The silhouette of Arezoo's back made an elongated C-shape as she hunched over her client's face with her head slightly tilted to one side and one tenacious strand of cotton thread intertwined between her fingers stretching taut to her mouth. At times during the threading service Arezoo's face was a mere two inches from the face of her client as she scrutinized the patch of skin surrounding the eyebrows looking out for any stray hair. Once she found the delinquent strands she followed threading convention and asked her client to use her two hands to stretch the skin above and below the eyebrow so as to make the area as tight as possible, reducing pain levels and allowing the esthetician to pull out the strands with more ease and accuracy.

The client seated with Arezoo this particular evening was an older woman with arthritis and her ability to stretch her hands to her face, let alone stretch the skin, was minimal. Coincidentally, I was seated at the front desk watching Arezoo's rhythmic movements that was part-fieldwork and part-complete admiration for the meticulous nature of this underrated skill. I noticed the client unable to use her hands in the way others almost mechanically do while seated in the threading chair. Arezoo, a middle-aged woman from Iran with two years into this niche beauty scene, stood unsure of how to proceed with the client. Within a moment, she gestured for me to come over to her station.