Nail bars are over. Ladies (and some gentlemen), make way for the brow bar. By the end of the year, if not before, no self-respecting department store will be without one; even the odd fashion emporium (ie, Topshop) will have one. I have seen the future, and it is the brow bar.
Few things imply that this particular Pool is rather shallow quite as much as the fact that I regularly fork out double figures to have someone create two perfect lines on my forehead. But fork out I do, and that is why I'm so excited about what I hope will be a fast-growing trend. A brow bar is like a nail bar in that no appointment is necessary - you just show up and take your chances. But instead of a row of hard-backed chairs, complete with women buffing, filling and painting, there will be one, sometimes two, comfortable reclining leather ones.
Blink's brow bar in Fenwick of Bond Street, London, is one such set-up. And while it does offer alternatives, at Blink it's all about the threading. "We launched at the end of October with one chair and introduced a second chair in March," says company founder Vanita Parti. "It took off pretty quickly. I think customers love the fact that it's walk-in, especially as threading is so difficult to come by in London.
"We had about 10 customers a day for the first month. Now, on a busy day, we have about 50. And we have converted about 70% to threading. It is amazing how many people have no idea what threading is and how effective the results are. People are really game for giving it a go, though, and, despite being nervous, seem delighted with the results."
At the moment, only the London branches of Harvey Nichols and Selfridges have brow bars (the latter's is at the Estée Lauder counter), but it's only a matter of time before they appear nationwide. And while it takes a couple of visits to get used to having your eyebrows done in front of whoever happens to be walking by, the convenience more than makes up for it. Mind you, it does make me wonder what's next - bikini lines by the deli counter?
