When Threading Goes Wrong

As part of my pre-Christmas party preparation, I went to get my eyebrows threaded again. I am very lazy when it comes to body maintenance and will leave it to the last possible moment to get hair cut etc. I also wanted to save all of it so I can have a pampering day before getting ready for the event.

I had been previously to this place once before (Sorry no naming and shaming here) and last time I was really happy with the result so decided to go back. This is an actually salon in my town centre that has a walk in brow bar, they also have different stores around the local area. I got beckoned asked to sit down and I explained what it is I wanted (I always say just a tidy and shape as I prefer the more 'bushy' eyebrow).

I let her set to work and was chattering away, with my arms pulling at the skin so it didn't hurt. I was shown the mirror and to me it didn't look that bad, just very swollen as it had just been done. I went home and waiting for the evening to come before I did my make up.

Do you know that feeling where you know something is not quite right? Well I had this when putting on my make up for the night, I brushed it off that the swelling might not be 100% gone and carried on enjoying my evening. It was until the next night where I was cleaning my face that I asked my husband to look at them, and even he said that looked uneven and took a photo (Warning: No Makeup!)

It seemed that my left hand (which is the right in the photo) is more bushy than the right, also the gap in the middle looks one sided. I emailed the company the next day with the attached photo and they replied quickly saying that not only will they get their senior therapist to correct it but give me a £10 voucher as an apology.

I did go back the Friday after Christmas to correct it and even though they do look better, the Senior Therapist did what she could with them. It turns out that the lady I had hadn't been there long and it made her panic a little that I have a scar in left eyebrow (I walked into a coffee table when I was two and had stiches), I fed back that maybe if she didn't feel that confident that some extra time with herself would be better.

This is what I am taking away from this experience: Always get the name of the therapist before you leave if you like how they did the treatment and make sure you get that person again.

Masterclass - Eyebrows

We have previous spoken about how to tidy the eyebrows and give them some defination and shape in previous Masterclass Update on Threading. What we are going to focus on here is how to add colour and bring out the eyebrows more using colour cosmestics.

The aim is produce eyeborws that are evenly shaped and taper naturally away at the outer edges. For the most natural effect would be an enhancement for the shape, however some fashions can lead for more of a promantly look

There are two different products to consider: Pencil and powder. Pencil should used put little angled lines to fill in where hair is sparse. Powder is worked using a pointed or firm and angled brush. Both should be used going from the inside of the eyebrows and worked outwards. This should be at the same time with breaks to swap so each can look indentical.

The next hurdle is what colour would be best - The colour should again be an enhancement of the natural colour. These below are guidelines:

• Blonde should be an ash colour
• Browns should be Mahogany colour (like a reddish brown)
• Black Brown should be a deeper mahogany or smoke (black is too dark - see above!)
• Red should be taupe or camel
• Grey/White shold be a grey or taupe.

I found now I regually had my eyebrows shaped and defined the rest of the my make up falls into place easier. Something so simple has really opened my eyes up and added more a simple, defined and chic everyday look.

Masterclass - Laser Hair Removal

(Source)

We've talked about hair removal a few times now (If you like to see the original Masterclass and Threading Update click the titles), and like all the beauty industry is something that is ever evolving. Today I want to talk about another emerging home treatment area.

There are two that get linked to around this subject: Intense Pulse Light (IPL) or Laser Hair removal. IPL uses light waves to reduce hair but can also be used in the treatment of skin aliments. Laser hair use those highly accelerated beams to damage the hair follicles thus reducing the hair growth. All of this systems have not been approved to say they "permanently removal hair" as this is a false claim as it reduces hair not removes.

Previously these systems have been exclusively for the people who can invest in £1,000 a whole body treatment. However, with demand now increasing for products that deliver long term results the home market is now booming. With any beauty product it is important to follow the manufactures instructions, not only to get the best results but also for the your own safety.

The benefits of having a at home system do outweigh the cons (In salon taking up to 2 hours of your time in front of a therapist, however that therapist can reach unreachable places). The maths look good as well, you will need to start 8 session over 6 months which works out £125 a session, that doesn't include the top up treatments that will be required.

A good quality home system should set you back about £349 (Award winning TRIA system), and I am on the believe that you get what you pay for. Maths wise it is a wiser investment, on the basis on 8 treatment it works out at £43.63 a session not including the quick top ups you can do yourself whenever you need around your sheadule. 

OK so the big question, does it hurt? On the first treatment you should expect some skin redness and some people have said it can feel like an elastic band pinging against the skin. After 2-3 months hair will begin to grow lighter and finer, at the 6 months mark the hair follicles deactivate and hair is reduced.

I think it may be time to say goodbye to the lady shave.....

This is a sponsored post but the opinion is my own after researching the market and product.

Masterclass Update - Threading

aka. The start of revamping myself.

