Eyebrow Waxing at home !!

Who doesn’t love a great eyebrow waxing? Not only do the brows have a cleaner look, it can make a huge difference balancing and complementing our other facial features.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 25 minutes for waxing eyebrows

Here’s How:

1. Buy waxing kit. Compare waxing kit prices.
2. Have enough hair. Eyebrow hair needs to be at least 1/4" long.
3. Pull or pin-back hair. You want to see your eyebrows clearly, and not get any wax in your hair.
4. Trim eyebrows if necessary. Brush your eyebrows straight up, and if there are any hairs longer coming out of your natural shape on top, then you need to trim. Use a fine-tooth regular comb or an eyebrow brush to push eyebrow hair up, and then just trim what is outside the shape with small scissors (preferably eyebrow scissors). If you have long or very bushy eyebrows, they may need more bulk removed, see the step-by-step to trimming brows.
5. Cleanse eyebrow area. Use pre-wax cleanser on eyebrows and surrounding skin, then apply a light dusting of powder with a cotton swab. Don’t over do it on the powder, more isn’t better.
6. Wax on. Apply wax evenly in the direction of hair growth using applicator (wooden stick) to the hair shaping the underneath of your brow. Be careful! You want enough wax to thoroughly cover hair, but not so thick that the wax seeps onto hair that you don’t want to remove.
7. Cover with strip. Apply strip in the direction of hair growth, leaving some leftover strip at the end not attached to hair like a tab (say hair grows from left to right- leave leftover strip on right side). Press and firmly smooth hand over strip in the direction of hair growth a couple times, to ensure wax is attaching to hair and has slightly cooled.
8. Wax off. Grasp onto the end of strip that isn’t attached to hair. Hold skin taut with one hand, and remove strip in opposite direction of hair growth in one quick pull, all the way to the other side. Don’t pull up, which might be your natural inclination. Press hand down on skin to help relieve some of the pain, after strip is removed. (Sounds silly, but it works!) If a little bit of wax with hair remains, simply put strip back on hair and pull off.
9. Repeat. Continue with steps 7-9 for the underneath of your other brow, the middle of your brows and on top of your brows (only to clean up stray hairs outside the shape).
10. Clean up missed hairs. Use tweezers to remove any hairs missed by the wax, and fine-tune the shape.
11. Clean wax off skin. Remove any remaining residue, with wax remover, baby oil or petroleum jelly.
12. Soothe skin. Apply after-wax lotion, or an aloe based lotion or gel.

Tips:

No-heat wax kit – do not use hot wax!

Ice cubes (optional)

All of these items are readily available at drugstores. Now let’s get started!

Step one: Brush your eyebrows, going from in-between your nose outward. This will get all your hairs in their rightful places. Using your white pencil, trace the general outline of your brows. This will give you a natural shape to work with. Any hair that falls outside of the lines will be removed. Some guidelines: Your eyebrows should start right at the inner corner of your eye. Hold your white eyeliner pencil vertically from the corner to help find exactly where to “start” your brows. The arch of your eyebrow should be approximately above your pupil. Again, hold the eyeliner pencil vertically to double check the arch. This should be the “peak” of your eyebrows.

Step two: If your skin is extremely sensitive, rub an ice cube above, below, and between your eyebrows for a few minutes to numb the area. Most people do not need to do this – eyebrow waxing is a little painful, but only for a few moments. Following the directions on your wax kit, thinly spread a layer of wax on the area in between your eyebrows. Be very careful not to get any wax on any part of the hairs within the outline, because it could cause unwanted removal.

Step three (the painful part): Stretch your skin taut with one hand. Press the waxing strip (should be included in any standard waxing kit) across the wax area. Rub firmly to make it stick. Then, with one hand still holding skin taut, rip off the strip in the direction of the hair growth. When you’re doing in between your eyes, pull upward. You did it! Now, spread a thin layer of wax below your brow outline. This is most likely to be where the most hair will be removed. Press your waxing strip firmly on the wax. When you are doing the top or bottom of your brows, pull toward your ears (this helps to prevent ingrown hairs). Rip! Did you get all the hairs? If not, use your tweezers to get those stubborn few that refuse to budge. Now it’s time to do above your brows. Some people do not wax this part, usually because the shape is already natural looking. If you are trying to make your brows thinner than their natural shape, remove more from the bottom of your eyebrows, NOT from the top! Continue these steps until all hairs outside your white outline have been waxed. Rub an ice cube on the areas you have waxed to help “calm” the skin.

Maintain your eyebrow shape with regular tweezing, or let your hairs grow out and re-wax about once a month.

Do NOT wax eyebrows if you are taking Accutane. Read: Waxing Precautions & Warnings for the full list.

Wax your brows in front of a large mirror (not hand-held) so you can see clearly.

Practice using the wax on a small part of your body, like your arm so you get the feel of it. Always test small amount of wax on hand before waxing eyebrows, to make sure it’s warm, not hot.

If you’re worried about pain, apply a numbing spray (compare prices) to a cotton swab and then to eyebrow area. Make sure not to get directly in eyes!

Be extremely careful when applying the wax near your eyes with an applicator. Though not my favorite, wax-on rollers are safer to use for eyebrows because the wax is less likely to drip into the eyes.

What You Need:

• Wax warmer
• Cream wax
• Pre-wax cleanser
• Baby powder
• Muslin strips
• Wooden applicators
• Wax remover for the skin (or you can use baby oil or petroleum jelly)
• After- wax lotion, or aloe based gel
• Tweezers