Plucking eyebrows is one of the beauty binds that we would all love to avoid but shaping you brows opens up your eyes, can make you look years younger and gives you a dazzling gaze. Female First looks at the best method for taming those caterpillars growing on your forehead.

Make your mark.

Overplucking and uneven sizes are the two biggets mistakes when plucking brows so it's important to mark out the shape you want before you start. Use a eyebrow pencil to mark out the following points:

Inside edge: Take your eyebrow pencil and hold it parallel to the edge of you nose. Where the pencil meets you eyebrow is where the inside edge of the brow should be. Put a mark there with you pencil.
Outside edge: From that position move the pencil outwards diagonally so it touches your nostril and the outside corner of your eye. Where the pencil meets your brow is where the outside edge of your brow needs to be. Put a mark there.
Arch: Finally, nice eyebrows should have an arch in them. To find this point just hold your pencil so it is parallel to the outside edge of the coloured part of your eye. Again where the pencil meets you eyebrow is where the highest point of your arch should be. Put a mark there.
Now you just need to join the dots to get a basic shape for your perfect brow.

Get Plucking

Pick a good spot with plenty of light and set yourself up in front of a decent mirror. The best mirrors to use are magnifying mirrors with an inbuilt light- but don't forget to have a normal mirror nearby for checking your progress.

Stainless steal slanted tweezers are the best for most people but find a pair you are comfortable using and which pull out the hairs from the root rather than just breaking them off.

Hold the skin around your brow taut and begin to pluck the hairs in the direction they grow. Follow your guide line along from the inside to the outside edge but be careful not to make your brows to thin so keep stepping back and checking your progress. It's better to pluck less to begin than overpluck and end up with bald patches us mis-matched brows. Apply plenty of moisturiser or cooling Aloe Vera gel when you're done to calm down the red patches.

Handy Hints

If the pain of plucking is just too much try applying a baby teething gel to the brows to numb them before you start. It's also worth noticing that the best time to pluck is 2 weeks after your period because you are least vulnerable to the pain then.

If you have gaps or patches on you brows you can fill them in using a brown eye powder or an eyebrow pencil. Apply either lightly and carefully to just the affected areas before blending through the rest of the brow if you want to achieve a natural finish.

To keep your brows in place all day spray your finger tip with hairspray and run it over the brow to stop any stray hairs sticking out.

Tilly Harris Female First