Regular readers would know that one of Masterclass's last month was on hair removal (see it here), I did say that I would follow up on it one day. Due to money problems (having none and any that we had went on mortgage), I had to put a slight brakes on this until well I had enough of looking a little bit like a wookie for interviews.

Terrifying!

I went in search for a threading person who was reasonable and good at twhat they did, in where I live they have popped up all over the place so the market is very competitve around here, I counted in all about 6 places offering it and we are not that big of town. This does mean however that prces can be very reasonable the one I went to was £3.00 (The most expensive was £13.00 at House of Fraser and was dead, wonder why?).

In threading the practicer uses twisted cotton to pick up hairs and pull them from the roots to give a smooth defination shape. The difference with tweezering and this is that the later you are only pulling out single hairs while threading you can pull out a whole row of them.

Does it hurt? Yep, you're pulling hair out, but only the first few times and it really does depends on how taught you pull the skin while its being done and how good the person actually is. I was really luckly the woman I was quick, by the time I was starting to sting she was finished. The skin around the plucked area will swell and will looked pretty bad for a few hours (because mine was so bad it took nearly 24 hours before it calmed down), so not something to be done just before a night out.

Brow-ti-fil!

It had been so long since I had my brows done that the next day I got a little over excited with the brow powder and was sporting a big scouse brow. I did not get any photos but in case you don't know what a scouse brow is painted you eyebrows until they're solid, developed by Jodie from Desperate Scousewives (which sadly I did love the show).

Love the rest of the make up in this

The next step will now be to control the frizzy mane into a glossy wavy haricut, but thats for tomorrow ;).

Next week - Tanning (but not The Apprentice way!)



Masterclass - Hair Removal

aka - How not to look like a Wookie

To start a brief history of hair removal we need to go all the way back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Middle Eastern, these times is where woman started to remove hair. They removed everything apart from the eyebrows (yes head as well!), as it was classes as uncivilised. We then go onto the Roman Empire where it was a show of class of how little hair you had. Wealthy Roman women would use pumice stones, razors, tweezers and creams to remove any unwanted hair.

The Europeans didn't really catch up until Elizabethan times, and well even then it was to remove eyebrows and reduce our front hair line to give us a longer brow like the fashions of the time. It as rumoured at the time that mother would either rub walnut oil, or bandages with vinegar and cats poo to stop growth happening. (Hmm classy)

Fast forward until 1915 where the first female razor was invented, then a model was featured in Harpes Bizarre featured a armpit hairless model. It is now more of a social acceptable practice to remove hair to look more appeasing and as with most things it was all driven forward by fashion of the times.

Let's look at the different methods of getting rid of those pesky hairs:

Shaving – The oldest and most used. Started in the cave days with men (and then women) using sharpened flints to scape the skin and hair off. These days its a little less scary by using safety sharpened blades over the skin, with this its wise to use a shaving foam/gel to aid the razor over the skin so it doesn't catch and cause any rashes. You will find you will need to shave every few days to keep things smooth.

Depilatory creams – An ancient Egyptian creation of using sugars and sometimes bees wax was put onto the skin then cloths put over this and ripped off. This can still be found but is now more classed as waxing. The current form is in a cream that is put onto the skin left to loosen/dissolve the hair and then scraped off. This can last for about a week to 2 weeks depending on hair, and always keep to the time instructions as the ingrediants are highly reactive if left on over the time allocated.

Tweezering – Using a pair of tweezers to pull out hairs at the roots, best used for very small areas like eyebrows, and for clearing any missed hairs after treatment.

Waxing – Used warm or cold is spread over the skin and removed using strips, need to have a minimum of 5mm growth before doing so the wax has something to grip and pull out. Gives some of the longest and smoothest results (its also takes any dead skin cells with it as well so a bonus exfoliation) in my experience, and can be really reasonable if you shop around. Can experience ingrown hairs that can be affected and you can get some bleeding, and will have some pain factor to it.

Sugaring – Done by the Egyptians again, but using sugar and has more of a sticky feel to it. Apart from that piratically the same as waxing.

Threading – Became more popular recently from Middle east and has been used from the original times of hair removal. It was kept for special occasions like a wedding or a girls coming of age. It uses cotton thread over the skin and twisted to grab hairs from the skin. It's perfect for small areas that need to be accurately removed, hence the explosion of brow bars and its use. Keep eyes peeled for a follow up on this subject.

Epilators – Are machines that work like tweezers, they are mini tweezers set in the revolving head that pluck the hairs out of the skin. Most people use this in between waxing appointments rather than as singular as for some people it is more painful than waxing.

There are long term solutions out there that are more money but these are the more reacable options for people. If you do decide to go for long term soltuion please put in the research and with any treatment like these and above check the salons qualifications.

Next week – Feet