Hi! Eyebrow police here. To my guys, eyebrows are one thing I would like you to pay more attention to. My question to you is, do you do anything at all with respect to grooming your eyebrows? If the answer is no, hear me out and read on. Believe it or not, eyebrows are very important to your overall look.
The Ask
I find men are usually more open and willing to learn ways to improve their look. In that realm, to the men out there, there is a very good chance you need an eyebrow makeover. Eyebrows are one area that men neglect and I am not sure why. If I sound a little forward, it’s because I know you can accept a little bit of tough love and I do really want you to look your very best, be confident and feel good about yourself. So here goes…
Change can be scary I know, after all, you and your eyebrows have been together your whole life. However, wouldn’t it be great if after you follow my steps below a new you emerged? Sound good? Ok, so for the first step, your homework is to take a good look at your eyebrows from far away and up close and be honest with yourself. Could they use a little help? I am pretty confident the answer is yes. So let’s continue.
The Benefits
You cannot imagine how shaping and cleaning up your eyebrows will change your face and your look for the better. And done right, no one will probably even notice. And if they do, so what! You do you, and they do they. You know, I should TM that saying, you heard it here first! Anyway, I digress, the benefit of eyebrow shaping is that you will look more refined, younger, fresher, happier. I promise you, done right, you will wish you did this earlier and will never go back.
The Why
This is 2021, grooming men’s eyebrows is not feminine or outrageous, it is a necessity. Think of it as a part of your grooming routine like shaving or getting a haircut. Nowadays, having bushy, unruly, unkempt eyebrows is unnecessary and well…not cute. Truth talk, bushy, unruly eyebrows can make you look older, angry, tired or even mean as the shape of your eyebrows can bring down your face or make you look more stern. Now, I know you don’t necessarily ‘see ’ your brows because they are on your face and you can only ‘see’ them when you look in the mirror. However, those of us looking at your eyes as we are talking to you, we are looking at your eyebrows as well as your eyes. Trust me, we are. If you don’t believe me that this is important, that’s fine, you can continue to live your eyebrow life as it is. However, I gather if you are reading this blog, you are the type that does care and therefore, should give it a go.
Plus, let’s be honest, men don’t have as much to do in respect of maintenance as women do, so adding an eyebrow grooming routine is doable. It doesn’t take that long once you get the hang of it, and I can’t recommended it enough.
The How
If you do not think you have the skills to do this yourself, book an appointment at a brow bar. Brow bars are now a business you can find in most cities and are not just for women. I have seen (and taken) men to a brow bar, therefore, they will not be surprised to see you and they will make you feel very comfortable. Remember that at first, this may not be the most pleasant of experiences, it can hurt a tad, but the more you do it, the more you get used to it and you will toughen up. Or at least enjoy the results so much that the bit of discomfort will be worth it.
Ok, you have 2 choices to get this party started:
1. DIY. Trim and pluck your eyebrows yourself; or
2. Go to a professional for threading and trimming. Google threading if you want to have an idea of what it is and what to expect.
If you opt for choice #1, here we go:
The Tools
1. good magnifying mirror. I recommend a hand mirror so you can see your eyebrows from all angles
2. good lighting, natural light is the best but whatever will do
3. pair of tweezers – buy at the drugstore
4. pair of small beauty scissors (essentially these are baby scissors) – buy at the drugstore
5. eyebrow brush (yes these exist) – buy at the drugstore. If your inside voice is saying, Karen, I will never buy that, then a clean toothbrush set aside for your brows only will also suffice
The Steps
1. Brush your eyebrows straight up, waaaaayyyy up – this will show you which brows are much longer than others. Then, trim these with your scissors to be the same length as the others. You can rest one side of the scissor on your forehead for balance and simply snip away. If the eyebrow is thicker than the others (or a grey outlaw), pluck it out. You can try to trim it, however, because it’s thicker, it will stick straight out when it’s shorter (not what we want). Most men have tons of brows, so plucking the thick ones is the best option.
2. So brushing your eyebrows straight up will identify the long ones but it may not help identify the brows that stick straight out like a unicorn. This is where you have to look at your brows closely from all angles with your mirror, so you can see the culprits. These ones have to go, no saving them, pluck those out.
3. Ok, now you can start plucking the brows that hang out below the main part of your eyebrows. These are called ‘stragglers’ if you will. You will see them, they sit below the majority of the others. These must go. Once the stragglers are gone, it will open your eye and your face and you will look younger and fresher. If you are super concerned about how much to get rid of or worried someone will notice, start with baby steps. I recommend doing a few on one eye, then move to the other eye in the same spot to ensure both eyes remain even. If this freaks you out, remember, this can be done gradually, take your time and get rid of a little at a time.
4. Now, you want to pluck the brows that hang out high above the main brow. Getting rid of these ones will also change your look. These are the ones that can make you look angry, tired and older. I must warn you though, knowing which brows to pluck and how many in this top area, is trickier. You have to be careful and go the gradual route so you don’t freak yourself out. Or, go see a professional.
5. Lastly, if you have more of a unibrow, where your eyebrows meet too close together in the middle, this needs to be taken care of. There needs to be skin space between eyebrows. Go slow and pluck out a few from each side so they are even and until you feel the amount you removed has made a separation that looks good and still looks natural.
Voila! That’s it.
The Results
Final Thoughts
Having read the above, are you ready and inspired to trying something new for yourself? I would love it if you would give it a go. Change is good. And hey, you know, even if you groom your brows just a little bit, that is better than not at all, and you will notice a positive difference and will feel good about how great you look. I see many men on a daily basis who would benefit from this blog post, however, not exactly an easy subject to broach. If you try this and are happy with the results, let me know! Knowing I made someone feel good would make me very happy. And who knows, if you want to write to me on ‘your eyebrow journey’ I may post it to inspire others to take the eyebrow journey also.
All the best and until next time…
