How to Pluck Your Eyebrows: 6 Steps Without Over-Plucking

Plucking your eyebrows means removing hairs outside your ideal brow shape one by one with tweezers; following a fixed order – map the shape first, then pluck, then check – stops you from taking off too much.

One hair too many and your brow can look off balance for weeks. That's why you don't pluck by feel, but in fixed steps. This guide shows you how to do it at home, which mistakes almost everyone makes and what to do if you do end up with a bald patch. Not sure which shape suits you yet? Read which eyebrow shape suits your face first.

What you need

• Slanted tweezers, clean and disinfected
• A spooly to brush the hairs into place, such as the angled brow brush with spooly
• A marking pencil to outline your shape, such as the White Stick
• Good daylight and a mirror, ideally a normal mirror next to a magnifying one

How to pluck your eyebrows in 6 steps

Step 1 — Cleanse and brush your brows

Make sure your brows are clean and free of oil. Brush the hairs up and in their natural direction with the spooly. Now you can see exactly which hairs sit inside your shape and which grow outside it. If the skin is red or irritated, wait before plucking.

Step 2 — Map and mark your shape

Set your shape before you remove a single hair. Hold a pencil against the side of your nose and find three points: the start (straight up), the arch (across the outer edge of your iris) and the end (towards the outer corner of your eye). Mark the points with the White Stick and connect them into a line. You'll find exactly how to locate the three points in how to find your perfect brow shape.

Step 3 — Hold the skin taut

Gently pull the skin taut with your free hand. It makes plucking less sensitive and stops the skin from moving with the hair.

Step 4 — Pluck one hair at a time

Grip each hair as close to the root as possible and pull it out in the direction of growth, so it doesn't break. Start at the underside of your brow and first remove the hairs that clearly fall outside your marked line. Never pluck several hairs at once.

Step 5 — Switch sides and step back

Alternate between both brows and brush them again in between. Regularly step back from the mirror: a magnifying mirror shows detail, but only from a distance can you see whether both brows are balanced. If your brow looks almost done, it usually is.

Step 6 — Leave your skin alone

Your skin may be slightly red after plucking. Don't scratch it, and skip make-up on the plucked areas for the first few hours.

4 mistakes almost everyone makes

1. Over-plucking. Especially at the start of the brow and under the arch, it's tempting to keep going. Stick to your marked line and stop as soon as it shows.

2. Breaking hairs instead of pulling them out. Broken hairs grow back faster and can become ingrown. Grip low at the skin and pull in the direction of growth.

3. Plucking without a shape. Start without marking and you'll pluck one brow differently from the other. Always outline the shape first.

4. Tidying up every day. Remove a hair daily and you'll also remove hairs your shape needs. Tidy up once every one to two weeks instead, using your marking as a guide.

Fuller brows without filling them in every morning

If your brows are naturally thin or light, plucking is only half the job. Henna tints the hairs and the skin underneath in one go. The hair stays tinted for up to 6 weeks and the skin for up to 1 week, so your brows look fuller for weeks without drawing them in.

Frequently asked questions about plucking eyebrows