Eyebrows - Pluck, thread, wax?

[Malena]

Hi Ladies! My favorite threader recently went on maternity leave. I've been getting my eyebrows threaded for over 10 years, but thought I would try plucking them myself until she returns. Not a very good idea - I ended up with a shorter right eyebrow and trimming too much from the left Plus it must trigger some sort of sneezing reflex b/c I sneeze through most of my right-eyebrow plucking.

I tried waxing years ago, but hated the redness/swelling. Any suggestions on what to do? Should I find a new threader? Any tips on plucking?

Happy New Year('s Eve)!

[danidance]

Find a new waxer.

I get mine done for $10 at the local nail salon. Whatever it is she puts on them after to calm them down is amazing - probably just aloe or arnica. I leave looking fine. If not, my big ole sunglasses hide it for 10-20 minutes until it's back to normal.

I love waxing then plucking to maintain. I always get compliments on my eyebrows so the little $10 lady must be doing something right!

[Azhia]

Hullo Malena!

It sucks when your favorite aesthetician leaves you high and dry (though it's nice to know they have lives, too)! We'd be overgrown with hair and split ends and ingrown hairs if they completely left us!

I've never tried threading! I've heard about it and I'm fascinated by it; would love to try it myself. You can find another threader.

I prefer to tweeze. Waxing is fast and can be done accurately, but I love the double accuracy of tweezing. Aaaand I'm weird, I like the way it feels. Of course, this can lead to asymmetry, as you had described.

Some tips for tweezing:
Take a white eyeliner pencil and "white out" the hairs you wish to get rid of. You can check in the mirror for balance.
It's okay that you can still see the hairs underneath the white because those are the ones you will tweeze.
Hold your skin down/taut around the hair you will tweeze and grasp the hair as close to the root as possible so that the hair does not merely break off. Pull in the direction of the hair growth. (This is different for waxing, where you would pull against the direction of hair growth).
You may prep the area (and you should, for hygiene) with a gentle swabbing of alcohol, toner, or witch hazel. This helps soothe the area while it's being traumatized by the tweezing, as well.

If you have light coloured eyebrows, you can colour in the opposite way.
So instead of a white eye liner pencil, you would actually draw in the desired brow shape with a darker eyeliner pencil (or your eyebrow filling product, whatever that may be) and then tweeze whatever is NOT included in that filled-in area.

If you are used to tweezing yourself, and can easily balance both sides you can omit these steps but try this if balance is difficult to achieve. These techniques should insure accuracy. They take practice but so do undulations and figure 8s... you get the picture. ;0)

Let me also take this opportunity to say that if you (anybody reading this) is considering laser hair removal: save your money! Results are not permanent, contrary to what advertisers are saying.

[laura 2]

I get waxed every couple of months. I have a little redness/puffiness for maybe an hour afterwards, but nothing too bad. I do to a fairly inexpensive spa that charges $12.

[mish_mish]

I just tweeze out the crazy hairs and use scissors to trim them when they get unruly. I just comb the hairs up and trim the little ends that go outside the natural line. I usually just tweeze a bit a couple times a week and it keeps things in line.

[Azhia]

OR, you could go David Bowie Ziggy Stardust era and just scrap the whole notion of eyebrows! Just replace them with rhinestones.
No, you wouldn't look like a freak AT ALL... *giggles*

[tahiradancer]

I wax my brows about every 6 weeks. Tweeze in between. be sure that the wax is cool enough. I have been burned by wax which was too hot in the past.

I tried threading for a while, but I found that to be very uncomfortable in the long run.

{{{HUGS}}}

[Mireille]

Tweezer here...

Nothing new to add to all those knowledgeable tips except that I sneeze as well when I pluck the little buggers out.

Quite entertaining, really

[anala]

Whats threading?? CAVE ISSUES!!! I tweeze and then wait for my eyeball to fall out due to lack of support. I swear the hairs wrap around my eyeballs and poke out in the form of lashes. I am a sneezer too. Now lets talk about the other facial hair we have tried to rid ourselves of. Radiation treatment on the chin anyone???

[Azhia]

Don't do it!!

Wax or bleach the chin!

I actually prefer to bleach my Groucho Marx, myself. (What can I say, I'm a makeup artist and can hide the 3 o'clock 'stache shadow and airbrush the nose down!)

[anala]

Wax...that implies a nice featherty down that comes off with a lint roller... nope...my children will earn my keep in the nursing home by charging $5addmission into the bearded ladies room. I must find a cure in the next 20 years. Whats threading?

[aazura]

Gawd, mine are in a serious need of a touch up right now...

I wax, then pluck to maintain. Been wanting to try threading... have heard great things about it. I agree with Dani that you may just need to find a better waxer. I rarely leave with redness, and if I do it's minimal and goes away quickly.

As for plucking tips, I think it takes practice. A good tweezer helps to be more precise so you don't grab the wrong hair and end up with a bald spot where you don't want one. Also, start out easy and don't over pluck... let yourself get used to the shape of your brow and feel for maintaining before you go gung-ho on them.

