Is Tweezing Better Than Waxing?

We are experiencing an era of hair unlike anything since the 1970s. From dyed armpit hair to bold and bushy brows, we are all letting our hairs grow wild these days. However, if you're still trying to manage your eyebrows, you may be wondering is tweezing better than waxing? Let's investigate.

Some common myths around hair removal often influence us to go with one technique or the other, depending on what you believe. In the time of bold brows, lots of stylists are begging us to forget tweezing because of the tendency to over pluck. Let me tell you, they're kind of on to something: a high powered mirror can be your enemy. Still, whether you get them tweezed or waxed by someone else is still a tough call to make. What method is best?

Many people believe tweezing is better than waxing (or vice versa) based on what they've heard about hair growing back. Some believe hair grows back faster and thicker after tweezing, and therefore waxing is better. According to Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in New York City who has been studying hair and scalp health for more than 22 years, how fast and thick hair grows back after removal has little to do with the removal technique, according to Huffington Post.

"Tweezing is not likely to influence or cause diameter changes to hair texture," said Phillips. "Hormonal variables and genetic predisposition are much more likely to be at play."

It looks like either way you decide to manage your brows, it won't much affect how fast or thick your hair does grow back. What about over plucking? Well, like I said: that's the risk you run when you do your own brows.

"Tweezing eyebrows repeatedly can lead to destruction of the follicle," Phillips says. "But from a trichological perspective, if someone is going through hair changes and also reports the eyebrows are finer and more sparse we will always want to ensure there is no Thyroid imbalance."

According to Teen Vogue, there are plenty of pros to tweezing, such as being able to be extremely precise with your tweezers. Anastasia Soare, of Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow fame, told Teen Vogue that you should pencil in your eyebrows and then tweeze after, using your drawn in eyebrows as a guide. Still, there are some cons, including the fact that sometimes, eyebrow hairs don't grow back. If you accidentally over-tweeze or pluck, there is a slight chance that those hairs aren't coming back anytime soon, or maybe ever. Harumph.

If you need another voice of reason, everyone's best friend Lauren Conrad broke down the differences between tweezing and waxing, arguing that waxing is best for those who have thicker, coarser hair and want longer periods of time in-between having to deal with hair growing back, while tweezing is best for those who are on a budget and also like to be in control.

Bottom line: tweezing is no better or worse than waxing. My best advice? Stop removing hair all together. Let those baby brows grow! In the meantime, you can manage them with a brow pencil and some killer brow gel.

Anatasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, $22.00, ulta.com

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