Silicon Valley: The popular beauty treatment of threading has drawn the attention of California lawmakers, who are considering permanently exempting this practice from state cosmetology regulations that protect consumers.
The measure comes as small threading shops have proliferated in Silicon Valley, and after a Los Angeles area salon was cited by regulators for providing the popular service.
The practice is so new here that the state doesn't even offer licenses for threaders to ply their trade.
Threading, mostly practiced by immigrant women, has become a preferred method of natural hair removal in Silicon Valley and other regions with large Indo-American populations over the past 10 years.
The state Board of Barbering and Cosmetology - which oversees cosmetologists, barbers, manicurists, estheticians and electrologists hasn't yet taken a stance on regulation, said executive officer Kristy Underwood, in part "because we don't have a curriculum to teach it."
Democrat Assembly member Tony Mendoz recently introduced a bill seeking to permanently exclude threading from the regulatory books, calling the practice "a tradition that should be respected." "This is a great example of the strength of diversity," says Mendoza.
"This ancient skill is chemical-free, pollutant free, long lasting, and very effective. As Hollywood and the rest of Southern California has come to learn about this method, small threading businesses in the Indo-American community are
thriving," Mendoza said.
"What's more, threading has become a way for more women, especially in the South Asian community, to gain economic viability," added Mendoza.
A majority of threading salons are owned and operated by immigrant women and to date only five minor complaints have been received about threading salons in as many years.
The most serious of these complaints was from a consumer who claimed some kind of reaction to the thread.
Many of the threading practitioners believe they don't need licenses because threading doesn't require use of any product, and it's not harmful.
Regulation is preferred by the principal cosmetology industry group, which wants the state to update what some salon owners describe as antiquated laws to reflect styles and techniques popular in a multicultural state.
"The problem the Professional Beauty Federation of California has with deregulating threading is consumer protection," lobbyist Fred Jones told the San Jose Mercury News.
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