Don't mind the puffy eyes, I have a terrible cold.
I do my eyebrows the way people tell you not to do them. So, warning, this works for me, it might not work for you, always step back after plucking 3 to 4 hairs and look at how your eyebrows look to you. Your face may need a thinner or a thicker brow, every faceshape has a different brow that looks best on it. So if you feel like the shape this trick gives you before plucking isn't you, don't pluck them using my way.
But, here's how I do it. I first brush my eyebrows into it's natural shape. I take a very small eyeliner brush and use not the brush side, but the handle, and place it next to the tip of my nose (no. 1) You could also take a small stick, but I use a brush because I have those in my bathroom. I then use a white eyeliner pencil and draw over the hairs that can be plucked out. I then place the brush from the tip of my nose to the end of my eye and make a small line there, your eyebrow should not go beyond that line. If you look at the bottom the beginning of your eyebrow, there is almost a horizontal line you could put between it. Your arch should be higher then that. I then place the brush right next to my pupil and put a dot where my arch should be. (I'm lucky that I have an almost perfect arch naturally, I only have to pluck maybe 4 hairs there.)

I then put a small dot exactly above the dot in the arch and that will be the peak of my eyebrow. I then draw a line from the peak to the tail of my eyebrow. For me I take more of the upperbrow then in the past. There is a (stupid) rule that you shouldn't pluck from top of your eyebrow, but I do anyway. The rule is there because they say your eyebrow looks sticked on if you pluck from the top, but on me I think it looks fine. So I make sure the arch is the highest point and on the inner side of my brow, I place a dot a little lower then the highest point. I then play "connect the dots" around my eyebrow, now my eyebrow is ringed with a white line. I make sure the lines aren't stick straight (because not much in nature is straight). I made the lines in the next picture straight to make sure you see the underlying thought and the lines I use as a base, but I NEVER pluck straight lines.

I then step back a bit from a mirror that shows my entire face and look at the shape of both brows, no face has two exactly the same brows (because both sides of your face are never the same), but I try to make them look as much alike without making it look weird. On my face one eyebrow has more of an arch then the other. It's the one I can lift on it's own (strange huh).
Back to the mirror, do the eyebrows look like they fit in my face? If I think it could be a little thinner I draw the line in a bit, if I want it a little thicker, I take a qtip and take some of the white out. When I'm happy I take my tweaser and start at the bridge of the nose to pluck only the hairs that have white on them, remember to step back every 4 hairs or so when you're shaping them like this for the first time, one plucked hair to much is a lot less to worry about then two entire eyebrows that are wonky.
I then pluck the arch, switching from eyebrow to eyebrow (brushing the eyebrow into shape when needed), still taking steps back every few hairs to look at the shape. When I'm done with the arch I do the rest of the bottom, take off the white underneath my eyebrow and look at the arch I have. Am I happy? Should the arch be higher?
If I'm happy I brush the eyebrows into shape again and then go to the top. I start with the upper "line" of lashes still stepping back every few hairs. I do this line by line because I hate overplucked eyebrows. Finally when I'm happy I take off all the white and put some babyoil on my skin just because it feels great. After a small face massage I take off the baby oil and brush my brows into shape again.
I have a new thing that I saw in a magazine a few months back that you can cut your eyebrows. I'm very scared of this, but I do take an eyelash comb and comb the eyebrowhairs up to see if they're very long. I now take maybe 1 milimeter of the inner centimeter of my eyebrowhairs. I comb them up, hold them there and with a small cuticle scissor I take the 1 mm of. I then brush them back into shape and am happy that I don't have to do it this timeconsuming again for a long time (untill I want to change the shape again).
To keep it like this I just take stray hairs out every 3 to four days when I see them. And the cutting when I notice it looks different, but sometimes I forget for a month and no harm done.
A friend of mine uses another great trick, she gets an eyebrow shape (like brow stencils by Sephora, Tarte or Anastasia just to make a few) and places the shape she likes on her eyebrow, she then takes a deep pink/purple eyeshadow (she's a blond so dark pink shows up on her skin) and colours in the eyebrows. She then takes away the stencil and takes a step back to see in the mirror if they where straight and if she likes the look and then pluckes all the hairs that aren't coloured. So that's another trick you can try.
Don't over pluck your brows, thicker brows represent youth. When you get older your brows naturally think out a bit, so try not to make yourself look older. And don't pluck if you're not happy with the shape or if you're in a hurry.
I hope this helps everyone.
Hugs
Casual Club
I love it. I've got thick, dark brows (those Mediterranean genes
) and know how important
brows are. I must say I often don't take enough time for upkeep when I am running around.
1You've got a great method. I've never tried the stencil for fear of being too precise I suppose. I do clean up the top as well as use a small brow brush and cuticle scissor to trim. For me, cleaning up the top helps my eyes look brighter and stand out more. I've had people do my brows many times and I can't say I have ever been completely satisfied.
Fantastic blog
I think your eyebrows are awesome!! Mine have been overly plucked.
2If you want to let your eyebrows grow back quicker, try Vitamins A, B-Complex, C, D, E and iron, calcium, zinc, sulfur, and the essential fatty acids. And drink nettle tea (it tastes bad, I know, but it's really good for your body). To keep your hair and nails growing shiny, try an Omega 3, 6 and 9 Complex (fish oil)
The most important vitamins necessary for hair growth are: vitamin A (produces healthy sebum in the scalp), vitamin C (antioxidant), vitamin E (improves scalp circulation), Biotin (produces Keratin), Inositol (keeps hair follicles healthy), Niacin (promotes scalp circulation) and pantothenic acid, Para-Aminobenzoic Acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 that prevent graying and hair loss. The most common food-based sources of these vitamins are: citrus fruits, green vegetables, fruits like pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, potatoes, green peppers, vegetable oils, soybean, raw seeds, dried beans, wheat germ oil, brewer’s yeast, whole grains, eggs, liver, rice, milk, fish, turkey, chicken and red meat. (source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kent_Pinkerton)
3I love thick eyebrows -- and yours! Overly plucked brows make me sad. I never really had to touch mine until a few years ago, just to maintain stray hairs here and there. Now I use eyebrow pencil to darken my brows a bit, as they are a bit too blond for my liking ;]
4I had started taking Salmon Oil pills and did notice that my hair was growing quite quick!
5Here's a youtube video from Smashbox that's really good for people who need a little filling in their eyebrows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEd5DxTu740
6My eyebrows suck. I hate them. They are seriously wonky. Each has a different shape, so I am alwys correcting it with plucking and filling it in. Thanks for the great tips.
7Thanks and super thanks for the video, Ccee, I have my eyebrows done at a salon but that is it. From there I do nothing else with them and what a difference it made in the woman's eye, they way they popped by using the bow tech! Will def have to get some.
8Remember if you use a pencil to fill in your eyebrows, to use one in the colour of your eyebrow and one in the colour of your hair to make it more natural.
9This is geat advice !!!! Thanx.
10You're welcome
11You are amazing with directions. I learned this in modeling school almost exactly the same except it was many moons ago. Thanks and the vid was good, I like to watch Smashbox on QVC they do some good makeup demos also.
12Yeah, Smashbox has a lot of video's on youtube. Especially here: http://www.youtube.com/user/giovannismash (lately they have a new one almost every week).
13Post A Comment
To post comments, please log in or register.