Robin James is a YouTube star, vlogger, founder of men’s style, lifestyle and grooming site Man For Himself and, now, InSyle's Contributing Men's Editor. Welcome to the team, Mr James.
At InStyle, we've got women's beauty covered – there is nothing we don't know, but when it comes to male grooming, we're a little clueless. So, for Robin's first assignment, we asked him to get his eyebrows threaded. This was no small ask, along with his fabulous quiff (seriously, it's amazing), his eyebrows are his thing.
Read more: How to define your eyebrows
This is what happened:
'My eyebrows are the most masculine thing on my face, so my decision to have them threaded was a definite risk!
I’ve never really touched my eyebrows. Sure, I’ve plucked (I once shaved – oops!) the centre but never ventured into the arches or the tail of my brows.
My view has always been that men should leave them as they are. If our eyes are the window to our soul, then our eyebrows should be the curtains. They help to frame our face and provide so much expression. And they also make up for my patchy facial hair!
I decided to give threading a go because 1. I was curious to see what would happen; and 2. I’ve had some people (I see you!) slag my bushy slugs off on YouTube.
Playing it safe, I opted to avoid any dodgy backstreet salons and book myself in to The Refinery – a male grooming salon in Mayfair, London. From the get-go, I was given some pretty major treatment and instantly felt at ease.
For the next 15 minutes (it was quick!), I was looked after by Parsa Rad, Artistic Director at The Refinery. I made it clear that I wanted my eyebrows to still look masculine, but for them to be tidied. He got it!
I had envisaged some sort of hair removal torture, but with a tiny piece of thread (the same as sewing thread) plucking out the hair, it did nothing more than tickle.
Read more: which eyebrow shape are you?
What Parsa did:
– Took the centre hairs out between the brows. Say “goodbye” to the monobrow.
– Shaped the tail (the end) of the brow. Cleaning up the tiny little hairs.
– Took some hairs of the top of the brow. Any sticking up were removed.
– Used a comb and scissors to trim the brows back.
– Applied a light layer of Aloe Vera gel to remove any redness on the skin.
What Parsa didn’t do:
– Take out any hair from under the arch of the brow.
– Shape the edges of the brow. They retained their natural shape.
Once finished, I took a look at my new brows and uttered the dangerous words of, “Ooh, I like them, should we take more off?” Luckily Parsa used his professional judgement and gave me a pretty clear option, “Okay Robin, but do you want ‘masculine’ or ‘slightly more effeminate’ with your brows?"
Opting for ‘masculine’, I dodged the drag queen bullet and left looking like a more refined and groomed version of my previous self.
I could not recommend eyebrow threading more. One week on and my brows are still looking pretty major.
I’ve been told that depending on my hair growth, it could last up to five weeks. I’ll be sure to check back in – I’m an eyebrow threading convert!'
So, ladies, pass this onto the men in your life. It turns out eyebrow threading is for the guys.
