Heisenberg's famous uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to measure, at the same time, the exact position and momentum of any given sub-atomic particle. The more accurately you pin down that little critter's location the less you know about its momentum, and the more you work out about its momentum, you get the gist.

It's much the same with hair removal: the more you ease up on the pain, the less effective that technique seems to be. The more silky smooth and hair-free your skin, the less of a pain-free experience you're likely to have.

There's one great exception, though. The proud owner of both a low pain-threshold and groomed brows, I've discovered that eyebrows are the one area where you really can get effective hair removal without terrible pain! Learn to tweeze the right way, and you can easily have perfect brows with minimal discomfort.

Eyebrow-shaping is relatively easy to do, but (the cliche is true) it genuinely will make an enormous difference to the look of your face. First-time pluckers can benefit from getting a professional beautician to do the initial shaping, which you can then maintain at home. But, if you'd like to do it yourself, there are a number of simple tricks to help you get it right.

The most important thing: if in doubt, don't tweeze it! Eyebrow hair isn't quick to grow back, and pencil-thin (or worse, penciled-in) brows don't look good. It's easiest, and most flattering, to go with the existing basic shape of your eyebrows, and there are three shaping staples to help you define this perfectly. First, to avoid the dreaded unibrow, the inside end of your eyebrows should line up with the middle of the nostril below. Second, the highest point in the arch of your brows should be about two-thirds of the way out from the center. Third, a great little trick to work out where your brows should end: take a pencil and hold it at a 45-degree angle, so that it lines up with the outside edge of your nose and eye. Follow that line up, and where it crosses your brow is where it should finish.

It will help if you use an eyebrow pencil to fill in the parts of your brows you'd like to keep. Focus on tidying up this natural line, by removing stray hairs outside the area you've marked.

While I'm sure you want to get the shape just right, no doubt you're also keen to do it with as little discomfort as possible. The secret to pain-free tweezing is to take a hot bath or shower beforehand. The heat dilates your pores, making the hair slip out more easily. Also, make sure you buy good quality, stainless steel tweezers, which will minimize irritation and let you tweeze accurately. Finally, make sure you pluck just one hair at a time, and you'll hardly feel a thing!