Each hair sprouting from your body is unique—like a snowflake, only not really a snowflake but more like a sort of hair… where were we? Oh yes. Some hairs require different forms of removal, lest you look like a stray tumbleweed. With that in mind, when is plucking—everyone’s least favourite method—the best option?
Plucking lasts longer than trimming (plucked hair usually takes two weeks or more to grow back) but as we know, it can be painful and time consuming. Worse yet, plucking can potentially expose the hair follicle (especially those in the nose) to infectious bacteria, although admittedly that’s uncommon: “I’ve never seen any kind of infection following plucking of ear hair, both professionally and personally,” Melanie Mari, owner and trained manscaper at Bare Skin Studio told us, setting our freshly-plucked ear holes at ease.
Painful, arduous process aside, though, plucking is sometimes the best option. According to Mari, both ear hair and unibrows can benefit from a regular wince-and-pluck, for two reasons: 1) You won’t have to recharge your trimmer every other day, and 2) shaving or trimming your unibrow can result in harsh lines and facial prickliness, which are generally things you don’t want.
Now, if you’re going to have to do it, you may as well do it right, so follow these tips:
How to Pluck Ear Hair
First, take a warm shower—according to Mari, the steam will open the hair follicles, reducing the plucking pain. “Clean the gunk out of your ear before plucking to reduce the risk of infection,” she continues. “Use a dull tweezer to only pluck the thicker hairs and do not go fishing around deep into the ear canal.” Remember, maintaining your ability to hear is way more important than having silky-smooth ears.
Mari also recommends investing in a quality pair of slant tip tweezers. “Those will help you pick the hairs out in one shot, rather than having to keep poking at them,” she says.
How to Pluck a Unibrow
Similar to the warm shower approach, dampen a washcloth with hot water and hold it against the bridge of your nose for a minute or two prior to tweezing—again, this will reduce the pain. Then, begin tweezing in the middle of the unibrow, working outwards. But don’t go overboard—less is more when dealing with a unibrow.
For extra hairy fellas, Mari also recommends plucking any hairs growing on top of your nose (for obvious reasons) or on your toes. “It will keep your feet more flip-flop friendly if you pluck those hairs out,” she suggests.
On a final note, remember that the momentary pain will be worth it when you actually have two eyebrows, or when people don’t run screaming as you bust out the mandals. Godspeed.