Threading vs waxing eyebrows: which is better and why

Threading vs waxing eyebrows: for the brows themselves, threading wins on precision, on the fine hairs it catches, and on what it does to the skin, which is nothing. Waxing is quicker over a large area and has its place on the body, but on the eyelid it takes skin cells as well as hair and shapes in patches rather than lines. Both last about the same, two to four weeks. That is why we thread brows at home rather than wax them, and this page explains the rest.

What is the difference between threading and waxing?

Threading uses a length of cotton thread, twisted and held taut between the therapist's hands, and sometimes her teeth or neck. As the twist rolls across the skin it catches hairs and lifts them out from the root, a row at a time. No heat, no product, nothing on the skin.

Waxing spreads warm wax over the area and removes it, and the hair with it, either with a strip or by lifting the set wax. It clears a patch at once. Because wax bonds to the skin as well as the hair, it lifts the outer layer of dead skin cells too, which is fine on a leg and less fine on an eyelid.

Plucking with tweezers takes one hair at a time from the root. It is the right tool for a stray hair between visits and the wrong one for shaping, because it is slow and it is easy to over-pluck.

Which is more precise?

Threading. A thread can take a single hair, or a line of hairs one hair wide, so the therapist draws the shape rather than clearing around it. She can follow the natural arch, thin the brow gradually, and catch the fine, pale hairs at the edges that wax slides over. With wax, the edge of the shape is the edge of the wax she applied, and there is no way to take a little more without applying again.

For the same reason, threading is better at brow shaping from scratch: a brow that has been over-plucked or has grown out unevenly can be brought back to a shape by degrees.

Which is better for the skin?

Threading. The thread touches hair and nothing else, so the skin is not pulled, heated or coated. The skin around the eye is thin, and many women simply prefer not to have wax pulled from it. Threading is also the usual choice for women who use retinoids or exfoliating acids on their face, since wax on treated skin can lift more than hair; our page on waxing in pregnancy and other safety questions covers that, and if you use them, tell your therapist.

Threading does leave the skin pink for a short while, and a few women get small bumps that settle within a day. Nothing hot goes near your eye and nothing has to be cleaned off afterwards.

What lasts longer, threading or waxing?

About the same. Both take the hair from the root, so the brows stay tidy for two to four weeks depending on your growth. The difference is in between: threading can be repeated on very short regrowth, so a tidy-up two weeks after a shaping keeps the line sharp. Wax needs enough hair to grip and would be pulling skin for nothing on regrowth that short.

Over time, regular threading tends to leave regrowth finer and sparser, as with any root removal.

Is threading painful?

It stings. The honest description is a quick series of pinches along a line, over in a minute or two per brow. Brows are the least sensitive area threaded; the upper lip and the sides of the nose are the most. Most women find it easier than they expected, and easier again after the first few visits.

Things that help: holding the skin taut as your therapist asks, breathing out as she works, a cool room, and avoiding the days just before a period. A tidy-up on short regrowth hurts less than a first shaping.

Threading, waxing or tweezers by area of the face

How to keep the shape between visits

• Do not pluck the shape yourself. Take strays below the arch only, and only ones clearly outside the line your therapist drew.
• Brush the brows up and across each morning with a clean spoolie.
• Book a tidy-up every two to four weeks, before the shape has grown out, rather than a full reshaping every two months.
• If you are growing brows back, leave everything for six to eight weeks and let the therapist thread the shape out of the regrowth.
• In the week before a wedding or a photograph, have brows done four to five days ahead so any pinkness is gone. Our bridal beauty timeline places it.

For how threading, waxing, sugaring and shaving compare across the body, not only the face, see our comparison of methods by area.

What happens at home

Your therapist washes her hands, opens a new length of thread for you, and sits you by a window or under a good lamp. She looks at your brows in the light and talks through the shape before she starts; say if you want them thicker, straighter, more arched or simply tidied. Threading a pair of brows takes about 15 minutes with us. The thread is thrown away afterwards, like everything single-use in her kit; our hygiene page has the list.

What you can book

Hamd Beauty offers brow threading at home in Dubai, shaped to your face by a woman therapist with a new thread for every client. Book brow threading, on its own or at the end of another appointment. We thread brows; we do not wax them.