Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with eyebrows

How to deal with eyebrow hairs too short to pluck?

shelayna — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:14:46 -0800

Please tell me what to do about my "eyebrow stubble." For years I didn't bother plucking my eyebrows on a regular basis, but I finally got tired of the bushy look. So lately I've been plucking them, but I'm really bothered by the hairs under the brow line that in the beginning stages of growth are too short to be tweezed- they look like stubble. All I can do is wait til they get long enough to tweeze.

I hate the way it looks- like a bunch of little black dots underneath my eyebrows. Should I be waxing or something else instead of plucking? I'm not really a girly-girl so I don't know much about these things.

Flaky Brows, Help Me Out!

amicamentis — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:52:46 -0800

Why are my eyebrows so dry, and how can I make this better? The cold weather has exacerbated a problem that I have had for a while now - the skin around and underneath my eyebrows is becoming very flaky and dry.

My routine consists of washing with plain water in the morning followed by a regular, noncomodogenic moisturizer (paying special attention to my eyebrow area) and at night using a cream cleanser and the same moisturizer. I don't have this problem on the rest of my face, at all.

Is there a more intense moisturizer I should be using on my eyebrows alone? Will exfoliating more often help? Perhaps use a conditioner on my eyebrows (although this seems weird, and I would rather not). Is there a reason the dryness is so concentrated?

Two eyebrows, please.

gavagai — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:51:10 -0800

Where's a good place in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to get my eyebrows de-Munstered? I'm a female with some pretty serious eyebrows (verging into eyebrow, singular, if I'm not careful). I've never had them waxed, shaped, or threaded before, and friends' terror tales of overwaxed sperm eyebrows make me fearful of having it done. I'd be fine with having thickish eyebrows as long as they no longer look as if someone needs to take a wheedwhacker to them, so I'd like to go to a place that will rip with discrimination.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good eyebrow wax or thread in the Twin Cities?

Eyebrow dye error

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:29:52 -0800

I dyed my eyebrows--can you help me fix this mistake? I had done this for years will no ill effects--I can still see, never got any dye in my eye, etc. I haven't for awhile. I decided to to my hair again to cover the gray, and once that was done and my graying eyebrows stood out, I did them too.

And I ended up with what everyone warned me about but never happened before--not blindness but big bushy dark caveman eyebrows.

I'd rather not visit a pro. Is there any DIY solution to this? My hair is dark brown and my eyebrows are now very dark brown and seemingly twice their size.

Where did all the eyebrows go?

divka — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:41:31 -0800

Should I stop worrying that my one of my cat eats my other cats' eyebrows? It appears to be an entirely consensual act. All right, so I have two male cats (unrelated, neutered) who love each other. They express this, in part, through mutual grooming. I've noticed recently that the orange cat has been vigorously nibbling at the brown cat's eyebrow whiskers during the grooming sessions. Now, all the eyebrow whiskers on one side are entirely gone. His fur and skin in this area look perfectly normal.

This happened before--but with the other side of the brown cat's head. Those have grown back in now--so I guess they've been switching sides. Both the orange cat and brown cat appear to be extremely blissed out during the eyebrow nibbling.

The brown cat is fully capable of defending himself. He is, in fact, the dominant cat in this situation.

Of course, one cat over-grooming himself is signs of bad things. But this? I'm not so sure how much to worry about it. Plus, I don't know how I'd stop it if I'd try. Much of the loving action takes place when I'm not home.

And yes...I could call the vet and ask. But, I'd like some outside cat-loving opinions before I call and have my vet make fun of me over this one.

How would I go about dyeing my eyebrows?

Baethan — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:19:45 -0800

My eyebrows are greyish, while the rest of my hair is dark blond. What can I do? My hair color (which is natural) is dark blond, almost brown. My eyebrows are much darker than the rest of my hair. I know this is far from unusual, but they have a very definite grey tint to them that doesn't look good on me. It may just be an effect of having long and slightly sparse hairs, as individual hairs look more or less black.
How can I lighten them? I read somewhere on askmefi that someone accidentally bleached their hair with hydrogen peroxide, which sounds like one possible option, but I'm concerned about making sure the shade is right and that both eyebrows match. Maybe there's a way to bleach them gradually?
I also read about the existence of dye meant specifically for eyebrows, supposedly located in supermarkets. I don't recall seeing anything like that in a grocery store, but I don't really visit the dye aisle often. I'm worried that a kit like this would be too expensive (I've never used one before, so I don't know how well it would work or if the color will come out right).
Final option (that I can think of) : visit a beauty parlor and get them professionally done. I'd rather not do this, as my complaint is so minor it doesn't warrant spending much money.
So, mefi, what do you think?

