Few things make you appear more groomed than well-plucked eyebrows . Many women have their eyebrows tweezed or threaded professionally leading to eyebrow boutiques popping up across the country.
I recommend you have a professional do your eyebrows first to set a 'blueprint', then all you have to do is pluck where the hairs grow in. (A pro waxing should set you back about $20 depending on where you live).
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Trim it Up First!
If you want to learn how to shape your eyebrows like the pros, then trim them if they need it.
A big mistake women make is not trimming their brows.
When the eyebrow hair is long, sometimes women end up taking out too much hair when they really needed to take out bulk. So trim first!
Here's how to tell if you need to trim: Brush your eyebrows straight up, and if there are any hairs longer coming out of your natural shape on top, then trim it.
Yes, you can do this on your own, it's very simple. Use a fine-tooth regular comb or an eyebrow brush to push eyebrow hair up, and then just trim what is outside the shape with small scissors (preferably eyebrow scissors).
Where the Eyebrow Should Start
The general rule of thumb for eyebrow shaping is that if you took a ruler to the inner corner of your eye that is about where the brow should begin. If you like a more natural look, you can always leave a bit more hair.
- If you have wide set eyes (too far apart), then you could leave a few extra hairs outside of the above line towards the nose of to make eyes "appear" closer.
- If you have close set eyes (too close together), and then you could leave a few extra hairs inside of the above line towards the eyes, to make them "appear" farther.
As you can see, the model's eyebrows in these pictures go a bit further in toward the eye.
Deciding on the Arch
On deciding on how to arch your eyebrows one of the most important part of designing the brow, we are going to use other features for a reference. For our model here, I've decided on a small arch for her eyebrow shape because she doesn't have a lot of eyelid, and she has straight brows.
So placing a ruler on tip of her nose as a reference, and taking the ruler over her pupil brings me to a section of her brow that you see above. This is going to be the "peak" of her arch.
Another reference point is the top of the nostril, still aiming for over the middle of the pupil for a medium arch, but the far side of the pupil for a large arch. (Tip: right nostril for right eye, left nostril for left eye).
Where the Eyebrow Should End
Place the end of a ruler at the outer nose and put on the corner of the eye, this is where the brow should end. On the model above, she's right on target. Usually, it's only a slight bit if women are outside this last line.
Additional Eyebrow Shaping Tips:
- Most of the time over-plucking has resulted in brows not meeting this end point. If that's the case for you, use a brow pencil a shade lighter than your brows until it grows out. When you actually use the pencil, lightly draw a line in the direction of how the hair grows. This will make it appear less noticable.
- The biggest mistake people make is to tweeze too much. Avoid over plucking as it can take months for brows to grow back. Here's a simple trick to remember: The space between your brows should be equal to, or a little wider than, your eyes. To find where your brow should go, take a long eye shadow brush or pencil and hold it parallel to the side of your nose. Where the brush meets your brow is where your brow should begin.
- To find the end of your brow, extend the brush diagonally from your nostril, following the outside edge of your eye toward the brow. Where the inside edge of the brush hits is where your brow should end.
- The best brows have a slight arch. To find yours, hold the brush parallel to the outside edge of the colored part of your eye (the iris). Where the brush meets the brow is where the highest part of your brow should be.
- Cleanse your skin. Exfoliating with a gentle scrub helps prep the area as well. Worried about pain? Expert aesthicians suggest applying to the brow Anbesol, Orajel or any teething gel for babies. Brush brows up and out.
- You'll want to invest in a good pair of tweezers with a slanted edge. You also want to make sure you're near a window with light pouring in or under a bright light with a good mirror (magnifying mirrors are best, but be sure and flip it over to see your overall effect in the regular mirror).
- Make sure to pluck hairs in the direction they grow. Don't grab too many hairs at a time. You can hold skin taut as you pluck.
- It's a myth that brows should never be tweezed from above. You want both the bottoms and tops to be smooth. So be careful, but tweeze the top AND the bottom.
- Stop every few hairs to step back and look at the job you're doing. If you over pluck, you're stuck. Unlike most hairs on your body, your brows won't always grow back once they're yanked.
- Once you're done plucking, you can apply aloe vera gel, which will calm the redness right away.
- To ensure your tweezers maintain their firm grip, regularly wipe the tips with alcohol to remove any oily build up.
- If your brows are sparse or spotty, you can fill them in by pressing a brown shadow into your brow.
- If you use a pencil to fill in sparse brows, apply with short, feathered strokes from the inside of the brow out. Then carefully rub brows with a brush or your fingertips to soften the effect.
- Brow gel helps keep your brows in place all day. Or if you don't have gel, apply a dab of hairspray to your finger and use it to keep unruly hairs in place.
- I've saved the best tip for last. The ideal time for brow-shaping is the week after your period begins. It the time in your cycle when your body is least sensitive to hair removal.
