Holiday shoppers temporarily forgot about purchasing gifts as they watched an age-old Middle Eastern tradition take place at the Golden Triangle Mall last week.

DRC/Candace Carlisle

Browz A Round owner Lena Amoni works white cotton thread over Asia Smiley’s brow in an age-old Middle Eastern tradition known as threading.

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Curious mall patrons peered over cosmetologist Lena Amoni’s shoulders, many of them saying they have never seen anything like this.

Amoni pulled the thread tight, holding two ends with her hands and the third with her teeth, making a dangerous triangle for all hair follicles in its path.

The facial hair sprouting on Leticia Del Bosque’s face disappeared as the thread skimmed the surface of her cheek.

“I’m very hairy,” Del Bosque said as Amoni continued the process, taking hundreds of thin hairs that are barely visible to the naked eye from her skin.

It’s an ancient hair-removal process originating in the Middle East and India that requires the assistance of white cotton thread that’s twisted by fast-working hands, plucking them up at the follicle, according to cosmetology experts.

And with national media headlines touting the success of threading as opposed to waxing or plucking, business has picked up locally, said Amoni, owner of Browz A Round in the Golden Triangle Mall.

Mother Cathy Benedetti and her 14-year-old daughter, Micaela, get their eyebrows threaded by Amoni about every three weeks because the procedure causes less irritation to delicate skin.

“Her skin is real sensitive, and her dermatologist doesn’t recommend waxing,” Cathy Benedetti said of her daughter.

The Lake Dallas High School student said that eyebrow threading doesn’t cause any pain and doesn’t cause any irritation to her complexion.

Del Bosque said she gets a full-facial threading about every month and has noticed a difference in her hair growth.

“The more you do it, the less it grows,” Del Bosque said. “It grows in finer.”

For women with darker skin tones, threading makes a big difference by taking away fine hairs that can darken a complexion, Del Bosque said.

One of Amoni’s clients, Tony Rincon, had a mishap as he was plucking his eyebrows and now sports a spotty eyebrow that he said he would like Amoni to try and fix.

It takes a few minutes for Amoni to clean up the tell-tale gapping eyebrow, something she said she is used to.

“Usually with guys, I’m just cleaning up the cheek area and cleaning up eyebrows,” Amoni said.

Since opening at the mall in May, the 18-year-old store owner said, the business is doing so well that she is making four times as much money as when she worked for someone else.

And by hiring a new employee, University of North Texas student Farica Mascarennas, who was taught how to thread eyebrows in Kuwait by her aunt, business is continuing to grow, Amoni said.

“I can’t believe it,” Amoni said. “I’m already looking for more threaders.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.