These Are a Few Of My Favorite...Tools

The crux of human evolution revolved around our ability to use tools. Before you go stabbing yourself in the eye with the same pair of dull tweezers you’ve had since the sixth grade, consider these options, listed in order of appearance.

1. Clean Spoolie, Clean Mascara Wand or Lash Comb: You will need this to brush your eyebrow hairs up to see if any of the hairs are too long. I recommend trimming your brow hair prior to tweezing so to avoid accidental bald spots. This way, you can groom your eyebrows conservatively and with minimal collateral damage. I prefer to brush my brows in the direction I’d like them to go (rather than up) and only trimming the hairs that disrupt the shape. Trim in small sections (rather than one fell swoop) to avoid cutting the hairs too short and creating too severe a shape.

2. Small, Sharp Cuticle Scissors: You didn’t think you could trim with the spoolie alone, did you? You will need a pair of scissors that is small enough to single out each hair. I have tried scissors (with an attached comb) designed especially for eyebrow grooming but the comb made it difficult to see which hairs were being trimmed and the resultant gaps in my eyebrows were not pretty.

3. Mini Razors: I know you see them at your local drugstore and think they look scary. Fear not, my dears. You will not shave off your epidermis or your eyebrows (unless you’re too aggressive) but you will achieve that clean, waxed look without having to neither pluck maliciously nor pay through the nose. I don’t have a preference as to brand but the smaller, the better. Razors will allow you to get all of those tiny hairs that you don’t see around your eyebrows in one go.

4. Tweezerman Slant Tip Tweezers: All the hype about these babies is spot-on. I really don’t know how I groomed my brows without them. They can be pricey but they stay sharp for an insane amount of time (mine haven’t been sharpened in at least three years) and the best part? Tweezerman offers to sharpen them for free. The slanted tip allows you to get at the tiny hairs without ripping out the majority of your eyebrow in the process. Since you likely have only a few stray hairs, the tweezing step should be last to avoid going overboard.

Please don’t groom your eyebrows after a trip to the bar, a breakup, or a very long, exhausting day. The results will be on your face for the next few weeks so it helps to be of sober mind and body.

All About Brows

Before I say anything further, I have a confession to make: my eyebrows aren’t twins. In fact, even calling them cousins would be a stretch. Each could happily reside on another person’s face without so much as missing her counterpart. The quest for perfectly matching brows has driven me to the very edge of sanity; in high school, I allowed a friend to pluck me into a very surprised, Ronald McDonald wannabe which brought my mother to tears. Nevertheless, I persisted in my quest only to conclude that only brow powder or pencil can make my brows look similar. If you suffer a similar affliction, I urge to put down the tweezers and pick up some brow gel. You may find solace in the fact that even celebrity eyebrows aren’t identical.

The next controversy is the debate of thinner brows versus the fuller, more voluptuous option. We are so shocked to see anything thicker deemed trendy that we automatically jump on the bandwagon whether it flatters our facial features or not. Again, I will be the first to admit my own wrong doing. I am obsessed with Brooke Shield’s full, perfectly groomed, straight eyebrows and have tried to replicate the look on myself. Unfortunately, not own do my brows grow with a natural arch but they aren’t nearly as thick. Most of my attempts at channeling Brooke have resembled Graucho instead.

What’s my point? You can’t fight your natural features. If you are blessed with naturally full brows, please, keep them a (groomed) version of full. However, if you have a petite face and naturally thinner brows, Mother Nature might be trying to tell you something. I find that the best eyebrow is a refined, enhanced version of the one we have naturally.

In celebration of all things eyebrow, I plan to discuss tips, tricks and products to improve the brows you have and fix some of the mistakes that may be keeping you from full eyebrow satisfaction.