September 19, 2014

How To: Brow Shaping Tips for Perfect Eyebrows

Martie Hair, Makeup and Beauty, My Artwork Included beautiful eyebrows, brow shaping, great eyebrows, overplucked eyebrows, perfect brows, plucking eyebrows, shaping your eyebrows, tweezing eyebrows 8 Comments

One of my favorite salon services is brow shaping. Practically perfect brows can be the marvelous crown for any makeup look. I love to tweeze, wax, and artfully create the best eyebrow shape for each person’s face. I love it when someone comes in with wild and woolly eyebrows and I get to bring out that sleek arch and perfect point. Yes, I find plucking eyebrows fun (on other people).

Brow Shaping Tips

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you purchase using the links I provided. All opinions are my own. 

I have a little list of do’s and don’ts for you today when it comes to brow shaping. First off, if you’re familiar with waxing eyebrows at all and think you can do it at home, you must get this Gigi Student Starter Kit!  It’s the best wax I’ve ever used, and having that warmer is so handy.  Everything you need comes in this kit! I love mine, so much.  Brow shaping with wax is my favorite. If you are not familiar with waxing, GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! Professional brow shaping is not that expensive, so find someone you trust and sit back and relax.

If you’re just not into waxing, then get yourself a really good pair of tweezers.  My recommendation is the Tweezerman Mini Slant Tweezer. These tweezers are made for creating perfect brows.  The point is nice and thin, and the grip is tight.  You can’t go wrong with these.

shaping your eyebrows

The shape of your eyebrows can make or break your whole look, honestly. [An aside: One of my favorite movies (EVER!) is My Best Friend’s Girl. You know the scene….]

 

Annnnyway…having great eyebrows enhances every one of your best features. Having poorly shaped brows

 

(or missing brows…) can kinda ruin your good features.

 

Ya know what I mean?

“Do’s” of shaping your eyebrows.

• DO learn where your eyebrows should start and finish when brow shaping. Hold a pencil straight up and down against the bridge of your nose. This is the point at which your eyebrows should start. You can have pretty-darn-close to perfect eyebrows if you follow this method. To determine where the arch should be, pivot the pencil toward the outer corner of your eye, keeping the other end by the tip of your nose.  When the pencil is lined up with the iris of the eye, that’s where the arch should be.  Next, pivot the pencil on a diagonal right against the outer corner of your eye, keeping the pencil against the tip of your nose. This is where your eyebrows should end.
• DO make sure your eyebrows don’t start too far away from the center, like this poor gal,

and that they don’t try to creep too much into the center,

like this one (who could be me, on occasion). Great eyebrows start with knowing where they should be.

• DO groom those suckers on a regular basis. Pluck, thread, wax….whatever you can take, but do clean up around the edges and in between, folks. No need to look like Bert from Sesame Street.
• DO fill in the blank-looking areas with a pencil or brow shadow. Avoid anything with red or green undertones…true neutrals work best. I use eyeshadow sometimes, as long as it’s neutral. Use light, feathery strokes with your pencil or brush to ensure subtlety and a natural look.

“Don’t’s” of Shaping Your Eyebrows

• DON’T stay up too late on a Friday night in October and decide that your eyebrows need to look like Kat Von D’s, just because you want to dress up like her for one measly night. Maybe that’s just me, but I thought I would include it anyway.
• DON’T reduce your eyebrows down to mere dashes in the name of “grooming”. That is not grooming, that is called ‘getting carried away’. Overplucked eyebrows are the worst.

3. DON’T pluck or wax your way to two Sharpie fine-point lines across your forehead. Again with the overplucked eyebrows! Arch, people, remember?  You can’t have a sexy arch with no hair in the interior.

4. DON’T overfill or draw on your eyebrows. It’s not natural looking, and it’s not attractive.

I don’t have beautiful eyebrows, not one bit. The points get so light in the summer they disappear, and my “uni-brow” middle grows faster than anything. I love how they look when they’re freshly waxed (other than the redness, of course), and how much better my makeup glides on. And, yes, I prefer waxing to tweezing eyebrows. Get that pain over with quickly instead of torturing yourself with endless plucking! So, no, I’m not crazy about my natural eyebrows, but I have the means to make them great.  Have you had a brow shaping lately? Maybe it’s time….

X,O,X,O,   Martie