What the Pluck?

Now ladies, this one I learned the hard way. I’m a 365 day plucker – that’s right, I pluck daily. Most people who know me would probably pass me off as a “wax girl”, however, after two what I will call, “rainbow” incidents (you know what I mean, the golden arches over my eyes), I decided my money was better spent on pedicures. Not to say that there are not gifted stylists and aestheticians, because there are – my friend Kate is obsessed with her brow boy. I for one just lost patience after my two hack jobs, I mean wax jobs, that I decided to take my eyebrows into my own hands…or tweezers rather. So I’ve been successfully plucking for 10+ years. I’ve included some brow basics below:

1) I highly recommend using tweezers with the slanted tips. The slanted tip provides for greater accuracy and a more effective grip.

2) If you are super sensitive to the plucking, you can numb your brows with a good -old-fashioned ice pack.

3) Only pluck from the bottom. More specifically, pluck the stray hairs on the underside of your brows.

4) Pluck any miscellaneous hairs and shape from the underside as well.

5) Your eyebrow width and shape should correspond with your face shape. See the beauty hobby blog, which outlines the best shape brow for your face shape.
BeautyHobby

6) To further define or fill in your brows, you have a few options. For a more dramatic look, use an eyeliner pencil and smudge the pencil lines into your brows with a sponge brush or angled eyeliner brush. For a softer, more subtle fill, use the angled eyeliner brush and eye shadow. The color of both the pencil and/or shadow should be a shade or two lighter than your natural brow color.

7) Should you choose a fuller brow and/or have difficulty taming the brow, MAC's brow set product is FABULOUS. It essentially sets your brows while adding a bit of shine (think of it as adding a little styling pomade and highlights to your brows)! MAC Brow Set

8) Whatever you do, pluck the hairs in the direction in which they grow. We’ve all had the urge to pluck the hair in the opposite direction. You get a good grip on the stubborn little sucker and then you just give it a rip. Well one of two things could potentially happen. 1) that hair may never grow back or 2) you may develop an infected hair follicle. Here comes the story:

I was working on Capitol Hill at the time and my girlfriend and I were out to lunch. I asked her if she could see this annoying bump thing on my eyebrow, to which she replied, “yeah, maybe the nurse on call will have a band aid or something.” So we go to the nurse on call to try and ascertain what this eyebrow bump-ness was. I’m not even kidding you, she said that I needed to leave work and go to my primary care physician immediately. I’m thinking, “what? For a bump on my brow?” Apparently this was potentially much more serious than I originally thought. So I’m at my desk thinking, “exactly how do I craft the email to my Chief of Staff stating that I need to leave the office immediately for an eyebrow emergency?”

My primary care physician explained that when I plucked my eyebrow in the opposite direction, it essentially left a little hole in my skin, which then became infected and caused the bump. So there I was topical ointment in hand and band-aid over the eyebrow like a prize fighter. I went back to work the next day, (where I worked with like 99% guys mind you). So of course the question of the day, “so uh…Sara…what happened?” I mean what could I say? So naturally I replied, “you should see the other guy."