Eyebrow Grooming

Eyebrows, pretty much all of us have them, and we all groom them at some point or another, but what method do we choose and why.

I know I started off plucking my eyebrows back in my teens, it was cheap, the cost of a pair of tweezers and you could do it at home. Back then I don't think there was much of a focus on eyebrows as a fashion statement as much as they are these days with "eyebrow trends". The pressure is on for a great pair of brows.

But whatever trend you follow and whatever shape you choose depends on you and your preferences; so here is a quick low down of some pros and cons of eyebrow shaping.

Plucking

Pros;

It is very cheap, and you can do it yourself after buying a pair of tweezers. It is also convenient as there is no need to make an appointment, you can do it in your own home.

Cons;

It is best if you draw in your desired shape with an eyebrow pencil and pluck all the extra hairs around your line to create your desired effect, however if you don't manage to draw the same shape on both eyebrows you could end up a bit wonky.

It's a little too easy to catch your skin with the tweezers rather than the hair, that hurts I can tell you, and can leave a bruise or cut depending on how hard you nip yourself.

It is time consuming, not something you can do fast if you want a decent result and it is easy to get carried away and over pluck. As some people could tell you, the hair won't always grow back if you over pluck it too much so you could end up eyebrowless.

I have plucked and I still do from time to time, and as a glasses wearer with worse vision in one eye than the other I find I can get one eyebrow pretty much spot on, the other one not so much as I can't see it that clearly.

Waxing

Pros;

Also fairly cheap and quick, once you've made your appointment and sat with the therapist who'll do the wax, they usually have a pot on the boil as I like to call it so it's quickly on and equally quickly removed.

They say that hair will grow back finer than before but personally I think that's a myth, however the results of waxing can last 6 to 8 weeks, unless you grow hair really quickly like I do.

Cons;

Waxing hurts, the wax is hot when they apply it and then they rip it all with hair attached, there's no way around the fact it hurts. It can cause redness, swelling and bleeding (where the hair was ripped out) for a day or more after.

If the therapist is completely unscrupulous you may also suffer burns from over heated wax, or the more sensitive may suffer an allergic reaction.

Also they generally advise hair be 1cm long before waxing so the wax has something to grip, I know I'd never leave my eyebrows grow out that badly, and I doubt many others would either.

I have had waxing done, my eyebrows had not grown out to 1cm and I found that the wax hadn't done a very clean job of removing hair, I had to pluck them myself afterwards. Not great value for money.

Threading

Pros;

Still pretty cheap, most places charge £5.00 for eyebrows and you can find therapists who thread without appointment in many shopping malls.

It gets rid of the shortest and finest hairs and doesn't cause swelling or too much redness like waxing can, it also creates the sharpest result in little time. Also no need to wait for it to regrow a certain length before your next appointment.

Cons;

Can be painful, especially to first timers, the first time I had it done my eyes watered all over the place, and they still do from time to time not so much because it hurts like crazy, in my opinion it hurts no more than plucking does.

Eyebrow hairs in your eyes, because you're leaning back the hairs go onto your face, if you're not careful you can get them in your eyes. It is uncomfortable having had it happen more than once.

I know my preference is for threading for the sharp, distinct result it gives, but I'm too lazy to go monthly so get them done for special occasions and pluck inbetween times.

An example of having had my eyebrows threaded not six hours previous.

Next time on the blog.

Inlight Organic Body Oil with Arnica

Do you have a preference as to plucking, waxing or threading, let me know in the comments below.