There’s nothing like a perfect eyebrow to complete a makeup look. Whether you prefer a bushier brow or a tame, structured arch, bold brows are in — and overplucking is out.
Getting the perfect brow shape for your face can be a challenge at first, and some people prefer to head to a professional to get their initial brow shaping. However, if you prefer to save some money and DIY, there are some good rules of thumb to follow for a good basic shape.
- Using a pencil or similarly-shaped object, line it up to the side of your nose (going vertically down your face). Your brow should start where the pencil hits.
- Then, angle the pencil on a diagonal crossing across your pupil while looking straight forward. Keep the bottom of the pencil touching the side of your nose. This should be where the highest point of the arch of your eyebrow hits.
- Finally, angle the pencil to line up with the outside corner of your eye. The end of your brow should line up with the pencil here.
Following this basic formula you can see what your brow shape should be. If you decide to get your brows done by a professional, there are a few options for hair removal.
- Plucking. Likely what you would do at home, the brow artist will use tweezers to pluck each individual hair.
- Threading. A brow artist uses a thin thread to roll over areas of unwanted hair. While it plucks one hair at a time, the process can go faster and catches tiny baby hairs easier than tweezers might.
- Waxing. Warm, melted wax is spread in areas where hair will be removed. A brow artist is precise in this placement, and when the wax is ripped off, it takes with it hair beneath it in one swift movement.
Once your brows are shaped, it’s time to fine tune them to exactly what you’re looking for. Many people have thinner brows than they would like, which is where eyebrow pencils, powder and gel come in. These products can darken eyebrow hairs or add the illusion of more hairs in sparse areas.
Brow gel helps hold hairs in place and can darken light eyebrows depending on which shade you choose. Brow powder fills in sparse brows with a similar color, but without the look of individual hairs. A brow pencil allows you to precisely draw tiny lines that look like eyebrow hairs mixed in with your natural brow.
Experiment with different products to see what suits your face and day-to-day looks. And soon, your brows will be stealing the show.