Waxing vs. Threading vs. Tweezing vs. Shaving

The first thing I notice on someone’s face are the eyebrows. When I’m out and about, and I see a beautiful face but her eyebrows are a complete disaster – it pains me. It’s just so tragic!

Eyebrows are the frames of the face. Without clean eyebrows, your make up truly suffers. There is no amount of concealer, perfect eyeshadow application or filling-in that will make a bushy eyebrow look polished and symmetrical. I’m aware that the current trend is to have thick eyebrows but there is a huge difference between beautiful thick brows and unruly messy brows.

Having messy eyebrows can make your face look tired, sad and your eyelids more droopy. Cleaning up the hair on your lower brows (the area above your crease) can really open up your eyes and create an instant face-lift.

Look at Angelina Jolie  and how her face changes depending on her eyebrows. I also included a photo of her without eyebrows so you can see how unframed her face is without a set of brows.

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There are several different ways to grooming your eyebrows. It’s really important to go to a professional if you are completely clueless about how to do it. Please, don’t go out and buy wax strips and attempt to wax your brows at home. Although it may seem easy to figure out, you’d be surprised with how one small mistake can ruin the shape of your eyebrows.

There are 4 ways to groom your eyebrows –

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So which method do you chose? Here are my comparisons –

Waxing

This is a pretty standard way of shaping eyebrows. The cost can range anywhere between 300-500 pesos, which isn’t so bad. The good thing is that it’s the fastest method, being able to remove a good amount of hair in one strip. But if you have sensitive skin or a tendency to have allergic reactions this might not be good for you. Also, if your waxing lady isn’t precise, she might take out way too much hair in one strip, resulting to bald spots.

Beware of the ingredients found in some waxes, they can be harsh. Also, waxing removes a layer of skin along with the hair, which can sometimes cause redness and irritation. Expect hair growth after 7 days.

Added bonus: long term waxing can damage hair follicles, resulting to less trips to your waxing lady.

Threading

This is one of the oldest methods of hair removal. Most recommended by dermatologists because of its lack of side effects and the use of the disposable cotton thread that makes it very hygienic. Threading is super cheap, about 250-300 pesos, and can get rid of the finest and shortest of hairs, which is nice because you won’t have to wait until your eyebrows start to get bushy before you run into the salon. A downfall is that it does take longer than waxing, and can sometimes be more painful. Expect hair growth after 5 days.

Added bonus: very small chance of ingrown hairs.

Tweezing

The great thing about tweezing is its convenience. You can also use this method as a way to buy you more time in between waxing and threading, just tweezing out the obvious strays. I wouldn’t recommend doing this method if you tend to have very fine hair as it will take a lot of patience to find, target and pull out thin, almost invisible looking hair. It’s challenging to grab on to the thin strands, not to mention very painful too. And unless you are skilled at shaping, you’ll have to be very very VERY careful not to over-tweeze. Remember ladies, eyebrows are cousins, not twins. They are never going to be identical.

The good thing though, is that once you get the hang of it, it’s a very cheap and convenient way of cleaning up your brows. Expect hair growth after 7 days.

Added bonus: You can do it in the car, at home or at work.

Shaving

This is the fastest most pain free method. The problem is its complete lack of precision, making it prone to accidents. Shaving only removes the surface area of the hair, which makes it last a very short amount of time. Instead of the hair growing out finely, it grows out thick and dark. Also, shaving has a tendency to lead to ingrown hair, which can be very painful on an area as sensitive as your eye. Expect hair growth after 1-2 days.

So ladies, now you have no excuse – go get those babies tamed!

And if you want to know what method I like to do on myself, I like to tweeze my own brows because it’s zero pesos and I’m familiar with my own brow shape. But for the days I’m lazy, I go to either Micon or Lisa of Basement Salon Shangrila Edsa.

 


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