Correctly shaped brows can take years off you, as they lift the entire face and make your eyes look bigger. If you have never had your brows shaped professionally, go to a brow specialist or a brow bar and have them threaded or waxed - you'll be amazed by the difference it makes. once you have the most flattering brow shape, you just need to maintain it.
The Perfect Brow Shape:
The highest part of the arch (2) should be about two-thirds of the way along the eye from the inner corner (1). The brow should always start just before the eyes and not after, but make sure it doesn't start too low or close to your nose, as that will look heavy and give the impression of a frown. The aim is that the inner part of the brow should slope gently upwards to the highest point of the arch and then taper down towards the outer corner (3), which should be the lowest point.
Golden Rule: Never overpluck, as it makes the area between the socket and the browbone look too heavy and gives you and expression of permanent surprise. Overplucking is also ageing and can create unevenness and holes where the hairs never grow back, which makes brow look unkempt. Thick brows are more youthful, so embrace a bushy brow, but keep it tidy. As we age, hair thins and brows get sparse, so think ahead and don't overpluck.
TIP: Don't interfere with your brows too much. Once you have the shape you like, simply maintain it by plucking out any stray hairs to keep your brows nice and neat.
Top Tips:
- Pluck from the root, one hair and line at a time, working from under the brows.
- Grasp the hair firmly with the tweezers and pull in the direction of growth.
- When making-up the brows, blend the color evenly and keep the edges soft.
- After using a pencil, brush the brows up with a mascara wand or brow brush for a natural finish.
- If you dye your hair, make sure the color of your brows is not too much of a contrast.
Brow Make-up: Whether you use brow powder, a pencil or a mascara-like brow shaper, don't go any darker than your natural brow colour. You may find that one shade lighter works the best, because one the product goes on the hair, it'll automatically look darker.
- Brow Powders, which should be applied with a thin angled brush to give control and precision, for natural groomed brows. Powder enables you to improve the shape of the brows by brushing them into place while darkening and coating the hairs, and you can blend it easily to create a natural feathery finish that looks like a real hair. It is the best product to use to fill in any gaps, because it blends so naturally.
- Brow pencils work well on thinner brows, where you want a harder defining line. The Brow Perfector comes in brown and blonde shades, each with a main color crayon and a brow-lift highlighter. The crayon should be used to shape and shade the brows, while highlighter should be applied right under the roots of the bottom line of hairs to frame the coloured area and create "lift".
- Wax sealers hold onto the hairs and keep them in place. This work best on shorter, thinner brows.
- Eyebrow Tattoo is the recent trend in eyebrow makeup. These are temporary tattoo stickers those look really very natural. These are waterproof and long lasting upto a week. These are suitable for those who are not expert in shaping up brows as you just need to stick those on your natural brows. No shaping is needed as they already comes in predefined shapes. This is very helpful for cancer patients or people suffering from alopecia who may not have eyebrow at all.
Insider Secrets:
- You need a good pair of tweezers and an eyebrow brush.
- Don't try to wax or thread your own brows.
- Use a large mirror to pluck your eyebrows so that you can see both at the same time. Have a magnifying mirror to hand for a close-up view.
- If you find it easier, draw your desired brow shape with a brow pencil and then pluck away the hairs around this shape.
- It is much easier to get your brows even if you work on both eyebrows simultaneously, taking a few hairs from one and then the other. If you get one perfect and then try to copy it, you may struggle to get both the same.
- Eyebrows are sisters not twins - your eyebrows will be naturally different and it is impossible to get them exactly the same.
- If you make a mistake while plucking, don't try to correct it - you'll only make the problem worse. Instead, use a brow pencil to fill the gap until the hair grows back.
- Never pluck a week before or during your periods, as the skin is more sensitive and it will be more painful.
- Don't fight nature: work with what you have. Everybody has different eyebrows, so style your brows to suit your lifestyle, personality, look, age and the type of make-up you wear. This will make maintenance easier, too.
- Nobody should ever see make-up on your brows - they should look completely natural.
References: The contents of this blog are rereferred from the book "Make-up secrets - Solution to every woman's beauty issues and make-up dilemmas" by "Jemma Kidd"