Don't pull a face: beautiful is best

Some women will go to the ends of the earth to be beautiful, others go to Taipei's Shihlin District to visit one of the ladies practicing wanlien (挽臉) alongside Zhongshan North Rd.

Wanlien -- literally "pull face" -- is an ages-old beauty treatment that continues to pull crowds of women even in this age of mud masks and day spas. Ladies of all ages line the sidewalk waiting their turn at one of a half-dozen al fresco beauty parlors. One at a time they sit and offer their faces in supplication to elderly women with glowing faces who have mastered the art of saying nice things while ripping out eyebrows.

"Very beautiful!" says Mrs. Chen as she discreetly tweezers and twists away at a shadow of hair under her client's nose. She says something else, but it's indiscernible for the length of thread clenched in her teeth.

The thread is twisted around the fingers of both her hands, in a kind of cat's cradle, with the loose end anchored in her teeth. It's used to pinch and pull at tiny hair follicles, open the pores, exfoliate the skin, and bring tears to the eyes. This is the "no pain, no gain" school of cosmetology. Embarrassing, too. Clients have their hair pulled back in a shock and face chalked white with talcum -- ostensibly to disguise them from passersby, but actually so that the beautician can better see the specs that need her attention. The effect is like something out of Bride of Frankenstein, but the result is just the opposite.

"I've come here for over 10 years," said one woman named Mrs. Wu, her face cherub red. "It keeps me young looking and that keeps my husband happy." She claimed to be 60-something but looked not a day over 40.

None of the ladies questioned yesterday afternoon knew how or when the treatment originated, but all had stories of their mothers and grandmothers undergoing it before weddings and holidays. In his book Minnan People (閩南人), Lin Tsai-fu says that wanlien came to Taiwan with immigrants from Fujien Province four centuries ago. While the technique seemingly remains the same, the service has broadened. Now beauticians like Mrs. Chen also offer hair-removal treatments for the arms and legs.

Wanlien has gained an acceptance among men, too, Mrs. Chen said. She patted the stool to sit down and find out first hand, then said it would cost NT$250 -- NT$50 more than her sign advertised.

"Men are harder to make beautiful," she said.