Tips & Tricks

How To: Shape and Groom Your Eyebrows

March 27, 2006

Keeping unruly brows in check require constant grooming so today, I am going to cover the five different ways to do it.

#1 Tweezing
The easiest and most common way, tweezing involves using a pair of tweezers to pluck the whole hair, including the follicle. Always use a pair of tweezers that is sharp enough (I LOVE Tweezerman!), pull the skin taut and then pull in the direction the hair is growing.


#2 Waxing
Waxing involves spreading a thin layer of wax over the skin, pressing a cloth or paper strip over it and ripping it off in a quick movement against the direction of hair growth. This removes the wax along with the hair and dead skin cells leaving the skin smooth. Waxing also provides the most long-lasting results. In most cases, hair will not grow back from three to eight weeks. Constant waxing will also result in hair that grows back softer. However, pain is definitely the biggest drawback and waxing can cause redness on sensitive skin.


#3 Trimming
Another way to groom your eyebrows is by trimming. Brush the hair upwards with a spoolie and use a pair of trimming scissors like KAI Eyebrow Scissors to cut off the “excess”. This is a relatively easy and most painless method but may be difficult on areas that require more precision.


#4 Threading
Threading is an ancient method used in Asia and should be left to the pros. It involves using a 100% cotton thread and twisting the hair to pull out a whole row of hair from the follicle. It might hurt a little but is less irritable to your skin compared to tweezing and waxing. Read about my threading experience here.


#5 Shaving
Shaving is one of the most popular methods in Japan where girls would shave off the entire end and fill them in with pencils. While this method is quick and pain-free, I personally do not recommend doing this because looking eyebrow-less when you do not have makeup on is not so hot. Instead, I recommend shaving under the brow to get rid of strays.


How I Groom My Eyebrows
Since each method has its pros and cons, I like to alternate between trimming, tweezing and shaving. I have had my eyebrows threaded before and while I loved the results, my eyes are too sensitive and I can never stop crying whenever I get it done.

What about the shape? It all depends on the look you are going for. Thick, dark eyebrows tend to give off a stronger look. Thin brows with high archs will make you look older and bushy eyebrows tend to make people look younger. If you have a round face, you might want a more pronounced arch; on the other hand, if your face tends to be more angular, try to soften your look by keeping your eyebrows “rounder”. I would also recommend keeping your natural shape and plucking only stray hairs. Super thin, over-pluck eyebrows are sooooo out.

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11 Comments

  • Reply loraine March 27, 2006 at 4:47 pm

    yeay! anyway my eyebrows are weird.. its not similair to each other.. haha i have 2 diffent eyebrows.. so weird :S

  • Reply cosmogirl March 28, 2006 at 12:48 am

    Im a cosmetologist and with waxing your eyebrows, hot wax is also commonly used, more often then strip wax. Its wax that is applied to the eyebrow area where the desired hair is to be removed and then it dries, it it then removed without a strip, it is less painful and you can get a cleaner line and shape with hot wax.Actually all in all, eyebrow waxing is hardly painful that painful.I would suggest getting any eyebrow waxing done at a salon, you can make terrible mistakes trying to do this yourself.

  • Reply Anonymous March 28, 2006 at 11:35 am

    Hi! Uhmmm…. I’m a taiwanese girl with pale skin, I guess with more pink tones than yellow. (That’s what some over the counter person said). I’m makeup dumb but I absolutely love eyes as well! The problem is I don’t know how to enhance mine. I have a question: I love blood red lips that make your teeth flash white. Do you know of any colors that I could get cheap and fast (ie. walgreens since i’m in college) that would satisfy what i said above?

  • Reply Sarah March 28, 2006 at 3:30 pm

    Great article, I can’t wait to see your tutorial!

  • Reply Anonymous March 28, 2006 at 7:09 pm

    I know this is totally irrevalent to this topic but my prom is coming up very soon and my dress is green and I was wondering if you can post up a tutorial on how to do a green smokey eye look?? Thanks so much!~

  • Reply Phyllis March 29, 2006 at 6:56 pm

    To make your teeth white, pick a red lipstick with blue undertones. Some high end recs are NARS’ Flaming Dust, Chanel’s Fire, MAC’s Russian Red and Christian Dior’s Roulette Red. For drugstore ones, try L’oreal’s and Revlon’s.

  • Reply Phyllis March 29, 2006 at 6:57 pm

    Anonymous said…
    I know this is totally irrevalent to this topic but my prom is coming up very soon and my dress is green and I was wondering if you can post up a tutorial on how to do a green smokey eye look?? Thanks so much!~

    What kind of green do you have in mind? I will not have time to do a tutorial until next week.

  • Reply chuichi June 16, 2008 at 12:43 am

    Hi Phyllis,
    My eyebrows are really dark (I’m Chinese) and not too thin, cause I tried not to overplug them, but sometimes I wish I could tone down my eyebrows when I want a different look. Can you recommand any specific product and how do I use it? Thanks!

  • Reply Betty July 29, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    My biggest dilemma on eyebrows is where to start your eyebrows. I know you’re supposed to put a pencil on the side of your nose, but I don’t know exactly where to start. If I put the pencil on the left of my nose, do I align the pencil exactly where my eye starts, and do I pluck the left side of the pencil or the right? It seems like a crazy question , but pencils are kinda thick and it makes a huge difference on my eyebrows. Can you post a specific diagram or tutorial please? Thanks, and btw, I LOVE your website. You are awesoome!

  • Reply Sandie July 31, 2008 at 6:26 pm

    Thanks for the advice! My eyebrows are so hard to fix. The first half is thicker.. and then the hair things out so I look like I only have half an eyebrow.

  • Reply LJH August 16, 2008 at 1:32 am

    Thanks for u're tips…I usually shave to get the shape of my eyebrows cause I'm afraid of the pain from threading…lol…& my eyebrows are thin…I used 2 have a fringe to hide my eyebrows but its grown out now so I have to shape them…I wish I could have eyebrows like yours…They're so well defined & immaculate!!!

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