Women know the transformative power of a well-shaped eyebrow.
Perfectly groomed brows will open up your eyes, making you look younger.
And since they’re such a dominant feature of your face it’s worth taking the time to shape them up properly.
Below we’ve got a step by step guide on how to trim and shape well-groomed, masculine eyebrows at home… as well as the pros and cons of professional treatments.
We’ve also included a guide on how to shave perfect lines for eyebrow slits.
What to do - as well as what NOT to do - to accentuate your eyes and make them look more magnetic.
Grooming your brows will accentuate your eyes, making them looking more magnetic
Why you need to groom your eyebrows
Now you may have thought that your brows are perfectly fine as they are. But as men get into their late twenties and early thirties your eyebrows can start to grow in ways that require a bit of maintenance at the very least!
For some guys you'll notice that your separate eyebrows start to grow into each other to form a unibrow - making you look permanently angry.
For others it’s the sudden appearance of wild-looking extra-long hairs growing out at crazy angles … and nobody wants ‘old man’ straggly eyebrows!
So if you want to look well-groomed (and we know that you do) you need to take control and shape them up.
But before you reach for the tweezers… let's set out some criteria.
Eyebrow goals
Always keep to a classic, masculine look… just a little more cleaned up. You want to keep everything looking natural.
Ideally, you want to groom your eyebrows to meet the following goals:
- A short, even length of hair. You’re aiming to keep all the brow hairs at about the same length. Nothing too short and definitely nothing too wild and long!
- Two clearly divided eyebrows. Not one unibrow. There should be visible bare skin between your brows.
- Keep them asymmetrical. Your eyebrows don’t need to be identical… in fact they shouldn’t be. They just need to match.
Less is more
We cannot say this enough… shaping is great, but over-shaping is the worse! So…
Don't Do Anything Dramatic
You don’t need to trim or pluck a lot of hair and create high, dramatic arches. In fact, please don’t!
Sometimes, all it takes is trimming your brows or removing a few outlying hairs here and there.
Keep the thickness
Your brows can be thick and still look well-groomed.
In general, male eyebrows are thicker than female brows for a reason; they balance your other facial features, like larger eyes and lips, or a more angular face shape.
Always keep your brows to a classic, masculine shape - just cleanly defined.
Maintenance is key
Once your eyebrows are nicely shaped you just need to keep them under control.
Eyebrows don’t grow that quickly, so you can do it every few weeks, or whenever you notice an errant hair appear.
Why does it hurt so much?
Honestly, whichever method you use it will hurt to varying degrees…!
Basically, there are a lot of nerve endings in this area. On top of which the hair follicles are very close to your brow bone. The pain from each individual hair depends on where they are in the growing cycle… so some will hurt more than others.
PAIN FREE TIP #1: You can ease the pain at home by tweezing your brows straight after a shower. Your hair follicles will be more relaxed, and the hair will come out easily.
Before you start …
Know your eyebrows. You look at them every day so this may seem a strange thing to say. But it helps to really examine your brows first.
You can determine their natural shape. This is what you’re aiming to keep to, just a little cleaner and more defined. You can also see where the stray hairs tend to grow, and what type of hair you have …
All of this will determine which grooming technique works best for you.
Eyebrow shaping at home
If you’re a beginner at brow maintenance, then tweezing is an easy first step. Below is a quick guide on how to pluck your eyebrows, without overdoing it!
TWEEZING
You will need:
- tweezers - Make sure you have a really good pair of tweezers. They’re going to make the job a lot easier and quicker because they will grasp the hair firmly. Always keep the points clean so that they can close around the hair firmly. Those with a slanted end work the best.
- an eyebrow comb – but a normal comb will do, or alternatively an old toothbrush.
- small sharp scissors
STEP 1: TRIM FIRST
The first step to natural looking, well-groomed eyebrows is to remove excess bulk and trim the excessively long hairs.
Sometimes this is all that your brows will need.
Trimming will instantly make them look lighter and more groomed. It will also help to keep the hairs in place.
So trim first and then decide if you need to remove any other hair after that.
To trim your brows, first...
Brush your eyebrows upwards
Using your comb (or old toothbrush), brush your eyebrows upwards so that the hairs point towards your hairline. You will see immediately which hairs are longer and extend beyond the natural top line of your brows.
Trimming the outlying hairs
Using your small, sharp scissors carefully trim these long hairs using the natural line of your brow as a guide. The goal here is to create a nice uniform shape and length of hair.
STEP 2: DEFINE THE START AND END POINTS
The most important thing to know when shaping your eyebrows is where each brow should start and where it should finish!
How to get rid of a unibrow?
Eyebrow shaping for men is a lot about getting rid of a unibrow.
Start Point: the start of your eyebrow is crucial - you don't want them looking too close together, or alternatively too far apart either.
To define the perfect start point of your eyebrow you'll need a comb to use as a straight line on your face.
Line the comb vertically in front of your face from the outer sides of the tip of your nose up to your eyebrows. This is where your brows should start.
Everything in between should be hairless. So tweeze all of the hairs which fall between the two start points of your brows.
Remember, that this should be the farthest that you go between the brows. You don’t want them to look too far apart.
End Point: Again using your comb, create a straight line from the tip of your nose to the outside edge of your eye, and extend. Where this ‘line’ meets your brow is the natural end point.
Pluck all of the hairs that go beyond this point.
Always start slowly. You can always take away more hair, but if you take too much at the start you'll have to wait for it to grow back.
PAIN FREE TIP #2: When you start plucking, make sure you stretch your skin slightly and grasp the hair firmly between the tweezers.
STEP 3: CLEAN UP FROM UNDERNEATH
When we’re grooming brows, it’s all about cleaning them up, not radically altering their natural shape.
