Look Younger in Minutes: Groom Your Eyebrows

By Julia Savacool, Men's Journal

  

Take a look in the mirror at your eyebrows. Do they form two neat arches, framing your face and flattering your eyes? Or is it a lumpy line that spans from one temple to the other? Of all the areas of men’s grooming, brows tend to be one of the most overlooked, but that's a big mistake, says Claudia Duran, a men’s skincare expert for Groominglounge.com. “Hair that is uneven or too long can really age a man’s face,” she says. The good news: “You don’t have to do a lot to see improvement. Less is more with brow care.” Here’s how to take care of your bushy brows at home.

 

 

Start With a Comb

Go Vertical

[post_ads]Before you shed the unibrow, you need to assess the overall state of your arches. Brow hair rarely grows evenly in its density and length, but it can be hard to spot the difference as it lies flat on your face, so you’ll need to comb it, as you would the hair on your head. “Take a spoolie brush and run it from the bottom of the brow upwards,” says Duran. It is easiest to work with and remove brow hair when your skin is damp, so do this post-shower or after you’ve washed your face.

What You Need: Spoolie brushes work best because their spiral construction grabs ahold of the fine hair better than a normal hair comb would. For guys with unruly brows, you can also use a spoolie daily to help train your hairs to lie flat. One to try: Jane Iredale Brow Brush Combo. [$14; dermstore.com]

 

Trim Small

Start Small

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Once you've combed your brows upward, check out the ragged line created by the varying lengths. Using the spoolie, hold the brow hair slightly away from your forehead with one hand, while using your other hand to snip any extra-long ends with a small pair of scissors. “Only cut a little bit off at a time as you can always take off more if needed,” cautions Duran.

What You Need: Do not touch your brow with a dull pair of blades from your kitchen drawer — you're courting disaster. Instead, use brow scissors. They're smaller, allowing for finer adjustments in your trimming, and the blade is extremely thin and sharp for the most accurate cut. Try this pair from L.A.’s hottest brow salon: Anastasia Beverly Hills Scissors. [$22.50; ulta.com]
 

Pluck, Don’t Shave, Your Unibrow

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Pull, Don’t Shave 

Never, ever use a razor on your eyebrows. Razors are much too big to afford the accuracy needed with the small patch of hair. In order to get at that troublesome spot between your eyes, you have to turn the blade at an awkward sideways angle and shave against the grain of your brows, increasing the likelihood of irritation or ingrown hairs. Instead, “use high-grade slant tweezers that provide good grip and precision,” says Duran. Remember to take a hot shower first or use a warm washcloth to open pores pre-tweezing. It will dull the sting significantly.

What You Need: Slant tweezers make this job significantly easier because the flat edge makes quick work of the general landscape, while the pointed tip can grasp super-fine hairs once you’re down to the details. A good option: Tweezerman Slant Tweezers [$23; groominglounge.com]

Keep Them Thick

Keep Them Thick

You’ve probably seen women with brows so narrow and perfectly arched it looks like someone painted them on. Women can get away with that look. You, on the other hand, would just look foolish. You want controlled chaos; brows with a natural shape that have been helped along with some judicious plucking. To go from one brow to two, it’s pretty simple: Start above your nose at the center of your face between your eyes, where a bunch of peach fuzz and hairy stragglers have formed a bridge. Using the flat edge of your tweezers, grasp hair as close to the skin as possible, and pull. “Always pull hairs in the direction of hair growth to avoid breakage,” says Duran. Remove hair until a space about the width of your thumb has been cleared. “Then apply a cold washcloth to close the pores.” If your skin feels itchy or looks a little red, apply a soothing lotion.

What You Need: Hydrocortizone cream calms swelling and reduces skin irritation after tweezing. Apply a dot between your brows and massage into your skin in a circular motion. One to try: Cortizone-10 Hydratensive Healing Lotion [$10; Walmart.com]
 

Alternate Brows

Finesse the Finish

It’s OK if your brows don’t have the perfect arch to them. Under-landscaped is better than over-manicured for two reasons: First, “perfect” brows create a look many guys find too feminine. Second, once you have trimmed and tweezed every hair into place, you need to be fanatical about maintenance every few days, because the new hairs will stand out. Instead, once the unibrow has been resolved, give your brows a general clean-up by following their natural shape with the tweezers, removing only those hairs that appear glaringly above or below the normal ridge of your brow. As you work, move back and forth from one brow to the other, to avoid uneven pruning. Finish by applying a brow gel to help any rebellious hairs lie flat.

What You Need: Brow gel is the little secret stylists swear by to get celebs red-carpet-ready. Virtually colorless, the gel goes on in a thin layer and works just like hair gel to hold uncooperative brow strands in place. Your best option: Tom Ford Brow Gelcomb. [$45; tomford.com]