How To Use An Eyebrow Razor For Immaculate Brows: 3 Steps + Expert Tips

Brow trends come and go, but at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference. Some love a bushy, unruly brow; others are partial to an immaculately groomed arch. And if you fall toward the latter, you likely know there's a balance between a careful tweezer game and the over-plucking craze of decades past.

If you're unable to make it to your standing wax or thread appointment (pandemic and all), an eyebrow razor can be a handy tool to have at home. The most basic comes in a disposable, handheld tool (often dubbed a "tinkle"), but you can find many more upgraded versions, like collapsible stainless-steel blades and electric trimmers. 

No matter which you choose, each tool is able to shave those superficial hairs, and while the brows receive a lot of attention, you can also use these blades to target any area that requires a bit more precision—like the upper lip, jawline, even along the bikini line to clean up errant hairs. It's quite similar to dermaplaning, although these at-home tools are only meant to lift unwanted hairs, not the entire top layer of skin (typically, estheticians will use surgical blades to dermaplane). 

Shaving those vellus hairs can keep them at bay for at least a couple weeks, Healy notes. However, there's no hard-and-fast rule for how often you should use an eyebrow razor—if you notice some peach fuzz reappearing on your jawline, feel free to tinkle away any unwanted hairs. 

But rest assured, the hairs will grow back—even if you (gasp) accidentally nick one of your arches. That's because you're shaving the hair at the superficial level rather than pulling it out of the follicle (as you would during a tweeze, wax, or thread). "You are not removing the hair follicle from the bulb," says Healy. So if you got a little carried away with the razor, "It is the same as if you over-trimmed your brows—you can think of it that way."

While you can shave virtually anywhere you see peach fuzz, Healy wouldn't use the razor for the underside of the brows. "That's best left for tweezing," he says, perhaps because those wisps tend to be a bit longer and darker than the baby hairs up top. You'll also want to avoid any raised areas, he notes, like moles, breakouts, scars, or scabs.