Almost everyone, at some point in their lives, needs a pair of tweezers. They can come in handy for other things apart from plucking eyebrows or the odd stray chin hair! For reasons of comparing quality rather than different tips, I chose slanted tips. I favour this type as I find them the easiest and quickest to use. The tip shape is a matter of taste and it is worth noting that the latest breed of ‘professional’ tweezers tend to have very thin, sharp edges and pointy corners.
La Tweez
What an innovative idea! Tweezers with a tiny light in them. Just press a button and the little torch lights up the spot you are tweezing. The tweezers come in a handy, lipstick-sized gold and black tube with a mirror inside, so are handy for travel. The hair grabbing factor is quite good, tips are slanted and corners are not sharp or ‘scratchy’.
Price: £6.80
Available from: pharmacies or call 99 584804 for stockists
MAC
As one would expect from this brand, these tweezers are very high quality, with the slanted tips providing a very precise grabbing action. They are favoured by make-up artists because the thinly ground edges can grab the most stubborn of barely through the skin dark hairs, which is useful if you are photographing a close up of a model! Also good for fine hairs. They are Swiss made and come in a smart little plastic purse.
Price: £17.70
Available from: The MAC shop, Nicosia
La Cross By Sally Hansen
The pack states these are ‘hand-ground precision tips, anodised stainless steel with a lifetime guarantee’. The tips are wide and slanted, which I like, and have very precise, fairly sharp and thin edges that are good for grabbing very short or fine hairs. They are good quality and large enough to handle easily with a good ‘spring back’ action.
Price: £4.60 (model: 71817)
Available from: supermarkets and pharmacies. Other styles available
Duisberg
I was pleasantly surprised by these tweezers. I tried them on myself as well as on clients and I found them to be a joy to use. Although the more professional or expensive brands are super effective at grabbing those dark hairs that have barely come through the skin, they do not usually have a smooth gliding or stroking action against the skin because the edges are so thin and sharp. Admittedly those types may also be able to grab every microscopically fine downy hair, but more often than not they actually cut off the fine hairs as the edges are so sharp! I found these to have a smooth painless pulling action, non scratching edges and soft corners. Designer brands take note!
Price: £1.80 (Model: 1621)
Available from: pharmacies
Titania
This brand is well known for providing a diverse range of value for money goods from nail grooming accessories to hair brushes. Their tweezer range is extremely diverse with all sorts of tips including automatic tweezers for the nervous plucker. These are good value for money and would suit someone who just wants a decent pair of tweezers without having to spend too much. Their best tweezers are the smaller slant edged ones with the gold coloured tips.
Price: from £1.80
Available from: larger supermarkets and chemists
Rubis of Switzerland
These tweezers are more the professional’s choice and are sold mainly to and through beauty establishments. Even the box they come in screams ‘I’m superior’. They are made from the finest quality rust-proof, surgical stainless steel, are hand finished under a magnifying glass and have won international design awards. These babies have a very precise grabbing action with very thin and rather sharp edges so are good for very short, barely through the skin or very fine hairs.
Price: approx. £16 (model: 1K102-CD)
Available from: beauticians or call 22 459900 for stockists. Other styles available
Diego Dalla Palma
Smart black precision tweezers, slanted with good grabbing action for finer or short hairs. I like the fact that the edges, as well as corners, are not sharp or ‘scratchy’ as you glide them across the skin while searching for hairs to pull. These would make most consumers happy as they are comfortable to use.
Price: £5.80
Available from: Beautyline shops only
