Plucking

Is Plucking Right for Me?

Tweezing individual hairs is not suitable for everyone, and opting to pluck in less than ideal circumstances can lead to uneven eyebrows, excessive pain, or even eye injury. Individuals with the following conditions should consider different methods for removing eyebrow hairs:

• If your hands are not steady.
• If you are very nervous about having objects near your eyes.
• If your eyebrows are very fine and light, making individual hairs difficult to see.
• If your eyebrows are especially overgrown or bushy and need more drastic action than removing a few hairs.
• If you have extremely sensitive skin or are very sensitive to pain.

Alternatives

If plucking is not for you, there are a number of alternatives available to still obtain shapely, luxurious eyebrows.

• Seek professional services at a beauty salon; the technicians may pluck, wax, or trim brows and can do so with far less inconvenience than home treatments.
• Investigate waxing your brows instead to remove all the hairs at once.
• Choose pre-waxed stencils for quick shaping.
• Groom brows carefully with a miniature brush and specialized clippers to eliminate the need for hair removal altogether.

Plucking Technique

Removing eyebrow hairs one at a time takes more skill than simply pulling them out. To minimize potential problems and the inherent pain of the process, it is important to choose the appropriate tweezers and take the proper steps for a safe, easy treatment.

Choosing Tweezers

Tweezers for eyebrow shaping should have a firm grip with a semi-blunt tip. Very pointed tips can be dangerous when working near the eyes, but tips that are too blunt will grab more than one hair at a time and cause excessive pain as the hairs are removed improperly. Several brands of tweezers are available with non-slip grips on the arms as well as attached magnifying glasses for delicate work. Choose tweezers that feel comfortable and can easily grip one hair without disturbing nearby hairs.

Steps to a Flawless Look

Ice can numb brows before beginning.

To achieve a great eyebrow shape through plucking, consider the following steps:

1. Determine the desired eyebrow shape and trace or mark it directly on the brow.
2. Numb eyebrow area with ice if desired to minimize pain. Be sure to dry brow completely or the tweezers may not have as firm a grip on each hair.
3. Grasp individual hair firmly, taking care not to grip multiple hairs at once.
4. Pull hair out firmly in the direction of its growth for smooth removal that does not break the hair.
5. Pause briefly to let pain subside if desired before continuing with additional hairs.
6. Evaluate results after every few hairs to avoid removing too many.

Even if you choose to wax your brows instead, it may be necessary to pluck hairs that do not adhere to the wax properly or to refine the brow shape as additional hairs grow in. With practice, it only takes seconds to pluck hairs for a smooth, flawless look.

Other Hairs to Pluck

In addition to eyebrows, many women choose to tweeze other hairs as well. While this technique is not suitable for removing large areas of hair, it can be used on the upper lip, chin, jaw line, or bikini area to remove random stray hairs or to touch up another hair removal technique for the best results.

Plucking may initially be painful, but by using the proper equipment and a consistent technique, it is possible to achieve superior hair removal results for perfectly shaped eyebrows. Furthermore, tweezing is great for touching up any stray hairs, giving every woman the ability to perfect her look with a simple pluck.