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October 23, 2011 11:51 AM Subscribe
Nose hairs, I have em. Help a brother out with some trimming advice.
I'm looking for advice on how to maintain my nasal hair. About a decade ago a female friend gifted me and a buddy nose hair trimmers. Part "Ha ha, you're getting old!" gag gift, part, "No, but seriously." nudge. It broke after a couple of years. I'm tired of manually plucking (Ow!) and would like to invest in a solution that will last and do the job right.
Manual or electric? Anyone have any particular favorites?
I'm looking for advice on how to maintain my nasal hair. About a decade ago a female friend gifted me and a buddy nose hair trimmers. Part "Ha ha, you're getting old!" gag gift, part, "No, but seriously." nudge. It broke after a couple of years. I'm tired of manually plucking (Ow!) and would like to invest in a solution that will last and do the job right.
Manual or electric? Anyone have any particular favorites?
Oh jesus christ, why are you PLUCKING your nosehairs!?! That sounds awful! Stop torturing yourself.
I am a lady-type descended from a long line of nosehair sufferers, on both sides. I keep mine in check (ok, I wage full-scale war and obliterate the bastards) with a little electric whatsit that I think is actually intended for bikini lines. Dunno. But it works for me. Mine is purple and girly, but the relevant attachment looks like this. A little skinnier, though. Just stick it up your nose (carefully!), turn it on, and give it a (gentle!) sweep around the nostril. Blow your nose afterwards and you're good to go.
posted by phunniemee at 12:03 PM on October 23, 2011
I am a lady-type descended from a long line of nosehair sufferers, on both sides. I keep mine in check (ok, I wage full-scale war and obliterate the bastards) with a little electric whatsit that I think is actually intended for bikini lines. Dunno. But it works for me. Mine is purple and girly, but the relevant attachment looks like this. A little skinnier, though. Just stick it up your nose (carefully!), turn it on, and give it a (gentle!) sweep around the nostril. Blow your nose afterwards and you're good to go.
posted by phunniemee at 12:03 PM on October 23, 2011
I find the electric rotary trimmers to be impossibly ticklish. Use a pair of small nail scissors, preferably the type with a bit of curve to the blades.
posted by gnutron at 12:15 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by gnutron at 12:15 PM on October 23, 2011
I have this thing and it works just fine on nose and ear hair. It came with a couple of attachments for eyebrows too.
posted by COD at 12:17 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by COD at 12:17 PM on October 23, 2011
I have one of these. It does the job without any pulling. It's not the most accurate of devices and needs to be wiggled about to cover all of the angles, but it's OK.
The battery/switch can be a bit fiddly, but I'm not sure if that's due to the model or I just have a duff one.
posted by Solomon at 12:28 PM on October 23, 2011
The battery/switch can be a bit fiddly, but I'm not sure if that's due to the model or I just have a duff one.
posted by Solomon at 12:28 PM on October 23, 2011
Take a regular manual disposable razor tailored for women's legs. I use BICs with semi-transparent pastel-colored handles that come in a pink plastic bag of ten. Brands made for beard (Gilette, BIC with yellow handles) don't work as well because they are bigger and have multiple blades sitting tightly together. That doesn't work when you do the following maneuver:
Stick the end of the razor sideways up your nostril and turn the shaft in a big circle, shaving the interior walls clean to a depth of around ten millimeters. I prefer a clockwise turn for the right nostril and counterclockwise for the left one. You'll be able to figure this out.
Anything the razor cannot reach is deeply rooted, and you can pluck that with tweezers. It doesn't hurt when the hairs are that far in, it actually feels funny in a nice way, and they grow slowly enough that you won't see them again in many months.
This is tried and true and takes 30 seconds, and I never gave myself a serious cut.
posted by springload at 12:31 PM on October 23, 2011
Stick the end of the razor sideways up your nostril and turn the shaft in a big circle, shaving the interior walls clean to a depth of around ten millimeters. I prefer a clockwise turn for the right nostril and counterclockwise for the left one. You'll be able to figure this out.
Anything the razor cannot reach is deeply rooted, and you can pluck that with tweezers. It doesn't hurt when the hairs are that far in, it actually feels funny in a nice way, and they grow slowly enough that you won't see them again in many months.
This is tried and true and takes 30 seconds, and I never gave myself a serious cut.
posted by springload at 12:31 PM on October 23, 2011
Plucking nosehairs is what I do when I want to punish myself.
I use a Dovo Klipette otherwise. No batteries necessary.
posted by rhizome at 12:33 PM on October 23, 2011 [3 favorites]
I use a Dovo Klipette otherwise. No batteries necessary.
posted by rhizome at 12:33 PM on October 23, 2011 [3 favorites]
I steal the other half's nail scissors and make sure they're clean afterwards.
