If you’re a man who needs some eyebrow help, don’t click away. While women do way more to keep their eyebrows trimmed and tidy, men do nearly nothing. But they definitely should. There are several problems that men encounter with their eyebrows.

• Unibrows
• Unruly long eyebrow hairs
• Bushy eyebrows
• Sparse eyebrow hair

All of these problems can be solved by yourself at home. They are quite easy to address and just requires some simple know-how. But if you’re too scared or unwilling to give it a try, there are professionals ready and waiting for you.

So why are these even a problem? And why do men need to do anything about their eyebrows at all? First and foremost, eyebrows are a defining feature of your face. Like women, eyebrows can really change the way you look. Thick eyebrows vs. thin eyebrows will make you like a different person and someone with a unibrow vs. no unibrow will change up your look dramatically as well. Unruly eyebrow hairs just make you look ungroomed which makes people think you don’t put enough time into your physical appearance. Perhaps you don’t care, but if you’re reading this, you probably do.

So here’s how you can fix these issues at home with these DIY measures and some professional measures as well.

UNIBROWS

A unibrow is when you have hair in between the eyebrows. So instead of having two eyebrows it looks like you have one long one. This is generally unattractive and can be a focal point of your face. If your unibrow is thick, this makes it even worse. So how do you get rid of a unibrow? Simple. Take some eyebrow tweezers and start plucking the hairs in between the eyebrows. You will need to look in the mirror and grasp the hairs as close to the skin as possible so you can get a good grip on the hairs. It’s best to use a slant tip or round tip tweezer so you can get the best grip. To know how much to pluck, take a ruler and place it vertically to the side of your nostril up to your eyebrow. Your eyebrows should not go beyond the edge of your nostril. Everything in between you should pluck. See the illustration below for where eyebrows should start and stop. If you have a lot of fine hairs in between, you can also take a wax strip and wax the area, but you should practice at home waxing in a separate area before trying it on your eyebrows. Unibrows are a big no-no, so if you’re not comfortable tweezing here, ask your significant other or a girl friend who can help you.

UNRULY LONG EYEBROW HAIRS

As you get older some eyebrow hairs just keep growing and growing. Maybe it’s hormonal, but they don’t seem to be a problem until you’ve reached your older years. For hairs that just seem to keep growing, they will often start to curl and grow with a mind of their own. The simple remedy is to trim your eyebrow hairs. What you’ll need is a small comb and makeup scissors. Take the small comb and comb the eyebrow hairs up. Slightly tilt the comb away from you. You will see eyebrow hairs sticking out of the comb. Take the makeup scissors and trim any hairs that stick out of the comb. This helps to keep all of the hairs a uniform length. Repeat this along the full extent of both eyebrows.

If you have unruly eyebrows but don’t want to do it yourself, ask your stylist or barber to trim them for you whenever you go to the salon or barbershop. They can also show you how to trim them at home if you so desire.

BUSHY EYEBROWS

When your eyebrows are very thick, there isn’t a lot you can do, but there are a few things you can manage on your own to keep them in check. Thick eyebrows are hereditary and while you can’t easily thin them out, you can keep them in a nice shape. Since bushy eyebrows are very noticeable, any changes you make to your eyebrows will be noticeable as well. Usually, when eyebrows are bushy, not only are there many eyebrow hairs but the actual hair strands are coarse. So the thickness of each hair strand stands out quite a bit.

First and foremost, follow the steps above if you have a unibrow or unruly eyebrow hairs. After addressing these two things, you may notice your eyebrows are already less bushy. Then, you can pluck some hairs so they have a nice shape. Be sure to not overpluck the hairs as this can lead to over-shaped eyebrows. Simply removing some hairs at the bottom of the eyebrow (above the eyelid) will lessen the thickness of the eyebrows. Don’t remove eyebrow hair from the top, only from the bottom.

Lastly, be proud of your bushy eyebrows. They define you and add character. As long as you keep them tidy and groomed your bushy eyebrows will look fantastic.

SPARSE EYEBROW HAIR

On the flip side, having little eyebrow hair can be problematic. Since eyebrows define your face, if you don’t have much of an eyebrow, you lose structure and definition. On top of that, if your eyebrow hair is light, this makes your eyebrows stand out even less. However, having sparse eyebrow hair doesn’t mean you don’t have a unibrow or unruly hair. So follow the steps for a unibrow and unruly eyebrow hair above.

When taming unruly hair with sparse eyebrow hair, be sure not to cut off too much. Since you don’t have much hair to begin with, taking off more will just make your eyebrows even less noticeable.

You can also pluck them slightly at the bottom if they are growing in weird places. But you can also draw them in if they are too light. Now, you might be thinking that guys don’t wear makeup. And while for the most part that is true, there is no harm in using a bit of makeup to define your face. And it doesn’t have to be a lot, just something to give your eyebrows a pop. Women won’t think it’s bad. In fact, they will likely approve of it if it complements your face. Take an eyebrow pencil that matches the color of your eyebrows and lightly drawing over the eyebrows to slightly darken it. This will create a nice illusion that your eyebrows are thicker than they are. You can blend it in with an eyebrow brush but you may not need to. Hey, if women can improve their looks with makeup, why can’t men?

Another way to fill in some gaps is to do microblading. This is something that women do already to add the illusion that their eyebrows are thicker and darker than they are. This is a form of permanent makeup where a professional will put ink into the skin around your eyebrows to improve the shape and thickness. This is not completely permanent and would need to be redone every year or two. It could last longer but it just depends on the turnover of your skin cells. With microblading you don’t have to worry about drawing in your eyebrows everyday. Done right, the eyebrows look natural.

If you don’t think you can manage your eyebrows in these manners, a professional is always a good resort. You can have your eyebrows threaded by an esthetician or have your significant other help you if you trust them. It’s best to get a woman’s opinion on how to shape your eyebrows, especially if she maintains her own eyebrows already. She may have some extra tips and tricks not mentioned here.

Outside of the issues noted above, maintaining eyebrow hairs is not too difficult. Eyebrow hairs grow constantly so regular maintenance is needed. Men’s eyebrows should not be over plucked or overly shaped, but they should look groomed and maintained. Eyebrow issues are not just for women. They are for men too and it’s time for more men to take notice of their eyebrow hygiene and do something about it. So guys, are you ready?