I hope all of you had a moment these last few days to proudly implement and exercise your new resolutions, directions and goals for 2009. I have decided to be more loving, romantic and understanding of the opposite sex. To not judge the nuances, quirks and little mannerisms that make them men, king of the beasts and driven by testosterone instead of technique or tact.

It seems that I want them, (being men) to understand my need for order, sense and logical thinking, so I thought I would return the courtesy and try to be more enduring and forgiving to their man-like humor, odd sense of affection and one word sentences.

Just yesterday, practicing my loving eyes and warming smile I gazed at my husband as he peeled the last of the Christmas oranges and wiped his orange-stained hands on my brand-new, white tea towels given to me by my girlfriend from Restoration Hardware. Calmly, I thought about the new stain remover I had just purchased for the gravy stained table cloth and thought nothing of the way the tea towel (mainly for show) was being used like the kitchen scrub pad.

Noticing my admiring eyes and realizing I was not going to scold him or freak out about the tea towel, he meandered over, matching my romantic glare. Looking deep into my eyes he leaned towards me, only to reach out and hastily pluck a chin hair from my face.

I am not sure which was more upsetting, the fact I had such a large and noticeable follicle growing from my jowls, or that without any warning, he happily yanked it from its root. The pain from the tug was less than the one I felt on my ego, as he snickered and made comparisons to a Billy goat.

Needless to say, I immediately made an appointment to be threaded, and I have to say it is one of the best things you can do for unsightly hair and beautifying your eyebrows.

Threading is an ancient method of hair removal which originated in India, and is now gaining popularity in Western countries. Practitioners use a pure, thin, twisted cotton thread which is rolled over untidy hairlines, mustaches and so on, plucking the hair at the follicle level. Unlike tweezing where a single hair is pulled out each time, threading can remove an entire row of hair, resulting in a straighter line.
As the top layers of skin are not peeled or traumatized, threading is an alternative for those with sensitive skin and gives pristine results.
If you have never heard of the technique, I encourage you to try it out. It is much kinder on your skin than waxing and hurts a lot less than plucking. Check out the yellow pages for a salon that provides this service, or venture down to one of the ethnic parts of your town where this is common. I am in-and-out in less than 10 minutes, for under $7.00 dollars; can’t beat that and my face looks great. It is worth it so I never have to have hubby pulling on my chin again and I can sanely keep practicing my New Year resolutions.

Standing on my soapbox,

JB