Plucking Nose Hairs - Is It Safe to Tweeze Your Nose Hairs?

Let's talk about nose hair for a minute. Sure, the ladies have made it clear that it is never attractive. Every last one of you has suffered from that one, extra-long nose hair that just annoys the crap out of you. It tickles all the time, and it feels like a persistent booger. Should you be plucking nose hairs? You can't lie. I know you've spent too much of your life digging at that little thing to no avail. It remains, and you're ready to get rid of it.

You can relax. Today, you're going to learn about nose hairs and the best ways to get rid of them. Tweezing is the age-old method, but is it the best way? Keep reading, and you'll learn everything you need to know about trimming nose hair pros and cons -- plus a little more.

Why Do You Have Nose Hairs Anyway?

Nose hairs serve a biological function. They are part of your immune system. It might sound trivial, but nose hairs help keep large particles from getting past the nostrils and into the nasal cavity. Those few of you who have ever actually had something stuck in your sinuses understand why this is important. To cut a long story short, let's just say that a lot of violent sneezing would plague your life if you didn't have any nose hairs at all.

In more extreme cases, the particles that get past your nostrils can cause long-term or chronic agitation of the sinuses and even lead to lung infections. Infections are far less common, but it's still part of the reason you have hair in your nose. The very worst-case scenarios can lead to meningitis or other infections of the brain. 

Now, you shouldn't let any of this scare you. Nose hair does protect you, but you can at least thin it a little without condemning yourself to chronic infections and horrible death. It's not that serious. The point is to remember that when you do pluck, trim, or whatever, you should leave some of those little hairs alone. 

Dangers of Plucking Your Nose Hairs

Immune system aside, plucking nose hairs isn't necessarily the way to go. If you've ever had a zit right at the base of your nose, then you don't need to be told how sensitive that skin can be. Plucking those hairs will hurt, but plenty of you scoff at the notion of discomfort and fleeting pain. That's fine, but remember that pain exists for a reason. Plucking nose hairs can cause irritation and inflammation of the skin. Plucking nose hairs can cause irritation and inflammation of the skin. This irritation is less serious than the stuff we just discussed, but it can easily cause your skin to turn red and puffy—that kind of defeats the aesthetic purpose of plucking in the first place.

Also, everybody is different. While most guys can pluck and only face a little temporary irritation, some noses just aren't having it. In those cases, tweezing will cause something that seems a lot like a sinus infection. It might technically be different, but you'll have a stuffy/runny nose, risk headaches, and general misery. If you're in the small percentage who reacts like this to plucking nose hairs, just stop. There are other ways.

Trimming With Scissors

They say there's no school like the old school, and for nose-hair trimming, that's a fair assessment. Scissors have been the tool of choice for managing those annoying little buggers for centuries. Modern scissors make the job safer and easier than ever before, and the risk of irritation is virtually nonexistent when you compare it to tweezing. Best of all, facial grooming scissors are cheap.

Despite all of that good news, you still need to know a few things about trimming with scissors. First, don't get complacent. They may be designed for safety, but if you're reckless enough, you can still cause serious damage with your trimming scissors. The most common way idiot guys hurt themselves is by going too deep. You should only be trying to trim hair that grows in the lower nostril; this is the part that is flared and easy to access. When you think no one is looking and pick your nose, this is as high as your fingers can go. If you push deeper with scissors, you're going to agitate your sinuses at best and puncture sensitive and important parts of your nose at worst.

The other common problem guys have is being too thorough. You just learned that nose hair has a purpose. You should not be aiming for nasal baldness. Instead, focus on the hair that is visible outside the nose. If you have a few that are particularly irritating, you can snip those too, but you should not try to make the hair as short as possible. If a nose hair isn't causing you distress, leave it alone.

Lastly, clean your scissors. If basic hygiene doesn't appeal to you, then maybe pragmatism will. No matter how clear you think your nose is when you trim, there is still mucus present. If you don't clean the scissors, you'll get a layer of crust that will dull the blades and impair their functionality.

Electric Nose Trimmers

Right now, you think that scissors sound like a lot of work. Is there an easier way? Yes! Electric nose trimmers like The Weed Whacker® 2.0 from MANSCAPED® are pretty much idiot-proof. The design of the trimmers makes it easy to go too deep. They quickly and painlessly shred through nose hairs, and they pretty much can't cut you or shave the hairs down too short. They sound like the perfect solution and can even help avoid ingrown hair in your nose.

There are still a few things to keep in mind. First, electric trimmers don't give you a lot of freedom on how closely the hair is cropped. If you're more prone to irritation, an electric trimmer might leave your nostrils too bare and leave you miserable.

That's the only real drawback unless you're one of those idiots who would rather jerry-rig something of their own. That's a great way to cut or electrocute yourself and die. These trimmers aren't expensive. Just get something that's properly designed to do the job.

Also, there is a final warning for you. Electric trimmers hum. It's going to tickle your nose. Again, this isn't a problem for most guys, but some of you might be sent into a sneezing fit upon contact. Now that you know, you can prepare accordingly.

Using Tweezers To Get Your Nose Hairs

Let's get this straight. You just learned about why tweezers are the inferior way to manage your nasal hair. You just saw two dramatically better ways to do the job, and you're still determined to tweeze? Are you cheap or just stubborn? Who am I kidding? I'm just as cheap and stubborn. Since you're going this route anyway, take a minute to learn a few tricks. 

Step one: clean your damn tweezers. If you can't be trusted to buy specialty scissors or a trimmer, you can't be trusted to have a set of tweezers dedicated to your nose hair. That's disgusting, by the way. Make sure you clean them before and after each session; you seriously can get a sinus infection this way.

Step two: tweeze carefully. The easiest way to see what you're doing is to push your nose up and smile. Seriously. Smiling will tighten your upper lip and make everything a little easier. You shouldn't need to be told this, but a mirror and a bright light go a long way. Also, remember the tips from the other sections. You don't want to tweeze your nose bald, and at the first sign of irritation, you should stop. If you stick to the basics, you should be fine. 

So, back to the initial inquiry. Is it safe to use tweezers when you're embarking on nose hair removal? More or less, the answer is yes: provided you do it correctly. Still, there are vastly superior ways to keep your nose presentable and beat the tickle of aberrant nostril hair. Investing in the best nose hair trimmer usually a better solution for any task, and nose-hair grooming is no exception. Regardless, pay attention to how your body reacts to grooming and adjust accordingly. With minimal effort, you can have a presentable nose without the worst possible side effects.