Brows
I have gone a little crazy with my tweezers and now I have almost no eye brows! How do I fill them in without looking like Groucho Marx?
Eyebrows are a bit of an obsession of mine. I have naturally blonde brows and if I don't fill them in I can look a little terrifying. There are some really simple tricks to creating your perfect brow.
- Looking straight into a mirror with a brow pencil close at hand, hold a pencil or makeup brush along side your nostril vertically (this is "a" in the diagram). That line will intersect where you brow should begin. You may want to make a mark with your brow pencil.
- Then line your brush or pencil up from nostril to just outside the iris of the eye (this is "b" in the diagram). This is where the arch of the brow is to begin. Again you may want to mark this with your brow pencil.
- Now line your pencil or brush up from nostril to temple ("c" in the diagram). This is the where your brow ends.
- Using your brow pencil start to fill in the brows. You can create a rounder shape (think Jean Harlow, or Greta Garbo), or a more linear shape from point 'a" to "b" and then round out just slightly from "b" to "c" (Think Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly).
- You can vary the thickness of your brow as much as you'd like. However if you have very few hairs left over you may want to lean a little towards a more slender brow. Although a fuller brow tends to give a more youthful appearance. Don't be too concerned with making them perfectly symmetrical. Your eyes aren't and if the brows are too matchy matchy it can enhance your eyes asymmetry. Your brows are sisters, not twins.
- After you have created the shape you want fill in a bit more with a brow powder that coordinates nicely with your coloring. Try to match you hair color as best you can. If you are a baby blonde go a little darker. If you have black or very dark brown hair go just slightly lighter. If you have a more exotic hair color like myself you may have to use an eyeshadow to get the perfect match.
- As a final step, set the shape of your brow with a little brow gel.
Sometimes when we have been looking at ourselves without brows for an extended period of time, filling them in can be a bit of a shock. Before you run screaming from your bathroom, snap a polaroid or ask a girlfriend who you know will be honest. If you still aren't sure, set up an appointment at Beauty and Main.
Someone once said to me, "If your eyes are the windows to your soul, your brows are the curtains"! And we all no a beautifully decorated room will look unfinished without window dressings!
