I'm going to say some negative things that I'm betting Ira's fans will take offense at, so let me start by saying that I really like the idea of getting threaded in somebody's home. It feels like an intimate thing, so not something people ought to be doing in the middle of the mall. Also, I'm a huge supporter of people running small businesses in general out of their homes, using only word of mouth. Small and local? YAY. Also, Ira is lovely, the price is awesome, and the home is gorgeous and immaculately clean.
All that being said, I can't help but wonder why there isn't a house number on Yelp (it's 22301, and you'll need it to find her, obviously), and why there aren't any signs out front of the house. I'm pretty sure you have to be 100% legal to be on Yelp, and the absence of addresses and signs makes me think this place isn't. Maybe she's trying to avoid paying taxes, or circumventing some homeowner's association clause that says you can't run a business out of your house in this neighborhood--I have no idea, but the whole thing seems suspicious.
But maybe you couldn't care less whether Ira is doing business legally. If that's the case, here's what happened in terms of service: I showed up out of the blue, realized there's no house number, called her, got the house number from her, and showed up a few minutes later. She came to the basement door (back of the house), let me in, said she doesn't do walk-ins and that I needed to text a day ahead to schedule an appointment, but that since I didn't know that she'll go ahead and see me. Then she said she has a client and disappeared into a back room. I sat down and waited, then realized I have no idea how long I'll be waiting, and after 10 minutes almost left. But then the client walked out of the back room, and a couple minutes later, so did Ira. So I was seated and got threaded (eyebrows and upper lip).
It hurt, but it usually does, and I'm used to it, although I must say if you're gonna do the inside of people's noses, you should warn them about that, because that's very unusual and totally unexpected--and it hurts like hell. I'm glad Ira does do it, but I just think she should alert people to when it's coming.
My upper lip (including the bottom of the inside of my nose) looks great. My eyebrows, on the other hand... not great. She cleaned away stray hairs, but they're not shaped, and they're not even, and one is shorter than the other. In my experience, some threaders are used to working exclusively with "ethnic" eyebrows that are VERY full, so when they encounter "German" eyebrows that are VERY thin and don't give you much flexibility in shaping, they just can't do it. When I said to Ira that they aren't very arched (not even mentioning that they aren't the same shape or length anymore, either), she said we can work that out if I come back a few times, to give them more shape each time. But I hadn't been threaded in about two months, so there won't ever be more to work with than there was at this session, and I have had threaders do an amazing shaping job on the first go. Thus, my feeling is: Ira just isn't good with thinner eyebrows.
When it came time to pay: No credit cards under $50, although again, since I didn't know, she was willing to let me use my card. I had enough cash, but again: No house number online, no sign out front, no credit card under $50--how legal is this place?
Once again, I definitely think Ira was a lovely person. The house is beautiful and very clean. The price is fantastic. If the place were definitely legal and she could really do my brows well, I'd go back for sure. Although, honestly, if I'd have looked more closely on the map, I'd have passed on this one even the first time. It's just too hard to find, too out of the way. If you live in Ashburn and pass by here regularly, it's no big deal. But to come here specifically if you don't live nearby...? I definitely wouldn't.
In sum:
1. Yelp should look into the legality of this place.
2. If you live in Ashburn and have very full brows that are easy to shape, and you don't care about legality and whatnot, and you're cool with texting ahead to schedule and paying in cash--give it a try. read more