When will the eyebrow wax wane?

bluefly — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:31:41 -0800

I just had my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever last week. I am a lackadaisical plucker at best, so this is probably the best my eyebrows have ever looked. How long should I wait before I get them waxed again (i.e. how much time or how long should I let the hairs get)? Also, what kind of maintenance should I be doing in between?

Eyebrow waxing gone bad

octomato — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:43:53 -0800

Eyebrow problem So, today i went to get my eyebrowns cleaned up as I usually do once a month. There was a new lady at the place who waxed them after I told her exactly what I needed done. I have (had) very thick eyebrows that i love. but now, i have thin ones. I am sort of in shock. I cried after i saw what she had done. Theyre not a bad shape, theyre just very thin. I dont think ill get used to this. What can I do other than wear my glasses for two months and hope they'll grow back?

She's Got Betty Davis Eyes Lloyd Bridge's Brows

maryh — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 05:57:15 -0800

If I were to forego eyebrow grooming for, oh, about four days, I would probably look like this. Here's my big trouble: Given my advanced age and the size of my pores, I seem to have this permanant brow stubble that I can't quite reach to pluck. It makes me feel like a big ol' mess, but I'm not inclined to go to a professional about it it (mostly for reasons of $$$- That seems like a trivial option compared to keeping my family fed.) I haven't found a wax that can get to those little hairs, and bleach only works for a day. I assume I'm doing something very wrong, so I'm open to any and all suggestions.

what's a better 'brow?

j-urb — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 08:36:34 -0800

This morning I work up and realized that my eyebrows need a good trim. I'm a guy and the thought of doing this is disturbing although I think it must be done. Although my eyebrows aren't as anywhere close to being as bad as Grandpa Munster, they are pretty thick which does give me the appearance of looking a lot older than I am. Can I get this done professionally with a stylist? The thought of messing this up really scares me and I want them done right. I don't want to look like the kid who woke up after he had passed out only to find that his right eyebrow went AWOL. Also since I shave my head, is there any style of eyebrow which would looks particularly good? And what exactley is overkill on this? What are examples of trimmings that have gone too far? Please avoid obvious examples, this would include Boy George.

Trimming one's own eyebrows?

0xFCAF — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:40:11 -0800

GuyGroomingFilter: How do I trim my eyebrows? Not for length/shape, but just the bushiness A long time ago when I was getting my haircut at a fancy salon (family discount), the stylist did some very fast operation with the hair trimmers and a comb that resulted in my eyebrows looking really great. It looked like she just reduced the length of the individual hairs by running over them with the trimmer, but I wasn't paying attention and was kind of surprised.

These days I go to a cheap barber or SuperCuts or whatever and don't really trust them to understand my English enough to not just shave them off entirely, which is obviously not what I want.

So how can I do this from the comfort of my own bathroom? Current materials include comb and beard trimmer, but I'm willing to spend money (especially if it means I won't accidentaly shave one off).

To be very clear, I am not interested in plucking/waxing/etc to change the shape/length, I just want to decrease the bushiness factor.

Split ends on eyebrows. Common? Can it be fixed?

weston — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 23:59:13 -0800

My eyebrows consistently have weird split ends, breaks, hinging. Does this happen to anyone else? Does it mean anything? Is there something I can do to stop this?

Eyebrow waxing and acne

maudlin — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:12:13 -0800

I had my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever yesterday and half of my forehead is now full of tiny zits. I have blackheads and rosacea, but didn't think the waxing would affect large areas of skin because the line of wax applied was so thin. But for an hour after the waxing, I was scarlet from my eyelids to halfway up my forehead. This soon faded to patchy pink, then the zits appeared last night. I carefully squeezed the pus from several of them after my shower this morning, but several are just inflamed red spots with no heads.

I ain't putting any of my rosacea medication or Differin on my forehead until it calms down. The waxer applied a "calming" cream afterwards that did extend well beyond my eyebrows, so this may be the cause of my breakouts or it may be exacerbating the reaction to waxing.

Is this a typical reaction? How long until this calms down? My sister says that your skin gets used to repeated waxing, but I'm inclined to go back to tweezing now that waxing established a nice shape.

What is eyebrow waxing like?

Dreama — Sun, 17 Oct 2004 23:15:13 -0800

Eyebrow waxing: is it torture? Is it simple and easy? Somewhere in between? I've been offered a free "sculpting" by an aesthetician friend but I'm wary. I don't dig pain, especially not for something as frivolous as more shapely brows. (I swear I think about my eyebrows maybe once a year.) Should I do it? Should I run screaming far, far away from this friend and her implements of doom? If you've done it, share your experiences -- especially the worst of them.