BROWS.
To me, they are pretty much one of the most important things about anyone‘s face! Only a handful of people can get me to leave the house if I haven’t filled them, even just a little bit- that’s how important they are to me. Whenever I fill them in to my liking, I get this crazy rush of joy – damn I look good! Today is going to be the best!
Although I’d hate to admit it, my brows haven’t always been on fleek, and needless to say I am super embarassed by my sad brow past. BUT my mishaps definitely made me appreciate a beautiful brow so much more, so I’m going to show you lovelies my brow transformation! (ps. it also features a kind of transformation of my look, haha)
Part 1:
SO! I’d like to introduce you to my thirteen year old self (the image on the far left). This picture was taken at my elementary school graduation dance. That day, my aunt took me to get my hair done, and she told me we could get my brows done too. I wanted to SO badly but my mom was very brow conservative at the time and didn’t want me to touch them. I’m not sure if she liked the blonde streaks but she definitely got her wish- my brows stayed natural, at least for a little while.
The picture in the middle is me in the 9th grade! I decided that if my mom wasn’t going to take me to get my brows done, I was going to take things into my own hands! (a decision that I really regret LOL) SIGH. Just looking at that one brow makes me cringe.
The picture on the far right is me in grade 11 or so- brows are still too thin for my liking- but they aren’t sperm shaped anymore which is a plus!
Part 2:
Starting from the left, this is me when I graduated highschool! As you can see, I let my brows grow in more, so instead of being thin and round, they’re more arched and a little less thin. At least I was learning at this point! In the middle picture, I think I was either one or two years into my undergrad at U of T. I discovered the Make Up Forever brow pencil and it became my life! I didn’t really know how to fill them in, and I didn’t have much experience with brow products so it’s no wonder that they look kinda funky. Last but certainly not least, the picture on the right is me right now- perfectly groomed and arched, all I can say is what a relief I learned eventually!
My Brow Routine/Brow Tutorial
I usually get a lot of comments on brows- mostly positive ones from relatives that remember the good ol’ days and how far I’ve come. People also ask me how I fill them in, so this part of the blog will show you lovelies exactly how I do it!
The secret to my brows? I’ve got to give a super high five to the Stila Brow Pen. It is a lifesaver. Smudge proof and long lasting, this baby has a fine tip that allows you to fill your brows in with light feathery strokes that don’t look too thick. This product is also super layerable- so if you’ve got sparse brows like I do, this pen will be one of your main weapons of choice in your beauty arsenal! (ps. the photo on the right shows the brush strokes I made with the pen. Usually they’re a little more saturated but right now I think I need a new one!)
Let’s Get Started!
FYI: These are two separate pictures of each of my eyebrows and they looked too awkward to put off centre so I tried to make them match placement wise- that’s why I look oddly crosseyed LOL.
As you can see, the hairs are pretty sparse, something that usually happens after over plucking them too many times. Another thing to point out is that they aren’t exactly the same shape, something that I also like to blame on overplucking. But you know what they say, eyebrows are sisters, not twins! These differences are pretty easy to mask once I finish my brow routine. I like to start off fresh faced so I don’t have anything on in these pictures other than some colour correcting primer.
When I fill in my brows, I like to start close to the beginning of my brow, the area between the two red lines. First, as seen in the picture to the left, I take my brow pen and make soft strokes from the base and take them upward. In the picture to the right, I also added a few light strokes at the top, in the direction of my arch instead of my nose. I personally like a darker, more defined brow, so I also filled in the patch that I missed in the first picture.
After taking care of the beginning of my brow, I start moving towards the middle. Using my pen, I start filling in the arch using downward. The Stila Brow Pen layers really well, so I tend to make the middle and end of my brow pretty dark.
Once I’ve made the arch dark enough, and have aligned it with the rest of my brow, I use strokes going somewhat downwward and diagonal (the direction the hair grows at the end of my brows) to finish of the ends. Et Voila! One brow is ready to go! Just so you lovelies know, it doesn’t take long to fill my brows in now. But if you’re just starting out with this brow pen or any other, it’s going to take some time and some practice before you get used to how the pen works.
Here’s a quicker version of this tutorial with my other eyebrow:
Just like the process for my first brow, I start close to the middle first, then fill in the start of my brow, and then fill in the highest point of my brow. You can probably see how sparse and thin the hairs are at the top of my arch, so I like to use multiple strokes to layer on the product and make my brows darker in that area. Light feathery strokes are the key!
In the first image, the hairs on the lower part of my arch are a bit long/unruly (which reminds me, trimming your brows can be a great thing to do to keep them in shape! Just don’t trim off too much), so I use my brow pen to define the lower line a little more. I don’t usually use my pen to draw straight lines since it gives my brows an unnatural look, but this time, it looks like I did, haha!
Using this pen is pretty low maintenace, I don’t even really need concealer to fix up the brows really since every stroke is strategically placed, haha. It took a while for me to really figure out what I wanted from my brows and how to execute a plan to achieve them properly, so if you feel like you’re in a brow funk or you’re just growing them out, have no fear! You’ll be fleeking out your brows in no time! (ps. I never really understood how the world fleek became a thing- if you know, I would love to be enlightened!)
Photo Sources:
http://www.crushable.com/2013/12/25/entertainment/beyonce-best-moments-o…
http://ca.eonline.com/news/581612/the-7-most-cringe-inducing-statements-…
http://imgur.com/gallery/vLPy8