Eyebrows

[Constance]

OK, let's test the age of my fellow board-mates.

Anyone remember Bert from Sesame Street? You know: the yellow conehead with the big nose and the 1 eyebrow. Well, I look like Bert, except I'm not yellow and don't have a conehead. The big nose and 1 eyebrow things are true.

Although, by body hair and demeanor, I'm more like Oscar the Grouch. He also has only 1 eyebrow. But, the lucky bastard doesn't have a big nose.

What's the best way to trim and/or thin out eyebrows/an eyebrow? I've got an awful lot to pluck, and shaving seems it could be tricky to do symetrically.

Any suggestions?

[lady amarant]

Giggle. All I can suggest is a tweezer and a vanity-mirror hon. Took me like three hours to pluck the first time - and everything still ended up skew. I've done it twor or three times since, usually with about the same success. Now I've decided to just let it grow out, give the HRT a month or two more, and then go to a pro. They can shape them properly and just teach me how to maintain. That, I think, is the safest bet.

If you truly HAVE to do it yourself, I've got a few good vids in my make-up and grooming playlist on youtube. Feel free to rummage:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=LadyAmarant

Hope it helps!

Posted on: 15 April 2008, 16:31:32And yeah, I remember Bert and Ernie! ... and Grouch and Cookie-Monster and Count and Big-Bird and ... and ...



~Simone.

[Constance]

Egads, plucking. I can feel the tendonitis flaring up just thinking about. Oh, well.

Thanks for the YouTube link. I'll check them out...

[NickSister]

I would second going to a professional the first time (though I didn't, just kept plucking them back till it looked about right - you don't have to do it all at once - just start with the middle bit one day etc..).

After you have it sorted once it is not too hard to maintain. All you need to do is pluck the new hairs as they grow. It hurts at first but after awhile you hardly notice,

Do you think Bert or Earny was the dominant one? I'm guessing it was bert...

[Keira]

Don't pluck all the time (except first when doing slowly the first time),
or in not too long you'll lose your eyebrows!

Natural shape and with a middle thickness 1/2 - 2/3 eye height is best,
a soft not too high arch that peaks outside the eye's outer is
the current in thing (and its been so for several years).

If you've got a strong nose, don't go for thin eyebrows or the nose
is all people will see. Eyebrows have to match you other features.

[Just Mandy]

I found this site a while back... lots of good info:

http://www.eyebrowz.com/tips.htm

[Chaunte]

Hi, Shades!

I am going to recommend a different tact.

Go to a pro and have them wax'ed or sugared professionally.  You can either tell the pro that you are a crossdresser, OR tell her that you want them neatened. 

(Is that really a word?   Make them neat-looking! ) 

This is a great way to get the brows shaped how you want.  From here, maintanence is not too bad.  After a few sessions, you will find that there are fewer hairs to be plucked to maintain the desired shape.

If you do this during a vacation or long weekend, few people will really notice exactly what is different.  They will know that something has changed, but it should quickly pass. 

This is also a great way how to slowly make your appearance more "metro-sexual."

This is what I did with my brows and hair color.  It works.

Chaunte

[Constance]

"A strong nose," now that's a diplomatic way to put it!

[Nero]

waxing?

[Pica Pica]

my housemate sticks acid on his.

[Ms Jessica]

I pluck mine.  A few times I've gotten a little overzealous with the tweezers.  Have to give them a couple weeks to grow in.    Plucking can be really tricky, especially to get both sides balanced.  A lot of times you can wind up whittling your eyebrows down really thin before you get them right, except then your eyebrows are too thin.

Anyway, my Mum noticed the last time I saw her.  She suggested I just go get them done at a salon.  I was really shocked.  I never thought in a million years my Mother would suggest something like that.  I was expecting "leave them alone, you're a boy".  Instead I got a referral.    Anyway, Mum said that the salon she went to had guys in it all the time--businessmen and people like that.  I don't think it's as uncommon as it used to be, maybe even just 20 years ago or so. 
I think businesses don't care why you want your eyebrows done, they just want your business.  If the person asks, tell them your unibrow negatively impacts your sales figures. 

I vote for you to go to a salon (assuming that you live in a place where you won't get beat up for going to a salon).  The bonus about getting them done professionally is that you'll get them done right the first time.  It'll be less noticeable, more like just getting cleaned up.  Sort of like getting your hair trimmed or something. 

[Princess]

plucking hurts me. if you pluck alot will it hurt less?

[Chaunte]

waxing?

