Low Brow versus High Brow – And That’s Just The Prices

Way up West and here in the near East, Jessica Gray makes a price comparison of the ins and outs of hair-threading removal.

Hair removal consist of a thin thread of cotton (or polyester) doubled, twisted and rolled over areas of unwanted hair, removing rows of hair at a time.

Threading facial hair for removal results in a clean, fresh look, which is especially important for women with darker hair pigment.

The techniques involved are painful, so it has to be done quickly! But sometimes the other pain involved is the price.

Not at Nipas in Bethnal Green Road where it costs a mere £3 to get your eyebrows threaded; and only £12 for threading the entire face.

The salon is small, clean and light; and you don’t need an appointment. You can drop in and out in a few minutes, without leaving half your purse behind.

The female staff at Nipas do not speak much to the customers and they only accept cash – like a lot of small businesses down Bethnal Green Road. Nevertheless they are highly skilled in the art of threading, and their no nonsense approach normally suits me fine.

Then one fine day while walking through Selfridge’s, I became aware of the smells of floral perfumes and the loud buzz of women who had come in for their beauty fix. I spotted a few ladies getting their eyebrows threaded at the ‘Blink Brow Bar’, so I took a peek at the quality of the salon and the prices.

As we all know, Selfridge’s is a high-end store so I did not expect it to be cheap. Even so this brow bar left me blinking at the cost.

blink cropped

For a simple eye brow threading they were demanding £18! Nearly twenty quid for eyebrows alone, whereas in my local salon that would buy you an entire face threading and your eyebrows done AGAIN on top of that.

I was outraged when further down the price list I saw that the fee for an entire face threading was £50. Surely, no one would sit there and pay this ludicrous price. But there were women sat on these seats, paying a price that seems extortionate to me.

And they’re not the only ones. The Brow Bar has received positive feedback on Yelp.com, with one user describing the experience as “what eyebrow threading is all about” and another stating that the service was “prompt, quick and included a free face massage”.

Am I persuaded? No way. I believe that we as Londoners should support local businesses and continue to reward them with our custom.

You might not get the Selfridge’s service down Bethnal Green Road but you will get a set of brows to die for; and you’ll be saving pounds while you’re at it!

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