If the eyes are windows to the soul, then eyebrows are the windows to the eyes. A well-groomed brow, whether on a man or a woman, will draw attention to the eyes, making them more noticeable. No matter how striking a person’s eyes are, they will never be appreciated if they are hidden beneath an ungroomed brow.
For centuries, women have known this. Men, however, seem to pay little attention to the fine art of eyebrow plucking. This is unfortunate, since plucking a few hairs can drastically alter a person’s appearance. For all of the men out there who have contemplated plucking, here’s how to do it correctly.
Before picking up the tweezers, have a general idea of which hairs you are going to remove. Most men would be well advised not to alter the natural arch shape of the brow, but to pluck only the stray hairs outside of the natural brow shape. For the average man, this means any hairs over the bridge of the nose, hairs beyond the outer corners of the eyes, and possibly a few hairs beneath the brow. Most men don’t need to fuss about the tops of the eyebrows.
While some men avoid plucking for fear of messing up the shape of the brow, other men avoid plucking because of the fear of pain. When done correctly, plucking is not painful. Of course, it doesn’t feel terrific, but it won’t bring a tear to your eye if you follow a few basic tips.
Before plucking a hair, use your free hand to hold the skin taut. Use your thumb and index finger to push the skin apart, leaving the skin tight. This step alone will prevent most of the pain of plucking.
Also, before you pluck, make sure that you are grabbing the stray hair as close to its root as possible. Not only will this reduce pain, it will prevent breaking the hair when you tweeze it.
With one hand holding the skin taut and the other hand grasping the hair with tweezers, pluck the hair in the direction of the hair’s growth. Generally, this means plucking in the direction from your inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. In other words, for your left eyebrow you will probably be plucking from right to left, and on the right eyebrow from left to right.
Plucking is almost the most painful the first time it is done, since those hairs have never been previously exposed to plucking. However, plucking will be easier and less painful each time you go through the process.
