Public grooming new phenomenon

by YankeeJim | June 20, 2010 at 04:08 am

191 views | 4 Recommendations | 0 comments

The behavior hearkens back to our primal instincts. Groom and be groomed and we learn how to get along.

Today, grooming has advanced into high art forms. Surely, the barber shop and the beauty salon are not new. However, when people go there, they did so with some humility. They knew they were getting shaggy or overgrown and therefore would sneak in to get a fix up.

Men march proudly from a barbershop to show off their new-found smartness. Women may try to hide on the way out as they did on the way in because 1) they want to surprise someone with their beauty or 2) see how it appears in the mirror at home, to make adjustments before public unveiling.

Anyway, this story is about people arriving in shopping malls at those little island service centers to get their eyebrows plucked in public. Often, public plucking is performed by someone sitting on a stool employing thread. The plucker lassos an eyebrow that seems ripe for removal and they pull it out.

I have no idea about the criteria employed to decide which ones stay and which ones go. I am certain it is a part of the professional body of knowledge to determine this.

The patrons lay back in a comfy chair in the center of the mall while shoppers walk by glancing at the operation.

Other things go on in malls such as this. “Nails,” Hollywood nails, and such are the signs. Inside, women, and sometimes men, sit in public view while having feet and hand nails “done.” This involves cleaning, polishing, removing, and adding a fresh coat of colorful polish. Sometimes, it involves the addition of something approaching fine art to fingers and toes, all for public viewing.

I just learned the professional term used to describe errant eyebrow removal, it is called “threading.”

“Is the new trend to remove eyebrows a profound social statement - or just another daft fad from Planet Fashion?

By Karen Kay

Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima is best known for parading her curves alongside the likes of Heidi Klum in the Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue.

Her bronzed skin, voluptuous physique and sensual pout have earned her a reputation as one of the sexiest women alive, and last year earned her around £4.5 million, with Forbes magazine ranking her as the world's fourth-highest paid model.

So why would someone blessed with such feminine, sultry beauty, in the prime of womanhood (she is expecting her first child in December) want to bleach her eyebrows, transforming her from sex kitten to androgynous mannequin with one swoop of the peroxide brush?”