Grooming and filling in your eyebrows can be a daunting task. It is incredibly easy to over-tweeze or even over-fill your brows and a small mistake can throw off your whole beauty look. On the other hand, some light pencil or powder filler can add strength and definition to your regular makeup look. Here are a few tips for keeping your brows maintained and groomed.
Tweezing is a great way to maintain a good shaped brow at home but when in doubt, always under tweeze. Plucking just a few hairs from the wrong place in your brow can throw off your entire look and they may not even grow back. Look at the natural shape of your brow as an indicator of where to pluck. Stray hairs that are scattered away from the brow are always safe to remove but avoid giving yourself a fake arch. If you’ve over-tweezed your eyebrows, or even just one, go to a professional. The most common reason for dramatic over-tweezing is that the person was trying to match the shape of one eyebrow to the other. In this case, it is almost always best dealt with by someone who can mitigate the over-tweezed brow without ruining the other. We’re always told not to tweeze above the brow line and this is a good rule to thumb. If you have a lot of upper brow hair, consider bleaching the area to avoid making tweezing mistakes that could completely change the shape of your brow.
You may have seen models or celebrities with lush, thick eyebrows and thought it could be a great look for you but beware, they definitely don’t suit everyone. As a rule, if you don’t have very thick eyebrows to start off with, it’s best to abandon the idea that you’ll look like Hilary Rhoda with a few makeup tips. Women with smaller faces and delicate features should avoid filling in their brows too much as it will often overwhelm the face. Similarly, the placement of your brow bone is a good indicator of how thick your brows should be. Women with a low brow bone are better off keeping their natural, thinner, shape than dramatically filling them in. If you have a fuller face with higher brow bones, you will want to accent your brows accordingly as thicker brows with a wide arch will help balance the shape of your face.
If you have naturally well-shaped brows but are looking for them to look subtly fuller, use a powder shadow such as Anastasia’s Brow Powder Duo $22, rather than a pencil, to lightly fill in any sparse areas. Only apply product on the inside of the brow and don’t attempt to reshape it. The soft nature of the powder won’t bode well for drastic shape changes. Once you’ve applied the powder, use a clear mascara or brow gel such as Make Up For Ever’s Brow Seal $17 to smooth the hair and maintain a perfect shape all day. If you don’t have a mascara or gel, a spritz of hairspray on an old toothbrush also does the trick.
While there was a brief period in fashion where dramatic eyebrow colors such as pastels and platinum blonde were all the rage, it is usually best to keep your brows within a few shades of your hair. Keep this in mind when buying product and, if you can, test the color on your skin. You may think that you brows are darker than they really are. Tinted brow gel, such as Benefit’s Speed Brow $16, that attaches to the hair rather than the skin is a good option if you’re looking to change the color of your brows without a lot of makeup.
Waxy pencils, rather than creamy, can be a poor choice when choosing a brow filler. They often result in harsh lines that make it very clear you’ve altered the shape of your brow. Combination products such as Benefit’s Brow Zings $30 that have both a wax to attach to the hairs and a powder to set the wax and attach to the skin are a great way to get the most out of your brows with very little product. Beware, using waxy products over an extended period of time can cause thinning of the eyebrows due to the friction requires to remove the product so it’s best to use them for special occasions rather than everyday. A smoother pencil such as Laura Mercier’s Eyebrow Pencil $19, or creamy shadow, applied in short strokes to mimic hair growth results in the most natural looking brows.
Photos: IMAXtree
