Eyebrows accentuate your eyes and the shape can highlight your entire face. Whether you have a few stray eyebrow hairs or very thick eyebrows, waxing will give them a more defined, neat look. Eyebrow waxing can be quite tricky, however; a few misplaced drops of wax can change the entire shape of your eyebrows. It’s therefore best to observe a professional at a salon a few times before you try experimenting on your own.
Types of Eyebrow Wax
Cold Wax
Cold eyebrow wax is similar to hot wax, but there is no heat involved. With the elimination of heat, applying the wax may be easier for some people. Also, preparing cold wax to be applied to the eyebrow area is much less messy than hot wax. Cold eyebrow waxing treatments can be purchased in kits so that in-home applications can be performed, but cold wax eyebrow hair removal may also be available in salons. Cold wax strips are removed from the eyebrow area in a similar method to that of a hot wax treatment.
Hot Wax
Using hot eyebrow wax can be done either in a salon or in the privacy of a person’s own home. For anyone who is not extremely pain-resistant or who is inexperienced with waxing the hair on their own body, it is recommended that a professional complete the job.
Having hot wax applied to the eyebrow area is not painful, but may feel very warm or hot for a few seconds before it cools and attaches itself to the hair it touches. Usually, before the wax is cool, strips of cotton are applied to the top of the wax layer to use as a tool to remove the wax once it’s ready. After it is completely cool, the person administering the waxing must rip the cooled strips of wax off the person’s face. The whole process sounds like cruel and unusual punishment, but only hurts for a few minutes.
Sugaring
Using the sugaring method of removing unwanted eyebrow hair is similar to the hot and cold wax methods, but a type of sugar paste is used instead of wax. This way of removing body hair is the oldest known hair removal method and dates back to ancient times.
Sugaring is similar to waxing in that it is applied to the areas where hair removal is desired and the sugar paste sticks to the hair. When the paste solidifies, it is ripped off, taking the unwanted hair with it. The biggest difference between wax and sugar is that the sugar paste will not stick to the skin. Any sugar residue can be washed off the skin with soap and water. With either hot or cold wax, this is not an option, and any left-over wax must be picked off the skin.
Tips for Eyebrow Waxing
If you need to wax above the eyebrows, apply wax against or with the hair growth and remove against the hair growth
Never wax above the eyebrow, only ever shape from below. Waxing from under the brow will widen your eyes and help to get the line even. This will make you look younger and much more glamorous if done correctly!
As soon as it is applied remove the wax against the hair growth, (i.e. in the opposite direction that the hair grows in). This is done by gently smoothing a piece of cotton muslin over the waxed area, pulling the skin taut with one hand, and pulling the muslin off with the other.
It is a good idea to take a little hair off at a time, especially if you have fairly this growth. You will be surprised how much difference a little hair removal will make to your appearance.
Warning
Eyebrow waxing is something best left to the professionals only. It a pretty risky at-home treatment (molten wax near your eyes could be a recipe for A&E!), since the precision involved in applying wax to the brow area is something that takes specific training and years of experience to really master.
Add to that the issue that many people can have skin sensitivities towards depilatory wax (your peeling skin being a case in point here, I suspect) and you’re in a potential minefield of beauty nightmares!