Yup.  A warm, thick wax is carefully placed on the hairs to be removed.  A cotton strip is placed on the waxed area and it is rapidly pulled.  It initially stings a little, but its less overall pain than plucking each hair.  Plus, once you have them waxed into shape, you can pluck the individual hairs as they regrow.

Sugaring is similar, but you can wash off the sugar solution if you make a mistake.  It doesn't pull quite as many hairs, but it doesn't have to be hot.

I just had mine redone today.  It's not bad.  I also have thin, female eyebrows now.  Its one more step from busy Burt-brows to metrosexual to female brows.

[Jenifer J]

On a bit of a related matter, I seem to have 'droopy' eyebrows. The area just below the brow droops down and hides the top of my eyelid and just touches my lashes if I open my eyes wide. Is there anything I can do to improve this condition? It gives the impression of being half asleep.

Thanks

Jen

[Keira]

Only upper eyelid surgery can do anything about the droopy eyelids.
If its linked with drooping eyebrows, and eyebrow lift can be done
(endoscopic is the quickest and least expensive)

Though, I think you can get temporary relief if its not too severe with botox
(but if its pronounced, even botox can't help). And with bottox, you
have to redo it every 4-6 months. But. in your case, I think its
probably too much for this solution.

If you have the surgey done in mexico (Cardenas) or Costa Rica
(they have a whole medical tourism industry) its not expensive at all.

As surgery goes, those surgeries are relatively minor with not too
much complications if done by good surgeons. Often the eyelid
and eyebrow are done at the same time and use the same
cut for both. The eyelid surgery scar is in the fold so its not visible.

[Louise]

Bert?  Yes my kids were great Sesame Street fans.  I also have thick busy eyebrows.  Fortunately as I have aged and my hair turned grey and then white, so did my brows.  They are still thick but not so noticeable.  I have recently been thinking of getting them waxed.  When I was younger this was unthinkable for a male.

[saraswatidevi]

Have them waxed the first time, at least. You can then do the touch up tweezing as they grow back in but you will have the correct line to follow. Yes it hurts to wax and to pluck but like other things the first time is the worst. It hurts less as time goes on. I haven't figured if it really hurts less or I just got more used to it. Whatever, the discomfort seems less.

As to the droopy eyelids I agree that surgery is the only permanent way. There is a product that is temporary.

http://www.eyemagic.net/

I bought some of these but I never got into using them. They are little self stick shapes similar to a small eyebrow that you apply just above the crease in the eyelid after applying makeup. They have a matt finish so they don't show. I only used them once because I can only do one eye perfectly. Somehow I can't get my hands into the right position to do the other eye. Maybe I should practice more often. The eye I can do properly looked very good. Actually, It looked good seeing how my eyelids would look if I did something surgical.

[Suzy]

I tried everything before eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).  Don't waste your time and effort.  It's not expensive enough to go to warrant going to Mexico, IMHO.  The surgery itself was covered by insurance, so my cost (including the pre-op visits and diagnostics) was about $1600 with two follow-up chemical peels.

Kristi

[LisaElizabeth]

  eyebrows can be a little tricky.  especially if you still live most your life as a male, as I do!!!
  So-o-o what I did was first removed the middle of the unibrow, following the 'Rule of Thumb' that your eyebrow starts about the width of the tweezers away from the side of your nose.  Then after a few months of tweezing to keep it that way, I decided to go for a 'neater' look. 
  Think Brooke Shields or Ryan Seachrest.  Not bushy but not really dramatically thin or arched.  I also have to trim the length once a month or they get really long.  The little trimmer I bought didn't cost much and the battery lasts 3-4 years, that way I have neatly trimmed brows that are androgynous and look OK whether I am in Drab or Drag as 'the Bard' would say!
  Plucking on a daily basis does get a lot easwier over time.  doesn't hurt near as much now, but then I only have to remove 6-8 hairs on a daily basis.
  Huggs and good plucking!
  Lisa ELizabeth

[Keira]

High arch is NOT in style at all.
Actually, I've found that many Ts I know way overarch their eyebrows,
like they remember what people looked in the 70's or so. I only
see it these days with those who overplucked in the 70's and 80's and
now are stuck with high arch thin eyebrows.

Look at most younger women these days, they've barely got an arch,
beyond their natural one. Usually, the eyebrow now doesn't have as full arch,
the inner eyebrow has a tendency to be lower than the outer and the outer
has a small arch down on its last 1/3. That's how it is in all fashion mags and
in girls in their teens - 30's I know. The natural look makes you look younger and
is the way.