Slant, Pointed or Pointed-Slant Tweezers – Which are Best for Me?

There are so many different tweezers on the market today, ranging from a few dollars at the bottom end to a staggering hundred dollars right at the top.

Deciding on which to buy can be a bit of a chore - however, the first key decision is which type of tip is best for what you want.​

This article aims to help you choose the best for you from the 3 most popular tweezer types for hair removal.

​Tip Comparison

The photograph below gives a good illustration of the different tweezer types.

Shows comparison of slant, pointed and slanted point tips

Which type is best for you will largely depend on what it is you wish to use them for.

As you can see, the slant tip on the left has a slightly angled edge, leading to a point at one end, whilst the pointed tweezer tapers straight down to its needle-sharp points.  

The pointed slant is a bit of an amalgamation of the two, with a more acute slant and more defined, sharper point than the regular slant​.

A Look At Each Type

Slant Tip Tweezers​

Slanted tips can be angled to follow the contour of the brow

Slant tipped tweezers are the most popular because they are the most versatile and easy to use.

The flat edge can be easily angled to run parallel to the skin, to enable you to grab even fine hairs, and to pull them out more easily in the direction of the hair's growth.

If more precision is required to isolate an individual hair, the tweezer can be turned over to achieve this using the more pointed end.

They are certainly the best tweezers for eyebrow shaping, as the slant follows the contour of the brow.

I recently reviewed several slant tipped tweezers and would recommend the Tweezerman.  For a full review see my article:

Tweezerman Slant Tweezer Full Review with Photos

Pointed Tip Tweezers

Point tipped tweezers offer less versatility, but are the best for when ultimate precision is required e.g. the removal of ingrown hairs, splinters, glass fragments or anything just below the skin's surface.

Always keep the needle-sharp tips covered with cap when storing

They are also handy for grasping the very finest hairs​ that you have difficulty with when using other tweezers.

They have needle-like, very sharp tips and you need to take care and have a steady hand when using them.  It may take a little time to master their use.

Again, I would recommend the Tweezerman product - for full review see article:

Tweezerman Ingrown Hair Splintertweeze Review

Pointed-Slant Tip Tweezers

As already stated, the pointed slant is designed to have the best of both worlds:

Shows the Pointed Slant Tweezer Tips

Theoretically, with these you have a two-in-one tweezer - a slanted tip with a very sharp point at one end.​

I guess if you only want to have one pair of tweezers, these are the one's for you and this design has many fans.

​Of course, there is a cost advantage to this as well - two for the price of one, so-to-speak.

For the best pointed-slant at ​around $20 I would recommend the Slice Combo Tip.  For full review see article:

Slice Combo Tip Tweezer Review​

So Which to Choose?

The difference in use between the slant-edged and point-tipped tweezer is clear to see, and in that respect, choosing between them should be easy.

The most likely scenario is that you will need a pair of each at some point in your life if you tweeze regularly, but for versatility and general use, the slant tip wins every time.

The decision becomes a bit more clouded when you add the pointed slant tweezer into the mix - can it really take the place of the other two?

The short answer to this is no:

It is easy to see that the needle tips of the pointed tweezer will more easily reach under the skin without danger of scarring

Their pointed tip, although very sharp, cannot take the place of the needle-tips of the regular point tipped tweezer for teasing out ingrown hairs etc. from beneath the skin's surface.​

So the real question is, which is best between slant and pointed slant?

​I recently carried out in-depth reviews of several pairs of tweezers of each type.  My personal preference is for the regular slant tipped tweezer.

Illustrates the Tweezerman Slant and Pointed Slant Tweezer tips

I found that they are easier to use because they are not as sharp and fine-pointed as the pointed-slant,​ so I did not need to be as precise when trying to grasp the hairs.  It was easier to grab the hair without pinching the skin.

It also seemed to me that the less acute angle of the slant was more comfortable and easy to use for the brow.​

This is my opinion but do bear in mind, when making your final decision, that many people like the pointed-slant.

Other Things to Consider When Purchasing Tweezers

Having decided on which type of tweezer you need, there are a few other things to check out before you make your purchase:

3 Key Elements of a Good Pair of Tweezers

See how perfectly the tips are aligned?

Three important elements which make up a good and effective pair of tweezers are:

  • Alignment - the tips must be precisely aligned so that they meet properly, all along the edge, to grasp the hair
  • Sharp Tips - to ensure that, once grasped, the hair does not slip when pulled to remove
  • Tension - ideally you need a gentle resistance when squeezing the two arms together

Additional Points

Some other things to think about are:

This example shows the Tweezerman Wide Grip tweezer - but there are many different makes and styles of wide-grips available

  • Grip - some tweezers have a wide grip feature, making them easier to hold for better control.  These might be particularly good if you have any weakness in your hands and fingers.
  • Finish - tweezers come with many different finishes, coatings and designs. Although, most obviously, this affects the look of the tweezer, it also can enhance the feel e.g. a rubberised or embossed finish may help with grip.
  • Cost - as previously mentioned, tweezers vary hugely in cost.  As a rule of thumb, I would advise you to purchase the best that you can afford. Generally you get what you pay for and, although there are some pretty decent tweezers available for $7 - $10, at the very bottom end are some pretty useless one's!  When considering the cost it is worth bearing in mind that a good pair of tweezers, if well looked after, should last you for many years.

More Information

We have produced several articles offering more information about various aspects of tweezing  as follows:

How to Pluck your Eyebrows with Tweezers

How to Remove Ingrown Hairs with Tweezers

How to Avoid Ingrown Hairs from Tweezing​

Sue
 

For the past 12 months, I have been testing and playing with all sorts of hair removal products for Hair Free Life. My goal is to provide the most accurate and up-to-date hair removal consumer information on the internet. When I'm not photographing, reviewing and researching hair removal products I play the drums in a samba band and am a volunteer for the Swindon Lions! Got any questions? Write to us below:

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