Pumps & Pleats: Getting styled at Concept Elite

Story and photo by Michèle De Meglio

Eyebrow shaping is an art form.

Thick brows look bushy, overly thin brows look like you’re stuck in the 1930s, and a unibrow is just plain wrong.

Most women go through several different shapes, styles and hair removal techniques before finding the perfect brows for their face. I am no exception.

I’ve gone from the plucking-hurts-too-much natural route to a penchant for pencil-thin lines, which made my friends say, “Uh, is there anything left?”

After a particularly brutal plucking session left a hole in the middle of my left brow, I knew it was time to put down the tweezer.

I spent four humbling and humiliating weeks letting the bushes grow back before there was enough hair for a beauty technician to professionally mold.

Happily walking into Concept Elite Salon and Spa on Avenue U in Marine Park, I learned that an eyebrow shaping and wax is $15. That’s pretty pricey but the posh salon was quite welcoming so I treated myself.

While hairdressers are stationed on the salon’s main level, all the dirty work is done upstairs. Each customer is given a private room where a technician applies hot wax to their most sensitive spots and uses strips of fabric to rip it off. Shudder.

The technician tweezed a few stray hairs that the wax didn’t remove. I’m pretty used to the stinging sensation of tweezing but the plucking seemed extra painful after being waxed.

My skin stayed red for a few hours after the primping session, but I was so happy with the classic brow shape (not too thin, not too thick) that the pain was worth it.

Concept Elite Salon and Spa [4101 Avenue U between Coleman and Hendrickson streets in Marine Park, (718) 258-5300].

Michèle De Meglio is a native Brooklynite addicted to all things chic. Check out Pumps & Pleats each week for more adventures as she scours the borough for fab duds and accessories.