A single pluck or a too-dark brow pencil can turn your eyebrows from fabulous to disastrous in a matter of seconds. We’ve all gone to get our eyebrows arched and absolutely hated the way the technician shaped them. Even I have had the mini heart attack from looking in the mirror after laying on the waxing bed getting plucked and probed like a science experiment. The horrors of waxing cause many girls to go the threading route instead. However, threading your brows has its ups and downs as well – it lasts a little longer than waxing but it is also more painful if you don’t go often. Fortunately, professional makeup artist and “arch-ologists” insist that the perfect brow can be achieved by anyone from the comfort of your own home! “Well-arched, groomed brows play a role in balancing features, like your eyes, nose, forehead, and the length of your face,” said celebrity eyebrow expert Anastasia Soare in Fox News Magazine. So, how do we achieve the perfect brow?
First things first, just like a guys head shape determines the outline of his shape up, a woman’s face shape plays a huge role in the arch and brow definition she should choose. If you have a longer face your brows can be used as a balancer. You should stay away from an exaggerated arch and a thin brow and go with a thicker style. It will shorten the overall length of your face. If you have a rounded face like me, a higher arch will heighten natural features such as your cheekbones. It will also make your jaw line appear more distinct for an overall elongating effect. If you have a square face with strong jaw lines you should opt for a softer arch instead of an exaggerated arch, which could cause you to look angry. With a softer brow arch you will subtly slim the four corners of your face. Angelina Jolie is a perfect example of someone with a square bone structure and her soft arch fits her face perfectly! If you have an oval face shape like Beyoncé you should slightly shorten the length of your brow to create the appearance of fuller cheeks. Lastly, if you have a heart-shaped or triangular face you can pretty much achieve any eyebrow shape you desire!
So what’s next? Don’t get nervous, tweezing is easier than it sounds. To skip the bi-weekly trip to the nail salon for a painful wax that costs $8 every time, grab those tweezers girl! Choosing a sharp and slightly slanted style of tweezers can prevent you from pinching your skin during this process. Tweezing after you get out of the shower can make it less painful as well – warm water opens the follicles and softens hair, which makes them easier to pull out. If that still doesn’t seem to work, you can take a thimbleful of Orajel Pain Cream and apply it to the your brow before tweezing! Now, step back and put the magnifying mirror down. Looking too closely at your eyebrows when tweezing can cause you to over-pluck, removing more hair than you need. If you cannot see the stray hairs when looking directly into the mirror, neither can anyone else, so don’t stress.
Use your tweezers as a guideline to achieve the perfect brows. Your eyebrow should begin directly above your tear duct, peak in line with the outer side of your iris and end at a point that falls 45 degrees from the outer corner of your eye. If you overarch and remove too much hair from the outside or inside of your natural shape, it will cause your brows to look very unnatural. Once you have determined your natural brow shape you can use a brown eyebrow pencil to outline your ideal arch depending on your face shape. Pluck away any stray hairs that fall outside of the line.
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Lastly, erase the arch guideline and begin to fill in your brows. If you do not want to add extra fullness to your brows then you can stop here, but if you want that Brooke Shields look, going over your brows with a soft definer pencil can really set the tone. You want to pick an eyebrow pencil that most closely matches your eyebrow color. If you cannot find a eyebrow pencil that matches your hair color you can use a matte eyeshadow or brow powder. Never use an extremely dark color to fill in your brows and never use black unless you have naturally black eyebrows. Dark defining pencils will make your eyebrows look fake and drawn on so always go with the closet color to your hair or a shade lighter if you cannot find the perfect match.
First, using a spoolie brush, brush your brows into the direction you want them to fall. Gently take your brow pencil and fill in any gaps or areas where you may have over plucked. Next, lightly overdraw in a stroke like motion to give your brows a hint of fullness and definition. Use your spoolie brush to even out the marks made by your pencil as you go – stroke, brush, stroke and brush. The spoolie brush will help you to avoid the “drawn on” effect that I’m sure we all have seen before. If the tip of your brow definer pencil is too sharp, take a piece of toilet tissue and ground it down until the ball of the pencil is rounded. This will also help prevent you from making your brows too dark. Lastly, you can apply a concealer with a stiff, angled applicator under your brows to give them a more polished look and define your arch. When finished, you can apply a clear brow gel for uplift and keep them in place during the day.
Must Try Brow Definers Under $20: Avon Glimmersticks Brow Definer ($5.61), Mary Kay Signature Brow Definer Pencil ($10.99), Maybelline New York Define-a-Brow ($4.55), Noir Cosemestics Brow Brown ($18), NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil ($5), NYX Eyebrow Shaper Wax ($7.81), MAC Brow Pen ($15), Revlon Beauty Tools Brow Styling Gel ($4.99), Revlon Brow Fantasy 2in1, Pencil & Gel ($6.49)
You are arched and ready to go! Until next time, collegiettes™…
If you are more of a visual learner, check out this video!