Like nail shape, the shape of your brows depends on your personal preference, but keep in mind that your eyebrows can affect your whole expression. In general, the beginning of the brow should be aligned with the center of the nostril below it and extend a bit past the outer corner of the eye. The arch should fall over the outside third of the eye. Tweezing too far in from the inner edge of the eyebrow will make your eyes look smaller; plucking too much from the bottom will make you look perpetually surprised. If you have doubts, leave the hair unplucked. Be sure to tweeze in the direction that the hair grows and pluck only one hair at a time. Proceed with caution! Eyebrow hair grows back slowly.
There are ways to reduce the pain and irritation that result from tweezing. Take a hot shower before tweezing, or hold a warm washcloth on the area. But whatever you do, don't numb the area with ice: Cooling the area closes the pores, making it more difficult to remove the hair and causing more pain. When you're finished, wipe the tweezed area with a cotton ball soaked with astringent to prevent infection.
Reviewed: July 27, 2001