So the next step is to pluck isolated hairs that lie outside the natural line of the brows themselves.
You don't have to take away all of the hairs, just the obvious outliers. Keeping to a slightly curved line.
And very importantly, only take away hairs from the underneath of the brow, not the top.
Tweezing away the top hair can make everything look too overdone, so avoid this.
STEP 4: SOOTHE AWAY ANY REDNESS
Once you’ve happy with the shape, splash your face with cold water to flush the area of any loose hairs.
PAIN FREE TIP #3: Slick some of our Hydrating Daily Moisturizer (which contains soothing Aloe Vera) over the plucked area to calm and hydrate your skin.
Best Face Moisturizer for Soothing and Hydrating
This soothing, hydrating moisturizer designed for men will calm any redness from the tweezing.
It also keeps your skin looking smooth and matt (no greasy forehead!) - and reduces any fine lines and wrinkles, especially around your eyes.
(And if you're new to skincare we've got a helpful step by step guide here - "Beginner's Guide to Men's Skincare").
Should I shave my eyebrows to shape them?
We mention this option with caution!
Compared to tweezing or waxing, shaving your eyebrows is the least painful – but also the most risky. One slip of the razor and you'll have half an eyebrow left!
So shaving should be kept strictly for getting rid of your unibrow – and use tweezers for removing the other hairs.
When it comes to the unibrow area if you are going to shave then use our PROTECTIVE SHAVE CREAM. This will give you a much smoother finish, with no irritation. It’s also translucent so you can see exactly where you’re shaving!
Best Shave Cream for Accurate Shaving
Our Protective Shave Cream is based on moisturizing Glycerin and enriched with Shea Butter to nourish and protect your skin, along with Apricot Stone Oil to lubricate for easier shaving.
Just remember that the eyebrow hairs will grow back a lot quicker when you shave rather than tweeze, and black stubble can appear quite quickly.
You’ll need to repeat the process every few days to keep everything nice and neat. So it pays to use a good quality shave cream that will protect the skin in this delicate area.
Our Protective Shave Cream includes Aloe Vera to soothe your skin and purifying Tea Tree Oil to help reduce any redness or irritation.
Its luxurious, nourishing formula leaves your skin beautifully smooth, clear and hydrated.
Eyebrow slits
If you want to channel your inner Jason Mamoa and shave a line (or two) into your eyebrow, then again it’s good to use our Protective Shave Cream to get a smooth finish.
How to cut lines in your eyebrows?
Start by brushing your eyebrow hair up with an eyebrow comb (or old toothbrush).
Smooth some Protective Shave Cream over the area where you want the slit to be.
The cream is translucent so you can see exactly where you’re shaving – no need to use any tape.
Decide where you want the cut to go. Hold your skin taut with one hand. Then slowly, and with a steady hand, use your razor to create the slit. Use small motions and using the razor edge to get the lines straight and clean.
Take your time to get it exactly as you want it.
After you’ve finished wipe off the cream and apply some moisturiser to soothe the area.
Professional eyebrow treatments
If you have a lot of eyebrow hair that tweezing just won’t be able to control then there are other options for eyebrow grooming that work really well. They don’t cost very much and can take only a few minutes in the hands of an experienced professional.
WAXING
Waxing can remove a lot of unwanted hairs all at once. So this is for you if you have a fair amount of hair which falls outside the natural line of your brows.
Eyebrow waxing is a lot quicker than tweezing, and it's a better choice if you want a little more of a defined look.
We shouldn’t have to say this but never attempt waxing yourself at home! This is definitely one for the professionals.
And you need to find someone who is experienced in masculine-focused eyebrow waxing. A good professional will start by trimming your brows as described above so that they can see the natural shape of your brows and get rid of any bulk with scissors first.
Then explain to them exactly what you want, before they begin waxing.
You don't want this to go wrong as your hair may not grow back for quite a few weeks.
Waxing usually lasts anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on your hair growth.
Pros: It can remove a lot of hair at once, and pretty quickly. It gives clear definition to your brows.
Cons: It should only be done by a professional with experience in masculine brows. If they take out too much it can take a long time to grow back.
THREADING
Threading is great for you if you who want a very specific defined look, and you don't mind some ‘up close and personal’ treatment.
Threading is done with a small, twisted thread that catches and pulls hairs out in a smooth, straight line.
It's slightly less painful than waxing and allows for finer, more precise shaping.
If you want to know how it feels there’s a great account here – "Threaded Bliss: Why more men are getting their eyebrows shaped".
Pros: Less painful than waxing. More precise removal of hair. Gives an excellent defined shape.
Cons: As with waxing, you need to find a professional that you trust.
The Takeaway
Well-groomed brows can totally transform your face, accentuating your eyes and making you look younger and well rested.
Follow these rules and, even as a beginner, you can make your eyes look instantly more magnetic.
-
Eyebrow goals to aim for
- Short, even length of hair
- Two clearly, defined eyebrows (no unibrow)
- Slight asymmetry
-
Less is more
- Nothing dramatic
- Keep the thickness
- Maintenance is key
-
Before you start
- Know your eyebrows to determine the best shape and grooming method
Eyebrow shaping at home:
-
Tweezing
- Trim first
- Define start and end points
- Remove stray hairs from underneath to open up eye area
- Soothe away any redness
-
Shaving
- Only for the unibrow area
- Or when you want cut lines for eyebrow slits
Professional treatments:
- Waxing
Pros: Removes a lot of hair at once, and quickly. Gives clear definition to brows.
Cons: Need a professional with experience in masculine-focused brows.
- Threading
Pros: Less painful than waxing. More precise removal of hair.
Cons: As with waxing, you need to find a professional that you trust.
And to complete your perfectly groomed look ...
SHOP THE ROUTINE.
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