How to keep wild brows in check

This ancient Middle Eastern technique quickly gained popularity in the States and it's easy to see why. When brows are threaded, a cotton thread is tightly wrapped around the hair, and pulled to lift the follicle up from its root. Natural and target-specific, threading is often regarded as being less painful and irritating than waxing. The results of hair removal by threading also last slightly longer than waxing.

The downside: Finding a talented threading technician in your area can be a little tricky. Women with lighter brows sometimes find that threading doesn’t take care of their short, light hairs as well as waxing does.

Widely available, this traditional hair removal technique can actually reduce hair growth over time. Waxing can be performed on any length of hair, removing even the shortest, lightest, hard-to-see hairs.

The downside: Pain and skin irritability are the two major downsides of waxing. If your skin is sensitive or acne-prone, check with your salon about using a sensitive skin wax — many salons offer a gentler option!

Maintaining at home

It is important to have a quality pair of tweezers, small brow scissors and a brow comb. When plucking at home in between professional shapings, proper lighting is your best tool. Late-morning, natural light is the brightest, allowing you to see stray hairs you may miss in your bathroom mirror. Avoid overtweezing by following the brow shape that was professionally outlined, sticking to tweezing stray hairs between and underneath the brows.

Super products

Keep a couple of brow-specific products in your makeup arsenal to help with brow grooming. Wax pencils, such as Givenchy’s Mister Eyebrow, are newer to the market and allow a more controlled, less goopy application.