Eyebrow 101

For my eyebrow upkeep I generally use 4 tools:

• Slant tipped tweezers
• Spooly brush
• Scissors
• Small angled brush

I find all of these interchangeable in brand (within reason) except the small angled brush. I use the MAC 266. I love this brush. LOVE IT! I use it for filling in my brows and applying gel or shadow liners, as well as blending my liquid liners. I've included a picture of both the spooly brush and the 266.

For product I've used powders, pencils, waxes, and gels. It's all in what you are comfortable using and the look you're going for, but personally I am loving the brow wax right now, and my old stand-by is a matte brown shadow. The wax that I use is duo-ended, one end being a thin stick of brow wax, with a thicker stick of highlighter on the other end. It's called Revlon ColourStay Brow Enhancer in "Medium Brown/Soft Rose." I'm not a fan of the highlighter colour. I wanted to try the champagne coloured one that comes with the blonde wax. The highlighter itself is okay... but does not last on the water line and is kind of cakey. The wax, I love!

Brow Shape

Like any other feature on a person, each of us has a unique brow shape and your natural shape is most likely the one that suits you best. If anything it might just need a little defining or fine-tuning. One sight that is especially sad to me is an over plucked eyebrow, especially on a young girl. They don't always grow back! Please take my advice. This is one thing you do not want to learn the hard way.

There are three parts to the brow. The inner corner (beginning), the arch, and the tail (end.)

The easiest trick to take your brow pencil or brush, as illustrated in the diagram. If you like, you can use a white eyeliner to mark your shape and angles. Place your pencil/brush at the side of your nose and straight up to the inner corner of your eye. This is where the brow should start. Then take the pencil and hold up along the outer side of the iris, which is the coloured part of your eye. That is where the highest peak of your arch should be. Now take your pencil/brush and hold it in a diagonal line from the side of your nose to the outside corner of your eye. This is where your eyebrow should end. As a general rule, you would pluck beside and under the brow shape, not above. In makeup artistry no rule has gone unbroken, but I wouldn't recommend getting too experimental with the upper brow line. You could end up with a rather unrealistic shape.

Face Shape

In general (of course) certain brow shapes tend to look better with certain face shapes. The six face shapes are:

• 
  
  Round
• 
  
  Oval
• 
  
  Square
• 
  
  Heart
• 
  
  Rectangle/Long
• 
  
  Diamond

Round: If you're looking to de-emphasize the roundness of your face, opt for a more angular brow with a more defined arch.

Oval: This is considered the most desirable face shape, giving you more freedom to play with your brows. Any shape should work for you.

Square: If you are looking to balance and play up the angular jaw of a square face, use a strong and angular brow. If you are seeking a softer face shape, opt for a rounder brow shaded lightly.

Heart: To emphasize a heart shaped face use a rounded brow which curves subtly and softly. A higher arch will lengthen this face shape, creating more balance.

Rectangle/Long: To make a longer shaped face appear shorter, use a thicker, straighter brow shape. Again, a stronger colour will add balance with this shape.

Diamond: A rounded brow with a higher arch will soften this face shape, making it appear less wide.

Grooming

Some of you may wax or thread your brows. Never use a razor! I find waxing causes my skin to break out. Threading is something that appeals to me, but I have yet to find a place that offers this service locally. That leaves me with one option: Tweezing. I find an angled tweezer gives me the best precision and prevents me from pinching the delicate skin of the eye area. 

First I wash and exfoliate my face with warm water. The warm water will relax the pores and hair follicle, making tweezing easier and less damaging. After drying my face I apply a moisturizer and make sure I rub it into my brow area as well. I then comb my brows upward with my spooly brush. I start below the brows, hold the brush horizontally (diagnolly for the tip, in accordance to your brow shape) and wiggle the brush upward, holding scissors in my other hand.

Once the tip of the bristles are alined with, or slightly above your brow line, you may hold the scissors angled up towards your arch, and carefully trim the longer hairs. Sweep the hairs from your face and brush your brows in place. Now you can do your shaping. When working on the shape itself it's best to go one hair at a time. That makes it impossible to take a chunk out of your eyebrows accidentally. 

After I pluck the stray hairs I take my wax stick, pencil, or loaded brush (draw a line in your shadow and tap the brush a few times) and make small light strokes, starting at the inner corner, going out towards the tail. Sometimes I will do a fading effect so my inner corners are a bit lighter, making a very small but gradual build up to the colour. It's hard to explain but gives a natural effect. After filling in brows I brush them in place again.

Wax will generally stay put. If you're using powder or pencil you may want to apply a gel. I use a tinted brow gel when I do use a gel at all, but in a pinch you could spray a small amount of hairspray on your spooly brush and comb them into place. After this I will usually apply a soft highlight (almost always powder) under the arch, and I'm all set! With perfectly groomed brows you can easily leave the house with nothing more than a coat of lipgloss or chapstick and still look stylish and polished.

Are you brave enough? 

PS:
I "borrowed" these fun brow facts from the Veet website.

•Average size of female "eyebrow" ranges from 24.8 mm to 31.5 mm

•Fashionable women of the early 1700s wore false eyebrows cut from mouse hides to make themselves look perpetually surprised

•The average eyebrow boasts around 550 hairs

•Eyebrows help protect the eyes from dust particles, debris and excessive light damage

•Every natural eyebrow is different in colour, size and shape… just like a snowflake

•Hair transplant surgery for eyebrows is available and requires the patient to trim their new eyebrows once or twice per month

-H. Cat