Hairs on your face (including that ‘stache) are best removed with thread, not wax. Or you could use this tool, which is the BOMB.

So I’m having a mini-crisis here, and it has to do with my eyebrows. You see, my esthetician (or as I call her, “my eyebrow lady”) is about to go on mat leave. Until September, tomorrow is the last time she’ll be wielding a piece of thread in her mouth to coax my eyebrows into shape. And even though she’s only taking, like, four months off, I’m already nervous and worried and not at all sure I can trust her replacement (who, let’s face it, would have clients of her own if she was anywhere near as good at doing brows—right?). So the search begins, because I am one of those people who requires monthly professional brow maintenance and (as you might have gathered) I am super-picky about who does it.

Anyway! Since facial hair is top of mind for me right now, I thought it HIGH TIME I did a post on my philosophy when it comes to this area of female grooming. Let’s talk about brows, let’s talk about moustaches, let’s talk about peach fuzz. This is what I advise.

FOR YOUR BROWS, TWEEZING AND THREADING ARE BETTER THAN WAXING.

Besides the fact that it’s always freaked me out to get hot wax slathered so close to my eyes, there are a few other problems with wax as a facial hair removal method:

1. Obviously the biggie is that it can be IRRITATING. I used to require tons of concealer and powder post-waxing session just to calm down my skin, which would be red for hours. I’d also often get little bumps or even breakouts in that area, which is sort of a buzzkill when you’ve just plonked down $30 to make your brows look nice.

2. There is also the issue of tugging and pulling at the delicate skin, which they say over time can cause WRINKLES. Whoever “they” are, I’m going to take “their” word for it.

3. And of course, if you are using prodz like Retin-A, your skin will PEEL RIGHT OFF with the wax. Yowza! I’ve done this, and it’s highly unpleasant.

Threading, on the other hand, doesn’t come with these problems—and with the right practitioner, can be way more precise than wax. You kind of need to see it in action to understand how it works, so check out this vid:

Let’s all just ignore the fact that they are threading those chicks’ brows waaay too thin. A full brow is a stylish brow, folks. Which is why you really need to take the time to find a good esthetician. And why I’m in a panic, but yes, we talked about that already.

Anyway, my lady has been doing a combo of threading and tweezing* on me for maybe six years now, and I’ve nevah evah had anywhere close to the irritation I got with waxing. The only potential problem is if your esthetician pushes down too much with the thread—she could leave you with diagonal thread indentations, which take a couple of days to go down. But trust me: an expert won’t do this, so if it happens, go somewhere else.

* Tweezing only is actually ideal, if you can find someone who does this. I know there are quite a few NYC brow gurus who work this way because they say that even threading isn’t precise enough. Then again, they also charge US$50 and up.

But enough about brows! Go forth and find yourself a good threader lady. And if you have additional facial hair removal needs, keep reading…

UNLESS YOU LASER OR GET ELECTROLYSIS, I RECOMMEND THIS BAD BOY FOR YOUR ‘STACHE.

This is called Epicare, and it’s basically a flexible metal Slinky-like device that you bend and roll to remove hair right from the root, like this:

I never touch my upper lip (because my eyebrow lady promised to notify me when “I need to,” and also because apparently once you start you can’t stop?!), however I HAD to try this. Super easy and fast, and as long as you can deal with the mild pain (oh man up will you?) it’s an amazing hair removal method because it’s basically like at-home threading. Except without the thread.

I would never do my brows with this—it’s not precise/controllable enough—but for anywhere else on the face, it would be amazing! Here’s a vid showing how it’s done:

You can order it from here; just $14.99 and they ship free in Canada.

A quick word on other facial hair removal methods: I’m obviously an advocate of permanent methods such as laser or electrolysis, if your situation warrants them. But say no to bleach please—even though Sally Hansen and Jolen and Andrea make really easy-to-use home bleach kits that I’ve used on my arm hairs, for example (although now I just epilate)—they can irritate AND you’re still stuck with a ‘stache. Just a blonde ‘stache. Using wax or a depilatory (which removes hair just slightly below the skin’s surface) is better, but you do still risk the irritation problem, as well as becoming a victim of this term in the Urban Dictionary.

(Although BREAKING NEWS! I can’t tell you much about it yet, but a mayjah brand is coming out with a breakthrough non-irritating depilatory kit this fall. More on that soon… But for now, my pick is definitely Epicare.)

Do you wax, thread or tweeze your brows?
What about the rest of your face—if you need to take care of business, how do you dewit?
PS: Hit me up in the comments if you know of a good threader in the Toronto area! Actually, make that all of Canada—readers need to know!