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13 June 2007

Top Secret Cosmetic Question So it strikes me that my eyebrows are way too intense (by virtue of being fairly heavyset.) What can be done about it? Does it need to be done by a stylist or can you pick up the tool involved and do it yourself?

post by: Firas at: 13:07 | 16 comments

You certainly can do it yourself with a good pair of tweezers, but I highly recommend going to an esthetician the first time. Ask some questions, and watch how they shape them.

posted by Specklet 13 June | 13:16

If you just want to thin them out a bit one of these works well. You can find them in stores for about $15.

posted by arse_hat 13 June | 13:20

An eyebrow wax around here is $8-$15, takes about ten minutes. Once you've had it done at a salon, it's relatively easy to do the upkeep yourself with tweezers and a drugstore waxing kit.

posted by crush-onastick 13 June | 13:29

Specklet's suggestion is good. Once you know what you're going for it's very easy to do it yourself.

I used to do the waxing, but it hurt and was expensive. I prefer taking care of it myself. You also don't have to wait for it to all grow in and then take it all out at once - you can just tweeze here and there once a week or so.

posted by Miko 13 June | 13:30

First few times it's good to go a professional you like (I found a woman who didn't try to make my brows too thin, which I appreciated). I had my eyebrows waxed for a few years in high school, but now I can pluck the stray stuff myself.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 13 June | 13:30

As someone with very thick brows (think Bert of Bert and Ernie fame on a good day) I had to run in here.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME ON YOUR OWN!

Just have someone shape them and then maintenance is doable (I don't do it though because I am OCD and can't leave well enough alone).

It's really hard to gauge symmetry. Next thing you know...your brows are gone and sometimes they don't come back. It's true.

Trust the experts for the first time.

posted by Lola_G 13 June | 13:35

Ha, my hair grows back—with a vengeance. I'm a boy singularly blessed in that regard :/

posted by Firas 13 June | 13:40

You'd be surprised what waxing can do. Don't get over zealous about it, because sometimes it really and truly doesn't grow back!

posted by Specklet 13 June | 14:02

posted by Joe Invisible 13 June | 14:04

stick with tweezers. guys typically don't want the groomed look - you want to be a little rough around the edges but still look well kept.

if you have a trusted female friend, ask them for help. they'll know what to do.

posted by stynxno 13 June | 14:08

Until I took gaspode's sex exam, I never realized how much I consider a woman's eyebrows when judging attractiveness.

posted by Hellbient 13 June | 15:35

Until I took gaspode's sex exam

I have never even MET her, let alone been examined in that way by her.

You east coasters have all the luck.

posted by danf 13 June | 15:42

My sister was plucking all us guys for my brother's wedding, and the point she was making is that as you get older the eyebrow hairs take on more individuality in terms of being wild or looking like pubic hairs, and you've got to carefully select the ones you want to keep, and that's how you get a nice overall effect.

posted by StickyCarpet 13 June | 15:56

As you are a male, I would suggest avoiding wax--it leaves a noticeable, unnaturally smooth appearance. So unless you want people thinking, "Hey, does that guy wax his eyebrows?" stay with the tweezers.

I just wanted to say that my cousin gets his eyebrows waxed and they don't look unnatural. Perhaps he's the exception to the rule, but I just wanted to throw that out there. He'd have a huge bushy unibrow otherwise, and this is what they look like:
≡ Click to see image ≡

Not bad, I think.

posted by CitrusFreak12 13 June | 16:36

Aww, he's a cutie.

The understanding that I get from my male friends is: If you're going to a salon for this, make sure they're used to working on male faces. Otherwise they're likely to make the brows too narrow, which can make your face look too feminine.

(There may be added complications, or options, in San Francisco, though, which makes it different here. But I think the general advice probably stands.)

posted by occhiblu 13 June | 17:06

See, in my opinion, those look slightly too groomed for a guy. (Unless the guy is deliberately putting out a slightly over-groomed, perhaps heteroflexible vibe.)

I'd say tweeze. And please, please, do not tweeze them so they are too far apart. Some people, in their enthusiasm to avoid the unibrow, end up looking very strange.

On preview: what occhi said.

posted by Specklet 13 June | 17:08

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