in Southland Mall, says that threading is a safer way to remove hair than waxing.

“Threading is a good way to remove hair because we don’t have to worry about allergies or sensitive skin because there will be no reaction,” said Kaur.

Prior to the Brow Bar and kiosks in th

e mall, finding a threading salon can be difficult. Azreena Begum, a Cal State East Bay alumna, said she is not a fan of mall kiosks.

“The lighting is horrible, and there’s no privacy, but I think the advertising is great.”

Although some businesses branch out to popular malls, Begum prefers the threading salons, and feels threading to be a better alternative to other hair removal methods.

“I’m not a fan of waxing because waxing hurts and can even burn. Thread doesn’t cost that much so it’s efficient in that sense, and you can’t get burned. It’s hard to find salons, but just keep your eye out for them,” said Begum.

Kanak Patel, owner of the Shiva Beauty Salon in Fremont has been threading for 12 years. She believes that mall kiosks did place some competition on the market, but it is also good advertisement for eyebrow and facial threading.

“It is helping my business because of course,it is informing other communities about it,” said Patel.

Kelly Pham-Do is the co-owner of Excellent Hair Salon in Fremont. She does both, eyebrow and facial threading as well as waxing.

“ There is a benefit of threading over waxing because once you lay the wax down, there’s a possibility of it smudging and taking off more hair than you want. There is also risk of allergic reactions,” said Pham-Do.

“Compare threading to tweezing. You can only remove one hair at a time with tweezing. With threading, you can remove a lot at once from the root. I have been threading for 13 years now, and majority of my customers get their face/eyebrows threaded,” said Pham-Do.

With salons popping up all over the Bay Area, eyebrow threading has gone from an ancient technique to a current beauty trend.