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If you’re one of those people who has perfectly learned how to tweeze, trim and/or wax your own eyebrows like a top-notch MUA, kudos to you. I personally can’t stand taking tweezers to my face and my eyebrows grow back so weird, the last time I tried to take an eyebrow razor to them, I took off a lot more hair than originally intended. So waxing appointment it is.
Or was. The pandemic certainly changed the level of importance we place on beauty appointments, and to this day, having someone so up close and personal in my face just to take off some hair nobody really sees since I’m always at home seems a bit…extra. But I know the way my face just lights up and looks better when my brows give less Groucho Marx tease. With that being said, it’s time to figure out how to clean them up the right way solo, and chances are, you could use some tips, too. With help from Nilam Holmes, founder of UK-based brand EyebrowQueen and brow expert, here’s a guide on the best ways to go about taming your eyebrows at home in case you’re not ready to run to an esthetician to do it.
Choose the right tools
Holmes says that with any beauty regimen, having the right tools is important and will make a huge difference in the ease with which you can trim them brows. She says that the go-to essentials include small scissors, clips to keep your hair back, and an eyebrow pencil to, of course, fill in your brows. That’s not it, though! You also need a soft-bristled “Spoolie” to brush them in the right direction (get those hairs up), some good tweezers, and eyebrow gel to style and finish things off.
Take a shower
Who knew that the trick to making things easier and less painful is to pick and tweeze your brows after a hot shower? According to Holmes, it’s best to remove eyebrow hair when your face is nice and warm, so hot shower it is. Opening up pores before tugging at brow hair will make it easier to remove the hair and make it less painful to pull them out. Also, if you have the kind of hair that falls in your face (not this ‘fro), clip your hair back once it’s time to start taming brows so there’s no disruption. “This will minimize the risk of over trimming or worse, trimming the wrong hair!” she says.
Decide your eyebrow shape
If you’ve let things get so wild and bushy that you don’t recall the shape you were once going for with your brows, there’s no shame in that. Pick the ideal shape for your amount of hair and fill in your brows for a clear outline. “This will create a visual guide for you to remove any hairs outside of your desired shape,” she says.
It’s best to figure out what type of face shape you have to select the right eyebrow shape for you and figuring out what features you want to highlight (or draw attention away from) helps, too.
Brush your brow hairs upwards and trim
Once you’ve picked the shape you want your brows to be, it’s time to trim. Use your Spoolie to brush all of your hairs up, “tails included.”
“Whilst this may seem like [a] bizarre look, you will be able to see the long hairs that stick out outside of your desired brow shape,” she says. Once you figure out what falls outside of the look you’re going for, use your small scissors to cut the hair where it bends and curls. Don’t cut the hair straight across, as that could look more crazy than natural.
Tweeze the sparse hairs
You got rid of the big hairs, now it’s time to deal with the pesky sparse hairs below and in between brows. That’s where your tweezers come in, sharp ones only. Holmes says the sharper and more durable the tweezers the easier it is to take out the hairs you need to without much pain. She also recommends that you avoid plucking hairs on top of your eyebrow as that can mess with the look of the arch you’ve created.
Assess and evaluate
Now that you’ve done all that, it’s time to assess and evaluate. Look in a large mirror, get some second opinions, and basically, make sure that your eyebrows are symmetrical before you go in on the second brow. Natural light helps you figure out where you did good or where you went wrong so you know how not to go overboard when trying to match brow two.
Finish with styling gel
Just like with a setting spray for your makeup, you need to secure your eyebrows, too. Make good use of that eyebrow gel, which Holmes says is “essentially mascara for your eyebrows” as it helps to define your look and give it a sleek appearance. Brush your brow hairs up and out with a clear eyebrow gel and it will offer that strong hold. “If you want to slightly fill in your eyebrows, opt for a tinted eyebrow gel,” she offers.
