How to Tame Every Kind of Facial Hair That Isn’t Your Beard

We’re talking nose hair, ear hair and eyebrows (what did you think we meant?)

facial_hair_tame

As you might expect from a grooming and skincare company, we’ve had a lot to say over the years about how to deal with beards, whether that involves shaping them, trimming the neckline or removing them entirely. What you might not know, however, is how to tame all the other random hairs sprouting from your handsome mug. To help you subdue the unattractive weeds that are concealing your ultra attractive face, here are several guides for taming nose hair, ear hair and eyebrows.

How to Tame Nose Hair
First things first: Do not pluck your nose hairs, as this can lead to infections (and in the most extreme of cases, even death — click the link for more on that, and we apologize in advance for the nightmares). With that out of the way, you’re going to need one of two tools: Either round-tipped facial hair scissors or a battery-powered trimmer.

When using either option, first make a pig nose by pressing backward on the tip of your nose to illuminate the nostrils, making it easier to see which hairs need trimming. Then gently circle around your nostrils and clip the hairs, being careful not to press too hard to avoid nicks and cuts inside your nose. Likewise, avoid venturing too deep, since the hairs inside your nostrils protect the body from various nasties floating around in the air you breath.

How to Tame Ear Hair
Much like nose hair removal, your best bet for painlessly removing ear hair is investing in a battery-powered trimmer. If you go down this route, Melanie Mari of Bare Skin Studio recommends running the trimmer along the edges of the ear and gently whacking any hairs protruding from the ear canal — again, it’s important that you don’t go poking around too deep to avoid injuring your eardrum.

Another option for all you masochists out there is waxing, which is far more thorough (and yeah, painful) than trimming. “Waxing gets rid of all the hair — including the peach fuzz that lines the outside of the ear — in one shot,” Mari explains. Waxing is also the longest-lasting of these ear hair removal methods, preventing hair from sprouting for six whole weeks. If you do go down this route, however, Mari recommends either visiting a salon or phoning a friend for help, since drizzling hot wax into your ear hole is generally best left to someone who can actually see where it’s going.

How to Tame Eyebrows
Unlike nose hair and ear hair, which can generally be whacked as soon as it starts protruding from your holes, how you approach your eyebrows really depends on what you’re working with. For example, eyebrows that are bushy and overgrown often need a thorough trimming. According to eyebrow expert and Rock N’ Brows founder Sarah Agajanian, who we recently spoke with about all kinds of brow ailments, this can be accomplished using small scissors and a spoolie brush (or just any fine-tooth comb). What comes next is super easy: Brush your brows upward, following the direction of the hair growth, then simply trim the excess ends. Done!

Now, maybe your brows are generally fine, but you have a slight unibrow, which requires a more precise approach. You can either visit a salon for waxing or a dermatologist for laser hair removal, or you can grab some tweezers and give those central hairs the old pluck-and-wince. Just be sure not to go too crazy: “The beginning of your brows should never extend past your nostrils,” Agajanian emphasizes.

Finally, you might be one of those people who has less eyebrow than they’d like. In which case, there are a whole bunch of things you can do to make them look more full. “You can have a professional brow artist or hair colorist tint your brows to make them show up more, or you can consider using a brow growth product, or castor oil to stimulate the follicles,” Agajanian explains. “The more extreme option is microblading (i.e., semi-permanent tattoos); however, most technicians do this improperly and make it look obvious. I’d try the other options first.”

If your brows are seriously non-existent, there is one other nuclear option: Eyebrow transplantation. This is probably best reserved for the most severe cases of eyebrow extinction, though.

If getting your facial hair in order gave you the shaving bug, you certainly don’t have to stop there — check out our guide for manscaping every single body part. Before you know it, you’ll be the smoothest guy in town (quite literally).