You got this, brow

Apart from our friends, family and favourite hangouts, if women have been missing something the most, it has to be our salon professionals. Even actor Neena Gupta took to Instagram to post about making peace with not being able to colour her hair now and using wax strips to get rid of upper lip hair. With parlours and beauty service apps shut for business, not all of us may be willing to wait out the lockdown period to take care of excess hair growth. We reached out to a few beauty experts to share some tips on tackling the problem at hand, err face, with things available at home.

Face the problem

Most professionals' first advice is to not experiment with threading. Celebrity make-up artiste Aafreen Petiwala's back-up is tweezers. "If you're not used to tweezers, remove the extra hair while stretching the skin tightly. Don't try shaping the brows." If tweezers are not available, one can go for facial razors available online, suggests Urvi Sanghavi, manager, BBlunt, Kemps Corner. However, if you're unable to get facial razors delivered, go for an egg-and-cornstarch pack. "Use the white of an egg, and add half tbsp corn starch and one tbsp sugar. Apply on your face and keep it for 20 minutes. Once dry, peel it off. Do this regularly for two weeks, and the excess hair should be gone or reduced," says Sanghavi.

Urvi Sanghavi; Aafreen Petiwala

One can also try making a natural bleach using two tbsp besan, one tsp curd, one tsp honey and one-and-a-half tsp lemon juice, she adds. "Keep it on for 15 minutes and wash it off. This is much milder than a store-bought bleach."

Baishali Khasnabis

If you're in the mood for some make-up, use a concealer on the areas of hair growth, set it in with a compact, and put on some blush and lipstick, Petiwala says.

Waxing eloquent

While many of us tend to use razors, it's not the best pick, considering the hard growth that resurfaces. "If you use it, apply aloe vera gel or rosewater later," says Kolkata-based salon owner Baishali Khasnabis. If you have not stocked up on wax strips, you can cut out strips of old denims, she adds. "Boil 25g jaggery, or sugar and water till it becomes sticky. Add some lemon juice to it. Apply the hot mix on your upper lip, or on your hands and legs. Spread the denim strip on it and pull in one firm stroke in the direction opposite to hair growth."

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