Anastasia's Eyebrows: Nordstrom's Beauty Booty

I was wandering around Nordstrom's the other day waiting for my nails to dry when I noticed a small, unassuming room in the back of the cosmetics department labeled "studio". "This is it!" I thought. I heard a myth years ago that there is eyebrow waxing at Nordstrom's but whenever I asked various store employees they stared blankly at me as if to say 'um this is a department store'. I would apologize profusely and say "I know it sounds weird that you would have brow waxing but..." - and then stop short of explaining that I had a hunch and I was on a treasure hunt. Not unlike real seafaring buccaneers who had gone before me, someone had promised me there was eyebrow gold here and I wasn’t going to let protective, illusive natives deter my expedition. (Don’t they understand? I've been living here for four years and not one superb brow shape yet!) In fact until the moment I stumbled upon this small unassuming door I thought maybe Nordstrom’s brow waxing was a myth created out of pure desperation by women like me who have been unable to find a good dependable eyebrow waxer. But on this day the stars aligned and I found a knowledgeable employee who had the missing piece of the treasure map, The Anastasia’s Brow Waxing Appointment Book. She booked my first appointment. It is tomorrow at 5:30. I'll let you know if I've found gold.

Like any good treasure hunter, I’ve done my research. I found nothing but promising information. Everyone from Oprah to Elle Macpherson swears by this woman, who has syndicated her method to Nordstrom's department stores across the country. (Her actual store is in L.A.) She sells an inordinate amount of brow products, most of which I have never even imagined existed; brow scissors, brow stencils, after-tweezing cream, and brow pomade, to name a few. Also here is why I am really in love with this woman: she studied Architecture and grew up as the daughter of a tailor.

"Anastasia grew up in Constanta, Romania, on the banks of the Black Sea where her mother owned a tailor shop. Her mother's sense of style and esthetics influenced a young Anastasia who pursued interests in drawing and design. She later enhanced this inherited talent while attending the Romania College of Architecture, and her skills ultimately led her into a career in beauty."

She is an artist whose medium happens to be women. This to me is the ultimate attraction of the beauty industry. I have always been hypnotized by beautiful things: men, flowers, sculpture, painting, my mother’s photographs, butterflies, oceans, mountains. There is something fascinating to me about offering my body to the artist’s pallet. Also, a bad brow wax can turn me from a Helen Hunt look-a-like into an Angelica Huston look-a-like in about 2 seconds. I'm desperate for a good professional. If Nordstrom's has syndicated this eyebrow sorceress's recipe for beauty (and it includes the use of error proof stencils) then maybe I'll get eyebrows just as nice as Oprah's even though I'm not the world's first black female billionaire.

For good measure, here is a before picture: