Tweezing is an inexpensive method of getting rid of superfluous hair, be it shaping your eyebrows or plucking a few errant hairs on your face or body. As you get the hang of how tweezers feel between your fingers, as well as how to use the tips to grasp hairs, tweezing becomes second nature. However, if you've never tweezed hair growth before, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you get used to this method of do-it-yourself hair removal.
Step 1
Choose your tool. Andrea James, administrator of HairFacts.Com, a consumer website that describes various methods of hair removal, recommends choosing tweezers with a wide grip and slanted tip over those with a regular grip and pointed or squared tip.
Step 2
Disinfect your tweezers before using them to avoid infection. Dip the tip of your tweezers in rubbing alcohol, James advises. When you're not using them, store them with caps on the tips so they won't collect grime from your makeup drawer.
Step 3
Apply a warm, damp washcloth to your skin to open up your pores–this makes tweezing easier. Don't put anything greasy on your skin, such as moisturizer, that would cause hairs to slide out of your tweezer tips.
Step 4
Get a visual aid. Skincare expert Paula Begoun suggests using a magnifying mirror with at least 5X magnification so you can see each individual hair that you're working with. Make sure you have an adequate source of lighting.
Step 5
Grasp a single hair firmly between the tweezer tips. If you're using slanted tweezers, the longer side should be closest to the floor. Tug gently and fluidly in the direction of the hair growth. Don't yank quickly–you make break off the hair, rather than remove it from below the skin's surface.
Step 6
Don't get in a hurry. If you're using tweezers to shape your brow area, it's easy to over-tweeze, says Begoun. This can leave you with thin or patchy brows–or a "cockeyed" look if the arch of your eyebrows isn't even on both sides of your face.
Tips and Warnings
- Is this your first time shaping your brows? Begoun suggests using a lip or eyebrow pencil to first draw on your preferred brow shape and tweezing the stray hairs below your desired shape. The arch of your brow should fall at the outer third of your eye. Tweezing can cause temporary inflammation and reddening of the skin. Use a cool compress after you tweeze to reduce discomfort.
- Never tweeze the hairs in your nose or those that grow out of moles, James advises. Don't grasp several hairs at once with your tweezer tips–tweeze only one hair at a time. Avoid "pinching" your skin with your tweezer tips.
Things You'll Need
- Wide-grip tweezers with a slanted tip
- Washcloth
- Rubbing alcohol
- Magnifying mirror (optional)
- Cool compress (optional)
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