Don't pluck. No shit, twice in my life I've had an ingrown nose hair COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE. You don't want that.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:34 PM on October 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don't pluck. No shit, twice in my life I've had an ingrown nose hair COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE. You don't want that.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:34 PM on October 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
I also note that as I age, the pluckables are seated deeper and deeper. I wonder if there are hairs starting way way back which have been growing my whole life, just taking their time to find the right way out. I sort of dream about getting hold of a bunch from a place well into the head, pulling them out by the roots and discovering that nose-breathing has a whole new dimension to it.
posted by springload at 12:48 PM on October 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by springload at 12:48 PM on October 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Do not pluck your nose hairs. You are inviting infection to come take roost in the inner dwellings of your snot house. You do not want those kinds of nosy neighbors. Get an electric nose-hair trimmer. Most electric beard trimmers have nose-hair attachments.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:57 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:57 PM on October 23, 2011
I've tried the manual nose hair trimmers but they don't work all that well.
I have small very well made, very fine-tipped scissors; I go in there very very carefully with a mini maglight and these scissors.
posted by porpoise at 1:46 PM on October 23, 2011
I have small very well made, very fine-tipped scissors; I go in there very very carefully with a mini maglight and these scissors.
posted by porpoise at 1:46 PM on October 23, 2011
I use very small scissors and pluck with Tweezerman if necessary.
posted by denverco at 1:59 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by denverco at 1:59 PM on October 23, 2011
Beard trimmer on electric clippers, or
warning: advanced Iron Fist Kung-Fu technique
with one hand, I lift the tip of my nose up and sideways, away from the to-be-trimmed nostril, for maximum hair exposure, while with the other hand I use a normal disposable razor in a down stroke with very little pressure to trap the nose hairs against the upper lip and shave them. This doesn't get them at the root, but it does get them so that they're not sticking out of the nostrils like an awful nose-stache.
The tricky part is that any sideways motion on the stroke will result in a painless but annoying nostril nick.
posted by zippy at 2:08 PM on October 23, 2011
warning: advanced Iron Fist Kung-Fu technique
with one hand, I lift the tip of my nose up and sideways, away from the to-be-trimmed nostril, for maximum hair exposure, while with the other hand I use a normal disposable razor in a down stroke with very little pressure to trap the nose hairs against the upper lip and shave them. This doesn't get them at the root, but it does get them so that they're not sticking out of the nostrils like an awful nose-stache.
The tricky part is that any sideways motion on the stroke will result in a painless but annoying nostril nick.
posted by zippy at 2:08 PM on October 23, 2011
My experience with a $20 battery-powered rotary cutter was that it didn't work well, was cheaply made, and soon quit working. I prefer scissors. There are special nose-hair scissors with rounded tips, so if you slip you don't accidentally gouge your tender nose insides. Look for them in the ladies' makeup department at your favorite store near the tweezers and such. I'm happy with scissors that cost $7. Then figure out a schedule for regularly trimming the nose, so you're always looking your nose-hair-free best!
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:06 PM on October 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by exphysicist345 at 6:06 PM on October 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have tried a bunch of the suggested methods listed above, and currently use something similar to the cheapy trimmer linked by phunniemee. It works reasonably well for the hairs that I can't get at easily using the razor swipe method that others mentioned. What I've always really wanted to find was a narrow disposable-style razor head with the handle on the end, so that I didn't have to try to contort my nostril to do the razor trick. This thread gave me the inspiration to search for something like that, and low-and-behold -- the fairer sex seems to have perfected something called an "eyebrow shaper" that looks like just the ticket. I just ordered a pack. Hopefully I won't maim myself, or cry like a baby from the (super-manly) pain.
posted by bmosher at 7:19 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by bmosher at 7:19 PM on October 23, 2011
One more point with the Iron Fist Kung Fu technique above - pinch the nostril when shaving the hairs. This causes the hairs to stick out further than normal, so you can shave them and when you release the nostril they'll be shorn and retreat above the nostril line.
posted by zippy at 11:57 PM on October 23, 2011
posted by zippy at 11:57 PM on October 23, 2011
Answering from someone else with the issue - get the scissors with blunted tips, like tiny rounded circles on the ends. That way you can poke them into your nose (or get someone else to do it for you) without worrying about accidentally impaling yourself. Any large drugstore should have them with the manicure sets.
posted by viggorlijah at 4:36 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by viggorlijah at 4:36 AM on October 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by trogdole at 12:00 PM on October 23, 2011