[khaalidah]

Anala, threading:

threading

[Rosette]

One other tip for tweezing; I use a super-magnifying mirror. Tremendously helpful; couldn't do anywhere near as good a job without it.
Rosette

[anala]

wow!! Thanks. But do I have to spill my guts out too?? LOL

[Malena]

Thanks everyone for your advice (special shout-out to Azhia for her expertise!! ). I'll give tweezing another try (once the hairs grow back).

If that doesn't work, then I might just get another threader. The more I think of waxing, the less inclined I am to go that route. Before I started the thread, my fiance asked me to wax his upper back hair. He clenched his teeth on a towel as I did it, and woke up this morning with red spots. They go away eventually, but they look like the same red spots I used to get on my face. Plus tweezing is cheaper - threading salons in NYC generally charge between $6-7 ($5 if you're in Brooklyn or Queens). [Oh and if you know my fiance - please don't tell him I told Bhuzzers he gets his back waxed! ]

Azhia, I have a question about laser removal. I get waxed in one area only, and I stress out every time I go (i.e., I think about it all day, constantly telling myself "it only hurts for a few minutes - 10 min and it's done!"). A friend opted for laser removal and she seems happy with it. Would you still not recommend it? Has anyone else had laser removal "down there" or anywhere else for that matter?

[Samara-Sharki]

I say stick to threading, its the best. Here in Toronto you can get it done at one of those Indian Beauty shops for as low as $3! I'm sure if u ask arround your area, you can get another recomendation for threading...Good luck.

[tahiradancer]

I worked for a company which does Laser Hair removal. It is NOT permenant until about, oh, I don't know, the 7th or 8th treatment. But, if you are trying to releave yourself of the long tern hassles of shaving, waxing, etc., and don't mind spending the money, it's not a bad alternative.

{{{HUGS}}}

[anala]

Laser ....I let stuff grow for about 4 days and went in after hours...they were so kind! They did not take a pair of tweezers and pull a sample hair. If they had they may have turned me away as a bad candidate. The root ( I shit you not) is about a half inch long. We are talking boar bristle here. Industrial strength Hungarian hair. She ran the zapper over me 3 times..more and more juice on the dial...lights were diming and smoke was wafting offa my chin. I was red and scabby for a week. Yhec. The hair issue is still there but diminished by half. I only went once as I am reluctant to wear a Phantom of the Opera mask for the rest of my life!

[gypsydanse]

In San Diego, you can have your eyebrows waxed for as little as $5.00 in most local nail salons, and threading is $15.00. Also, Macy's has an eyebrow bar, and they charge $20.

[Azhia]

Awww, thanks, Malena!
I find it hard to wax men because: where do you stop?! There is also a technique for waxing (which will address where to stop on men)...I'll post tips after this one about

MY LASER HAIR REMOVAL ESSPERIENCE...

Background: Before getting treatments I was waxed regularly under the arms, and in the "nether regions", including "flower petals." (I can be extremely clinical but I felt like being more gentle with my descriptions!)

I did the recommended 6 treatments, each about 3 months apart, plus a 7th free treatment. A note about my pain threshold: I've gotten pierced, have 5 tattooes (one of which required me to go back the next day to get inked for another 5 hours!), had cosmetic surgery, and taken 3 Suhaila Weeklong workshops! Laser hair removal hurt the most (think Steve Carell screaming in "40 Year Old Virgin")!

To describe the sensation... you're in a room that is about 60 degrees fahrenheit, you're naked and you're getting continually snapped with a thick wet, electrified rubber band. If the hairs are thicker, like they are in your hooha, they have to intensify the power even more. Afterwards, you suffer what is basically a really bad sunburn and you feel that burn for a few hours after. And for those considering getting it done EVerywhere, I had laser treatment everywhere I had been waxed, which included the "flower petals."

About 1 year after that, the hair started to grow back. Granted, not as nearly dense as before, but it did grow back. Areas that had been waxed regularly are not growing back as thick (I might get like, one nuclear hair growing out of my armpit), but the areas where hair was the thickest is back.

You cannot stop hair from going through its anagen, catagen, and telogen phases, unless you have alopecia or some such lack of hair follicle/root condition. Hair continues to grow on cadavers. I still have discolouration where I was "burned" and it even looked worse than having hair down there so I would say for me it was not worth the money, no matter how nice the lobby or staff were. And it's so expensive. For it to really target the hair, it has to be quite dark, too, because the laser seeks the melanin in the hair follicle.

I go back to waxing the "flower petals" (though my lady is in Philly so I have to find someone I feel comfortable with here *whimper*) and haven't had to do the armpits yet. I tweeze my eyebrows or sometimes wax if I feel like buying the product. I bleach the Grouch Marx. When I'm in the mood I very subtley bleach the eyebrows to open up the eye area more (but this is a makeup topic so I'll shush).