Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Brow Wow Wow

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the eyebrows are the curtains. Eyebrows are one of the most expressive features of the face and a great deal of emotion can be conveyed through them.....as long as you don't use too much Botox. Surprising then, that when it comes to the topic of women’s beauty, the subject of eyebrows is often overlooked and under appreciated. Since the shape of your eyebrows, especially where your eyebrows arch, is so influential to your appearance, knowing how to shape your eyebrow arch is a must have skill to enhance your overall look. This entry is for the woman who wants a great way to whip her brows into shape without having to go out and buy a generic brow shaping kit. Just remember........your brows are sisters, not twins! They probably won't look EXACTLY alike, so don't overpluck trying to achieve perfection.

Step 1:
To begin perfecting your eyebrow angle, remove all eye makeup look at your face in a well lighted mirror. To form the ideal eyebrow shape, simply follow four imaginary lines. Using an eyebrow pencil or anything long, straight and slender, hold the object vertically in front of your face. Line it up so that it touches the outer edge of your nostril and the inside corner of your eye. This line determines where your eyebrow should start. Mark where the line crosses your eyebrow with an eyebrow pencil or eyeliner. Do the same for the other eyebrow. Any eyebrow hair inside these two marks needs to be tweezed. If your eyebrows fail to reach the marks you have made, then you will need to fill that part of the eyebrow area in. Also, to regrow brow hair in a specific area, Latisse is an excellent option (as long as there is a live hair follicle)........and don't forget to put Latisse on your lashes, too.


Step 2:
Now take the eyebrow pencil and hold it to the outer edge of your nostril again. This time, swing the pencil towards your pupil. Stop when the eyebrow pencil crosses the center of your pupil, and mark the spot where the line meets your eyebrow. This is where you arch should begin.

Step 3:

Continue swinging the eyebrow pencil past your pupil to the outer edge of the iris (the colored portion) of the eye. Where the line intersects your eyebrow is where your eyebrow arch should be at its peak, or highest. Mark this spot with an eyebrow pencil.


*During step 2 and 3, make sure that you are looking straight ahead........both your face and your eyes should be looking directly forward into the mirror.


*To create the arch, remove hairs from the bottom of the brow bone, not the top. The only time you should pluck hair from above the brow line is when you are removing any stray hairs that occur above the brow. After the peak, the arch should begin descending immediately.

Step 4:
Taking the eyebrow pencil from the outer edge of your nostril once more, line it up so that it passes along the outermost corner of your eye (not your eyelashes) to your brow area. This is where your eyebrow should end. Mark this point with an eyebrow pencil and remove any hairs that fall beyond these points. Ideally, the inside portion of the eyebrow should be thickest and should taper towards the outer edge.


Remember these easy steps and you’ll know how to shape your eyebrow arch to always achieve the ideal eyebrow shape. Then again, if all of this sounds too daunting for you to do yourself, you can always get your eyebrows shaped by a professional first and then just follow the shape he/she has given you to maintain it.........just make sure to check out their brows first. Your call!

Top 5 Eyebrow Grooming No-Nos:

1. Making eyebrows too thin. Skinny eyebrows make you look heavier and older. We don't want commas for eyebrows ladies!


2. Using a magnifying mirror. It makes you over-pluck because you start obsessing over every hair. Plus it makes your pores look huge. Not cool.



3. Matching your eyebrow color to your hair. Eyebrows should compliment your hair color, not match it. Eyebrows can be tinted either two shades darker or two shades lighter, but no more. See, more evidence that matchy-matchy is bad.

4. Being scissors-happy. Only women who have high eyebrow arches or crazy-long brow hairs that wave at other people need to trim. Being overly snippy makes brows uneven and awkward.


5. Using pointed tweezers. They can break the skin and cause scabbing. Use a pair of slant tweezers instead--I like Tweezerman slanted tweezers!

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