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What are the Best Tips for Plucking Eyebrows?

By Elle Jay
Updated Feb 17, 2024
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The best tips for plucking eyebrows focus on tools, shape and technique. The proper tweezers can make or break the eyebrow plucking experience, and shaping eyebrows can make or break the appearance. Good plucking technique can prevent pain and create eyebrows that complement the face shape and overall attractiveness. Successful eyebrow plucking requires clean, effective tools along with the skills to get it done right.

Eyebrow plucking tools include tweezers, an eyebrow brush, a mirror and adequate lighting. Each plays a role in creating perfect brows, but the most important tool for eyebrow grooming is tweezers. Eyebrow tweezers do not have to be expensive, but they should be sharp and have a tight grip to grasp individual hairs. A pointed end helps pinpoint each hair, offering more precise plucking.

The eyebrow brush should be stiff and strong enough to move the brows into place. Personal preference dictates the use of a regular mirror or magnifying mirror. Magnification offers a close-up view that is beneficial for more accurate plucking. Lights should be bright enough to view the eyebrow clearly. Plucking in poor light can lead to missed hairs, so this is a vital part of successful eyebrow plucking.

After the tools are in place, the eyebrow shape can be decided. The shape of the brow should complement the shape of the face, so plucking eyebrows and shaping eyebrows should be done cautiously. Most eyebrows have a natural arch, and this should be followed during plucking. When adjusting the arch, beauty experts recommend starting the arch in the middle of the iris, or the colored part of the eye. An eyebrow pencil can be used to test new shapes and see how the eyebrow might look with a different arch or angle.

After choosing the eyebrow shape, correct eyebrow plucking technique helps create the desired brow. Stray eyebrow hairs should be plucked first to clean up the area around the eyebrow. Slow and steady eyebrow plucking offers accuracy and reduces the risk of over-plucking. Plucking the brows in the direction they grow helps relieve pain, and holding the skin taut can make finding and pulling the hair easier. Plucking eyebrows above the natural brow line is not recommended unless a wild, unruly hair appears.

When changing the shape of the eyebrow, it is wise for a person to pull just one or two hairs and then check the mirror to see how it looks. This prevents plucking the wrong hair or too many hairs and causing bald spots or uneven brows. Caution is especially important for thin eyebrows, because there is less room for error with fewer eyebrow hairs.

Although lotions should not be used before plucking eyebrows, a soothing balm can be applied after plucking if the skin is red or irritated. Eyebrow pencils can be used to correct any mistakes, so a pencil that matches eyebrow color is a helpful part of a personal grooming kit. It is a good idea for eyebrow tweezers and brushes to be cleaned regularly and for the tools used in plucking eyebrows to be kept in one place for easy access.

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Discussion Comments

By SteamLouis — On Jun 12, 2014

@donasmrs-- I agree with you. It's better to have too many brow hairs than too little! They grow back but it takes time.

I barely pluck my eyebrows now because thick, natural eyebrows are trending. Some women who plucked their brows for years because thin eyebrows were popular are now getting eyebrow transplants done to get their brows back. Thankfully, thick eyebrows are not looked down on anymore.

Most women only need to pluck the hairs between the brows and a few hairs below the brows anyway.

By donasmrs — On Jun 12, 2014

I remember the first time I plucked my eyebrows, it ended up looking awful. It's very easy to get carried away and pluck too many hairs. So I completely agree with the article author that one should pluck just a few hairs at a time and make sure the eyebrows still look nice. It's also a challenge to get both brows to look the same.

By fify — On Jun 11, 2014

The very first thing I learned about eyebrow plucking is to pluck from underneath and never above the eyebrow. Plucking equal amounts of hair underneath the brow creates a natural, beautiful shape. If hairs are plucked from the top of the brow, the brows will end up looking strange.

One advantage of shaping the eyebrows and removing extra hairs is that it extends the area between the eye and the brow. This makes eye makeup application much easier and the eyes look bigger and brighter.

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