Beauty Parlour at Patel Bazaar

I went to Desi Bazaar for the first time today and was so pleased!
I had an appointment for threading with Sital. She took into consideration my request and threaded my eyebrows exactly how I wanted.
For that and the rest of my face, a total of $ 10. TEN DOLLARS. Some places charge $ 7 – 10 for just eyebrows. For such a lovely job, I would’ve been happy to pay double.
Highly recommended.
And next time, I’m going grocery shopping, too. Those aromas are irresistible.

For starters — the name of the store the Beauty Parlour is inside has changed to Desi Bazaar on the signs outside — but their website still says Patel Bazaar.
I had an appointment for eyebrow threading today at 12. I had never been to this part of South Jersey before and I got lost… I was late by about… 40 minutes. Needless to say the woman who works here (I don’t know her name!) was very very nice about it. I had called ahead letting her know I would be late.
As for threading she did a great job. I have had threading done at 4 different places and this is by far the best of them. Threading is often reputed as being much less painful than other forms of pain removal and it is — if it is done right. When done incorrectly it can be very painful and the threader rather than pulling out the hair merely cuts it. I had it done once where the threader might as well have just shaved the hair off.
They do it right at this place! Many times when she was threading I could barely feel hair being pulled out! She was also very quick in threading, it only took about 5 minutes in total.
Her price for eyebrows — $ 5 is great, and sooo much better than many other places (such as Dharma Karma).
I highly recommend coming here, the service is fast, efficient, and friendly, the rates are very reasonable, and the people running this place obviously know what they are doing!

So you ask. how did I turn into a Dorothy Dandridge Goddess lookalike?. Or, more frankly, from a bear to a non-​bear? ;) This Indian salon– my friends have been trying to get in on this so here it is:
If there is one thing India prides more than the exquisite cuisine of the land, the lush forests, the stunning palaces, the spectacular fashions: it’s the beauty of Indian women. Indian women are so gorgeous! Whether they are young or young-​at-​heart, there is a grace that shines through.
I get inspired and hope to capture a fraction of that Indian beauty, if I can. Yet after quite a few decades on me ;). I need a bit of help from my salon friends.
So I searched far and wide for that perfect Indian salon. Yet I hated the arrogant atmosphere of some of those Indian salons in north NJ/​NY. So I avoided them. and ended up paying a fortune at «nicer expensive» places.
The gorgeous Indian NJ girls kindly let me in on their secret of one right here in South Jersey… and this place is an oasis! They do hair, skin, waxing, nails, et all. I hear they even do incredible thermal reconditioning /​japanese hair straightening– at a very low rates. Now that’s rare.
Moreover, they do it with no hoo-​haaa or airs of the other places. nor do they force your wallet to go on a diet. The prices are so right– an incredible fraction of those expensive places.
Who would have thought a simple little hidden salon in the back of an Indian grocery store would turn up such treasures? It is run by two lovely sisters, Sital and Sonal. and they are so sweet and talented. It is also nice because if you bring your friend (s) along, they can shop at the Indian botique across of it, do Indian groceries, and can eat in the complex restaurants (i.e Curry Café)– and not get bored waiting for you. So it’s an all-​in-​one place. nice.
I’ve tried their eyebrow threading numerous times and it’s a thumbs up: Eyebrow threading is de-​facto Indian beauty treatment — an ancient art. Eyebrow threading is so much preferable to waxing (much more elegant precision, much faster, no allergies, less pain. and much more refined– as the thread is expertly used to create the removal/​precision.). All this for a mere $ 4.00!
And me being a total bear, the sweet girl spent nearly a half hour perfecting it– whereareas most places start giving you attitude if you want more than 5 minutes (actually threading is fast and takes only about 5 minutes– so to be fair, spending more than 5 minutes may be a bit too much… but she will do it if you want that).
I never get more compliments than after she threads it for me– I literally get transformed– and with my years– that’s quite a feat. People say… came back from a vacation??? you look so fresh. This is not the case when I have it done by others. I went to an expensive spa recently and they all wanted to know where I got my brows done– even the spa personnel who does eyebrow waxing wanted to know. She’s that good. that sweet. to take her time to do it right. She listens to what you want. Bring photos (or not) and she will work with you.
Just the other day, I needed an elaborate extensive hair service for an event and they were booked for a month. Seeing my dire need, the girls actually rescheduled their hectic schedules, placed me in for the whole day, and will be doing it for me.
**Update: The hair turned out incredible. They took all day to do it– they even skipped lunch to finish up. They are SUPER. **
So now you know my secret to being the Dorothy Dandrige — Goddess. :) well. almost. ;)