Sen. Chris Cournoyer. (IA Legislature photo)
The Iowa Senate has unanimously voted to deregulate businesses that offer what’s advertised as a less painful way to shape eyebrows. It’s called threading. A piece of cotton thread is wound through the eyebrow and then pulled to remove individual hairs.
In Iowa, a person has to get a state license to do that.
“Under current law, threading is a practice of cosmetology that requires 2100 hours before licensure or esthetics that requires 600 hours before licensure, ” Senator Chris Cournoyer, a Republican from LeClaire said. “Even under these requirements, threading is not a practice with specific coursework or training. This bill deregulates threading and allows the free market to regulate the performance of this service.”
A West Des Moines business called the Perfect Brow Bar sued the state of Iowa in January over the licensing requirements. Eyebrow threading dates back thousands of years was part of the pre-marriage rituals for women in some cultures. Threading businesses have been popping up in shopping malls and it’s being offered in salons and spas as an alternative to waxing and tweezing eyebrows.