Excuse me, could you please pass the tweezers?

Since my earliest memories, I have had a unibrow.  Having dark hair didn’t help the matter, either

.   I remember every year when school pictures came home, the first thing I noticed was the 4″ long, caterpillar-looking thing that found permanent residence above my eyes.  Let me tell you, I had a lot of physical flaws as a child….crooked teeth, long skinny legs and a high forehead so there were plenty of other physical distractions that I could have focused on, but that’s not where my eyes traveled to.  No, my eyebrows were like a magnet and I just couldn’t pull my eyes away from those furry, fuzzy objects!

By the age of 12, I remember finally getting up the nerve to take some tweezers to those brows.  Of course I did this without the approval of my parents, who thought that the excessive hair growth was just a part of me and added to my “natural beauty”.  Boy, did I ever see things differently then they did!  Maybe it was because I couldn’t fully see myself through the forest growing north of my eyeballs!!!

So I located the family pair of tweezers.  I was so excited to finally get the process started that I never once even thought of where those tweezers had been.  We lived on a small family farm and had livestock, some chickens, cats and dogs throughout the years.  I’m sure these tweezers had touched the hooves, ears and/or eyes of many of these creatures but it wasn’t until writing this blog that I even gave a thought to the cleanliness of this cosmetic implement.  I’m now repulsed thinking of what and where these tweezers touched!!!

As I began using the tweezers, I had no idea how to do it.  The first several attempts not only was I plucking my eyebrows but I had included some “virgin” skin between my brow…ouch!!!  As tears rolled down my cheeks I took a quick break but began the task again until I felt I had accomplished enough for my first attempt.  Every couple weeks I would retreat to the bathroom and pluck a number of black hairs, between and under the brows.  I actually had two brows now, not just one!

My secret was uncovered one night at our family dinner when my mother asked me if I had been plucking my brows.  Being a Girl Scout, I could not tell a lie, so I confessed to what I had been doing for the past couple months.   My parents expressed their “disappointment” with me and I felt a bit ashamed of myself for going behind their backs, but I was sure happy I had!  Well, now the secret was out so I didn’t have to hide what I’d been doing….thank goodness!!

Things were going well; I was getting pretty good with the tweezers and I was feeling better about my appearance until I heard the words, “Judy, you need glasses!”

Happy tweezing,

Until next time,

Judy