Put Your Best Brow Forward

by Nicole Martin

It’s All In The Eyes!
Your eyes are the window to your soul and having your brows correctly shaped will draw attention to your spirit. Your brows are meant to be a frame for your eyes. They should fit your face, style and personality. Brows that are shaped properly enhance your beauty and make your eyes stand out.

It is really best for your brows to be professionally shaped and groomed. It is very difficult to wax or tweeze your own eyebrows. A professional will measure your brows and design them with the help of a pencil before they wax, tweeze and/or thread. This allows you to see what they are going to remove and to get an idea of what the brows will look like. This is very important particularly the first time you have your brows shaped, having a new person grooming them or think that they need to be reshaped.

The basic idea is to have about one eye width between the brows. Having the brows start to far in make your eyes look to far apart. This guideline applies to hair removal and if you need to fill in your brows.

1. Brush your brows upwards to show the natural line of the brow. This can be accomplished with a mascara brush or toothbrush.
2. Hold an eyeliner pencil, point up, from the corner of your nose to the inner corner of your eye and make a small mark on the brow line. Generally speaking, this is where your brow should start.
3. Lay the pencil top at the corner of your nose to the outer edge of your eye, make a mark. This is where your brow should end.
4. The perfect arch is the hardest part to get right. You should place the pencil point up again and measure from the outer edge of the iris, then make a mark. If you are doing this yourself do not move your eyes! You could have a very funny arch! This is why it is better to have a professional design your brows for you.
5. It is not always recommended that you remove hair above the brow line but sometimes it is necessary for a nice clean look. It really depends on your hairline and how your hair grows.

Brows do not need to be pencil thin; I think fuller brows are more flattering; sometimes we get a little carried away tweezing!

There are some great products on the market today that really make your eyes stand out. If you have very light brows you may want to consider having them dyed. This will really draw attention to your eyes. Generally speaking, you will need to have them dyed every 3-4 weeks depending on the skincare products you use. Powders are great at filling in sparse brows. I personally like using a powder versus a pencil; I think it looks more natural. A brow gel is another great item to help tame those unruly brows or to simple create a very well groomed appearance.

Originally published in the April-May 2005 Issue of Bella Magazine