Settlement OKs eyebrow threading without license
Looping a single cotton thread through a woman's eyebrows and pulling out hair as the thread tightens, Juana Gutierrez moves swiftly, with the air of a seasoned beauty professional. She has been a threader for eight years -- since she was 16 -- but she doesn't have any formal training.
Arizona requires only Eyebrow Threading certification to practice Threading.
Arizona requires only Eyebrow Threading certification to practice Threading.
Eyebrow threading
For Arizon required certification course for Eyebrow & Facial Threading click:
http://www.organicspatreatments.com/threading.html
For Arizon required certification course for Eyebrow & Facial Threading click:
http://www.organicspatreatments.com/threading.html
Threaders use a cotton thread to open and close loops around the facial hair, removing it at its follicles. They hold the string between their teeth or fingers to keep the skin taught.
Has been practiced since ancient times in places such as India, Iran, China and the Middle East.
Costs generally between $5 and $10.
Consent judgment reached Oct. 11 between the Arizona Board of Cosmetology and five Valley threaders.
"A lot of the employees we have are just trying to make a living," said Gutierrez, a manager at three Shapes Brow Bar kiosks at Valley shopping malls.
Eyebrow threading to remove facial hair, a practice which has ancient roots in Eastern countries such as India and Iran, is gaining popularity around the country.
And threaders can now operate freely in the state without a cosmetology license after an October court settlement determined that the Arizona Board of Cosmetology would no longer regulate the trade.
The consent judgment resulted from a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court by five threaders, including Gutierrez.
Citing health and safety concerns, the board announced around two years ago that it would regulate eyebrow threading, requiring those who practice the trade to obtain either a cosmetology or aesthetician's license, according to the plaintiffs' lawyer, Tim Keller of the Institute for Justice.
The threaders argued that the state was impinging upon their economic liberty and trying to stop threaders from diverting money from licensed cosmetologists who practice hair-removal techniques such as waxing.
"We want courts to recognize that economic liberty is a vital aspect of the American way of life -- the ability to choose where you want to work and what you want to do free from regulations that keep out competition," Keller said.
Keller estimated there is at least one threading kiosk in almost every major Arizona mall. There are also other smaller spas and plazas that offer the service.
The Board of Cosmetology now will allow eyebrow threaders to practice without obtaining licenses as long as they meet basic health and safety requirements such as using new thread on each customer and washing hands.
Gutierrez said threading kiosks like Shapes used Barbicide and hand sanitizer to kill germs.
The worst risks, she said, are a brow turning out too thin or a threader nicking his or her finger if they don't know what they are doing.
"They didn't even know what we were really doing until we started fighting the case, and that's when it was explained," she said.
Licensing requirements can range from around $600 to $1,600 in coursework, and the training doesn't teach eyebrow threading specifically.
Donna Aune, executive director of the Arizona Board of Cosmetology, said the board agreed to the change because eyebrow threading doesn't involve chemicals or tools that need to be disinfected.
"I think that anybody that's doing a service on somebody else, there's always risks in health and safety," Aune said. "They need to just be careful in the service they do."
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