How to pluck your eyebrows

Around the world, plucking the eyebrows is considered a feminine beauty treatment, often used by sophisticated women to complete the aesthetic appeal of their facial features. In some cultures, women do not pluck their eyebrows before marrying or before attaining a solid age of maturity, perhaps their early to mid-twenties. When they do tweeze their brows, they may stop as part of a general neglect of bodily care in a sign of mourning when a loved one dies.

Many women in industrialized cultures pluck their eyebrows as part of their overall beauty routine. Depending on their eyebrow shape, how fast their hair grows, and general personal care, they may have to tweeze their brows weekly or more often while young, though as they age, hair growth may slow down somewhat.

To pluck your eyebrows for maximum benefits, follow a few steps like the following:

1. Wash your face, especially the brow areas, with warm water and mild soap. This will help to reduce the risk of irritation or inflammation by bacteria after plucking away unwanted hair. Pat your face dry with a clean towel. Get out your tweezers and make sure they are clean as well as free of any dust or debris. Stand before a wall mirror in good light so you can find the stray hairs.

2. Note the natural arch of your brows. If it is indefinable or thin, color it in with an eyebrow pencil, taking care not to streak or smudge the line. Now study the area to find extra hair on either side of the line or anywhere near it, including the bridge of the nose or the side of your face at the end of the brow line. You may want to apply a gentle lotion or cream to soften the hair in these areas. However, some creams may make the area greasy and prevent the hair from being grasped, since it will slip away from the tweezers. If this happens, remove the cream with a damp washcloth.

3. Take the tweezers in your right hand. Seize a single hair and pluck it quickly in the opposite direction in which it is growing. This will help to remove it thoroughly and promptly with minimum discomfort. Do this for every stray hair of any color (since they can come in a variety of shades) until you have cleared the areas around both brows of any unwanted hair.

4. Place removed hairs on a piece of tissue or newspaper for disposal later. Use a hand mirror to closely check the area for missed strays. Check your brow line to find the natural arch and to ensure both arches are somewhat even, with both ending about the same place on opposite sides of the face. The brows also should display about the same thickness and begin just above the inside corner of each eye. Pluck any gray or rogue hairs inside the brow line as well.

5. Wipe your face with a moist cloth to remove any residue. Check once more with both wall mirror and hand mirror to see if you missed any hairs. Wipe off the tweezers and put them away for next time. Apply eyebrow pencil and brow lightener as desired or when you next wear facial makeup.

Wash around your eyes gently each day as part of a facial cleansing routine. Be careful around the eyes to avoid contaminating them with pieces of fluff or lint from the washcloth, and to prevent wrinkling skin in the eye area. Check your brows for plucking needs on a weekly basis.