Beauty by Dolly is a salon specializing in threading, an ancient hair-removal technique pioneered in the hirsute Middle East. Located at the corner of Black Mountain and Activity Road in Mira Mesa—near a South Indian Strip mall featuring authentic restaurants, grocery stores and tailors who specialize in altering traditional saris—Dolly Bakshai and her sister Kashmira Torki have been tending to the various hedges of smart San Diego women quietly since 2005.

Threading a customer

at Beauty by Dolly.

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While Western women have relied on unwieldy and uncomfortable depilatory techniques—waxing, plucking, shaving, what have you—women from South Asia and the Middle East have been threading for centuries. The exact origins are ambiguous—some say Persia, others India,China. Threading is done by using a thin twisted cotton thread. One end is held in the practioner’s mouth, the other in their hand. The thread is then rolled over hairlines— brows, mustaches, cheeks, jaws—and the hairs are plucked from the follicle. Unlike tweezing, threading removes an entire row at one time, resulting in a straighter line. In the right hand (and mouth) it can be an art form. Threading is a wonderful alternative for those with sensitive skin or who use Retinols.

“People laughed at me when I first opened,” says Bakshai, whose firstname originally was Dowlat (which means “wealth” in Persian). No one who worked with her at the San Diego Water department for 13 years would have guessed that eventually, her “hobby” of threading friends and family would turn into a prospering business.

Growing up in Pune, India, Dolly was taught threading by her neighbor. “I saw her struggling to thread herself,” says Bakshai, “so, I asked her to teach me. I began threading the brows of the girls at my school. I felt it was my calling.”

Dolly Bakshai

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Dolly and her family are Parsees—followers of the religion Zoroastrianism. The Parsees fled Persia after its conquest by Arabs, and settled in India in the 8^th century AD. Many years ago, Dolly was told by her guru that someday she would come to America. She didn’t believe him. Turns out he was right. In 1990 she moved to San Diego and became in a citizen.

In addition to threading, Dolly uses an all-natural, homemade sugar wax to remove larger areas of hair on the body—arms, legs, bikini area and underarms. The wax is a combination of sugar, lemon juice, water and glycerin. Dolly doesn’t heat the wax and there are no chemicals added, and unlike traditional waxing it doesn’t hurt or pull the skin.

The smell of incense is strong when you enter Beauty by Dolly. Customers are greeted with the warm and genuine smiles of the dark-eyed beauties that work here. The only thing more relaxing than the experience is the price: $12. A traditional “brow lounge” will run up to $40. This is a deal you can’t beat.