Health & Beauty

Perfect Brows – A Step By Step Guide

Eyebrows are the frame to your face. When shaped properly, they can open and elevate a woman’s natural beauty, but when plucked improperly, the outcome is quite the opposite.

Well done eyebrows have the power to reshape your entire face. By hitting all the right notes, you will look pulled together, even with minimal make-up (or none at all). Let me tell you a few of my tips and tricks to pluck your brows perfectly every time.

Here’s what you’ll need.

1. Witch hazel or alcohol pads. You will use this to cleanse the area and keep it free of bacteria before and after you pluck. I prefer the witch hazel; I find it to be gentler.

2. A colored eye pencil. You will use the pencil to shade the area that you intend to pluck. This way you can see the final shape before you even remove the first hair.

Using a white pencil makes it very easy, but really you can use any color you have on hand.

3. An excellent pair of tweezers. I love the tweezerman brand. They come in a huge assortment of colors. Get the slanted edge, not the flat or very pointy ones. These make it easier to manipulate around the curve of the brow bone.

4. A pair of small scissors. These will be used to snip away any long or unruly hairs.

5. A spoolie or brow brush. If you are baffled by the name, it is the brush that looks like a mascara wand. This is used to see which hairs might need a trim and to smooth others into place. Try Jane Iredale’s it’s only $6.50.

Here are the rules for a perfectly placed and plucked brow.

1. The eyebrow should always begin directly above the inner corner of your eye.

2. To find where to place the highest point of the arch, hold a make up brush even with the outside edge of your iris. The inner section should travel up to the peak and the outer section (usually a third or less of the brow) should travel downward and taper off. When the prominence of the bone is visible under the arch, it lifts and opens the eye area taking years off the face.

3. To find where the brow should naturally end, hold the make up brush so the handle stretches from your nostril to the outer corner of your eye. The spot where the handle intersects your brow is the perfect ending point. If your brow ends before that point, extend it with a powder or pencil. As we age, our brows grow less dense from the outside in. So the longer you maintain your brows proper length, the more youthful you look.

Plucking 101.

1. Swab your brows with a witch hazel or alcohol pad.

2. With your eye pencil, shade in the area that you wish to pluck. Stand back and look in the mirror to be sure you like your new shape.

3. One at a time, using your tweezers, grab each hair in the shaded area. Get as close to the root as possible. Pull the hair out in the direction of growth. Use a swift and sharp movement to minimize the pinch. To keep it even, try and do one row of hairs at a time.

4. With the spoolie brush, brush up the brow hairs. This will help you locate those very long ones that like to stay hidden until an embarrassing moment.

5. Trim the hairs with the small scissors. Keep them around the length of the rest of your brow hair. Cutting them too short will make them just stick out.

6. Swab your brows with witch hazel or alcohol.

Solving the sparse brow problem.

Use a pencil, brow powder or eyeshadow to fill in or smooth out any areas that look sparse or thin. Word of warning: choose a shade that is 1 to 2 shades lighter than your hair color. The lighter color has the effect of a shadow, giving the illusion that your brows are thicker and fuller than they are. If you match your hair color or go darker, you will look like Joan Crawford (in her later years…enough said). Use light strokes to draw in the hair.

To pluck above or not to pluck above….That is the question.

There is a myth circulating that says one should never pluck above the eyebrow. Let me tell you, it is just that…a myth. Pluck where you need to pluck to create the perfect brow.

Oh, one last tip….

DO NOT pluck your brows in a magnifying mirror. The reflection makes your brow look much bigger then it is. So, after you pluck away, you will step back and see a pencil thin brow that would have made you the hit of the 1920’s….

Well ladies, there are all my secrets. Maybe you will forgo your trip to the waxer and try the at home alternative. And, for the record, I never recommend waxing, hot wax moves and it can be very imprecise. I know too many women who have ended up missing half an eyebrow. Plucking may hurt (the first time or two) and it might take a little longer, but the outcome makes it worth it!

As always, I appreciate all of your questions and comments….

Tagged: brows, celebrity make-up artist, eyebrows, Jane Iredale, make-up, make-up tips, Nathan Johnson, plucking, sparse brows, tweezerman

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