Flipping lids! chinese language barber presents eyelid shaves

CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - chinese language street barber Xiong Gaowu deftly scrapes a straight razor along the internal of his consumer's eyelid.

Xiong Gaowu, a 62-yr historical road barber cleans his client eye the usage of the straight razor in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China November 18, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

"you should be mild, very, very gentle," mentioned Xiong, who performs natural eyelid shaves at his roadside location in Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

customers swear by way of the practice of "blade wash eyes", because it is wide-spread in Mandarin, announcing they trust Xiong's ability with the blade.

"No, it's not dangerous," noted sixty eight-year-historic Zhang Tian. "My eyes feel refreshed after shaving and that i believe relaxed."

Xiong, sixty two, said he realized the technique within the Nineteen Eighties and serves up to eight shoppers every week, charging eighty yuan ($12) per shave.

"It was problematic at first, however grew to be a chunk of cake afterwards," he referred to.

Xiong Gaowu, a 62-year historical highway barber cleans his consumer's eye the use of a silver stick in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China November 18, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

The technique looks to unblock moisturizing sebaceous glands along the rim of the eyelid, mentioned Qu Chao, an opthalmologist who works at a nearby health center in Chengdu.

"sufferers will believe their eyes are dry and uncomfortable when the glands are blocked," she spoke of. "When he is shaving, it is definitely that he's shaving the openings of those glands."

She said there changed into a chance of an infection if the equipment became no longer sterilized.

"If he can competently sterilize the equipment that he uses, i can still see there is an area for this method to live on," Qu spoke of.

whereas purchasers insisted their eyes felt more desirable after a shave, onlookers cringed on the sight of Xiong wielding his razor.

"i'm afraid to do it," talked about He Yiting, 27, who winced as she watched.

Reporting via Thomas Suen; Writing through Karishma Singh; enhancing by way of Darren Schuettler