Shokis

Cheap but sub par service. I have had threading done for at least 10 years now and this is the worse place I have been. Firstly, going up to it is disgusting as you have to go through a narrow and smelly alley behind a fried chicken shop with rats running around. Occasionally, you might see huge buckets of battered raw chicken waiting to be fried on your way up. Yikes! Secondly, the ladies that does the threading here are all unfriendly and unwelcoming. You get that feeling that they are unhappy with their job so they thread your brows half-​heartedly and in a rush so they can get back to browsing their phone or chatting with someone in the shop. That is enough to put me off here. I came here at least three times to see to give it a chance but this place is just hopeless!

Fast, dirty and cheap.
One of the best eyebrow threading I’ve had in London. Great eyebrow shape — whether you’re going for a reshape or a tidy up — and I always marvel at how cleanly from the root the hairs were taken out! Can not fault it at all.
£3 for eyebrows and £2 for upper lip.
Now, this place isn’t for the faint hearted. Come out of Mile End tube station and turn left. A few doors down you’ll see a dirty greasy chicken shop. Next to the entrance to the chicken shop is a narrow alley. You may or may not see the dilapidated sign for «Shokis» salon, but bear with me as it’ll be worth it.
In the alley is the back door to the chicken shop. You’ll see rubbish and a few rats if you’re lucky. Do not be distracted now as you’ll also see a flight of narrow stairs. If you’re a ‘healthy’ weight, forget it. Otherwise ascend to a little room where you may see a few aunties and cousins of the threading guru.
This is it; your eyebrows are in for a treat. Close your eyes and ignore the unsanitary experience that brought you here. When you open your eyes again the rat will be a distant memory as you’ll be blown away by your amazing eyebrows!

Shokis is a tiny desi salon in Mile End, and is about as fancy as Mile End, which is to say not at all.
Although the prices are very cheap, the location is very close to the tube station, and the eyebrow shaping is actually the quickest and best I’ve had in London so far, I would not recommend this place. Why you ask?
Hygiene. Just to get inside the place (which is up a flight of stairs), you have to walk by a lot of chittering rats. Yes, rats. Right outside.
The service itself was fine, although as you would expect from a place like this, they are not very big on hygiene inside either and expect you to leave without even wiping your face. I suppose you get what you pay for.
I know there are a lot of fast food places in the area which must attract rats, but I must have been lucky the first two or three times I went there when even though I knew it was a fairly dirty area, I didn’t see them or hear them (not that it’s a place you want to linger in). The last time I went there though they were so loud and near, I practically ran and I just don’t think it’s worth it. I won’t be going back again.