So one fact stands out from everything I’ve read and experienced: When your eyebrows are shaped and plucked properly, you not only look well-groomed, you feel terrific. Your eyebrow shape is important not only because it can complement your face shape, but also because it plays such an important role in helping your face to be expressive. Of course, you can have your brows done professionally, but that always puts you at the mercy of someone else’s schedule—to say nothing of the assault on your wallet.
A happy compromise is to find the hottest eyebrow boutique in your town, let them do their best work for you, go home and take a picture of yourself, and then try to reproduce the job when you need it. And, if you do it frequently, all you’ll have to do for a long time is simply pluck the stray hairs around your newly shaped eyebrows as they grow in. Here’s some information and tips that will help you choose some great tweezers and do your own eyebrows.
1. First, determine your face shape, and be sure to get advice about it from a friend. There are basically five face shapes: Heart, Round, Square, Oval, and Long. Occasionally you’ll see a face that seems to have a diamond shape, but that’s fairly uncommon.
2. Now for your eyebrow shape. Basically, here’s how it goes:
- Heart-shaped face—use a low-arched, round brow; if the face is short make the arch higher.
- Round face—use a high-arched brow.
- Square face—use an angled brow with a sharp peak, or try a curved brow.
- Oval face—use an angled brow also, but with a softer, less-defined angle.
- Long face—use a nice, straight brow; almost a totally horizontal line.
- If you do have a diamond-shaped face, use a curved brow to soften the angles.
3. Consider using an eyebrow stencil for the next step—it will save loads of time. Get one at your beauty supply store. You’ll also need at least one great pair of angled tweezers and possibly a straight or pointed pair. (For great choices, check out the TweezerPro Store.) Now, with the pencil, make very faint vertical lines where you want each brow to begin and end, and hold the stencil in place, using the lines as guides.
4. Next, following the outline of the stencil, draw your eyebrow shape lightly with the pencil.
5. Remove the stencil and pluck the hairs outside the lines (See plucking tips, below.).
6. Wipe off the pencil marks, and with a small comb, comb your brows in the right direction.
7. Use the comb to lightly smooth the top of each brow to form an even line. Use your eyebrow pencil to fill in gaps with short, fine strokes.
Plucking Tips
- Be sure to give yourself plenty of light—either natural or artificial light is fine. Use a magnifying mirror if you need one—seeing properly is key. (Make sure you look in the normal side of the mirror occasionally as a check.)
- Do make sure your skin is clean and exfoliated before you start using your tweezers. I’ve heard that baby teething gel can make the plucking hurt less, though I haven’t tried it.
- Hold your skin taut with one hand and use your tweezers to pluck with the other, but never more than three or four hairs without stopping to check how you’re doing. It’s beyond easy to pluck too much—don’t do it. You’ll end up with sparse eyebrows that make you look permanently surprised. Or questioning…
- If the hair should be going left, pluck it to the left. If you want it growing toward the right…you get the idea.
- When you’re ready to start your brows, comb them up and then left or right.
- When you’re finished, clean all your tools before putting them away; your skin will thank you. Be sure to wipe the tips of your tweezers with a little alcohol each time you use them and do have them sharpened when they need it.
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