How To Trim Your Eyebrows (Like A Man)

And why you should be trimming your eyebrows

This post is sponsored by Amazon and Philips.

Let me start with a quick story. A few years ago, I was getting a haircut. Upon completing the haircut, my barber asked me if I’d like him to put what he called the “fountain of youth” guard on his clippers. Not knowing exactly what he meant, I still gave him the go-ahead since, being in my late 30s at the time, I liked the sound of fountain of youth. He put the guard on his clippers and proceeded to trim my eyebrows. Upon finishing up his trimming job, I saw exactly what he meant by “fountain of youth” guard. Miraculously, the simple act of trimming down my eyebrows a little made me look younger.

As I write this today, I am a 40 year old man. And although I inherited some good genes from both my mother and father – who both still look quite young in their 70s – I’m nonetheless a little more sensitive to matters of age. And anything that can give me an advantage, I will gladly embrace.

However, beyond the “anti-aging” benefits, a good eyebrow trim has another, possibly even more important, effect – simply put, it looks neat and clean. Some guys can get away with the crazy flyaway eyebrow thing – I know a couple distinguished gentlemen who really own that particular look, in a good way – but for the rest of us, it just looks messy, unkempt and most of all, unprofessional.

Because of that, it is my opinion that all men should be trimming their eyebrows. And here’s how to do it.

Before getting into the nuts and bolts, it’s very important to make one thing crystal clear: when trimming your eyebrows – or any hair on your body [link to manscaping post tk], for that matter – remember that you can always take more hair off, but you can’t put it back on. A solid rule of thumb, unless your intent is to look like a Japanese Noh mask.

Just as important is to make sure you have the right tool for the job. And that means a trimmer with an adjustable grooming comb. I recommend the Philips OneBlade Pro as it has 14 different length settings and is easily adjustable all the way from 10mm down to .4mm, with lots of fine tuning in between. I’ve seen some barbers trim eyebrows with a comb and clippers, but unless you happen to be a barber yourself, that is probably not the easiest method for doing this at home.

Start by setting your clippers at their longest setting even if you think it’s not going to hit any hair at all. On the OneBlade Pro, that’s a 10. Then, gradually reduce the length of the clipper guard until you get to your desired length. What’s the best length? Well, a lot of that depends on how thick your eyebrow hair is. If you’ve got thinner hair – or not it’s not grouped together tightly – you should keep it a little longer. The overall end effect should look natural and clean. For me, using the OneBlade Pro, that was at the 4mm setting.

Chime in: Share your thoughts and experiences on eyebrow trimming.

Thanks for reading.

Stylishly Yours,

Brian Sacawa
He Spoke Style

Photography by Rob McIver Photo