eyebrows 101

eyebrows, my friends, are the frames of your eyes. and for goodness sake we need those eyes looking fabulous.the eyebrows are one of the most expressive features of the face and a great deal of emotion can be conveyed through them. surprising then that when it comes to the topic of women’s beauty, the subject of eyebrows is often overlooked and underappreciated. since the shape of your eyebrows, especially where your eyebrows arch, is so influential to your appearance, knowing how to shape your eyebrow arch is a must have skill to enhance your overall look.

*fill in your eyebrows with your favorite eyeliner or eyeshadow--just make sure its a natural color after you shape them. it will make a huge difference in your appearance.

top 5 eyebrow grooming no-nos:
1. making eyebrows too thin. skinny eyebrows make you look heavier and older.
2. using a magnifying mirror. it makes you over-pluck because you start obsessing over every hair.
3. matching your eyebrow color to your hair. eyebrows should compliment your skin tone, not match your hair. eyebrows can be tinted either two shades darker or two shades lighter, but no more.
4. being scissors-happy. only women who have high eyebrow arches need to trim. being overly snippy makes brows uneven.
5. using pointed tweezers. uhey can break the skin and cause scabbing. yse a pair of slanted tweezers instead.

how to shape your eyebrow arch
after removing all eye makeup look at your face in a well lighted mirror. to form the ideal eyebrow shape, simply follow three imaginary lines. using an eyebrow pencil or anything long, straight and slender, hold the object vertically in front of your face. line it up so that it touches the outer edge of your nostril and the inside corner of your eye. this line determines where your eyebrow should start (see Angelina Jolie image right, line 1). mark where the line crosses your eyebrow with an eyebrow pencil or eyeliner. do the same for the other eyebrow. any eyebrow hair inside these two marks needs to be plucked out using tweezers or wax. if your eyebrows fail to reach the marks you have made above the inner corners of your eyes, then you will need to fill that part of the eyebrow area in.

take the eyebrow pencil and hold it to the outer edge of your nostril again. this time, swing the pencil towards your pupil. stop when the eyebrow pencil crosses the center of your pupil. mark the spot where the line meets your eyebrow. this is where you arch should begin. continue swinging the eyebrow pencil past your pupil to the outer edge of the iris (the colored portion) of the eye. where the line intersects your eyebrow is where your eyebrow arch should be at its peak, or highest (see Angelina Jolie image line 2). mark this spot with an eyebrow pencil. repeat this process for the other eyebrow. during this step make sure that you are looking straight ahead; both your face and your eyes should be looking directly forward into the mirror. to create the arch, remove hairs from the bottom of the brow bone, not the top. the only time you should pluck hair from above the brow line is when you are removing any stray hairs that occur above the brow. after the peak, the arch should begin descending immediately.

taking the eyebrow pencil from the outer edge of your nostril once more, line it up so that it passes along the outermost corner of your eye (not your eyelashes) to your brow area (see Angelina Jolie image line 3). this is where your eyebrow should end. mark this point with an eyebrow pencil and repeat for the other side. remove any hairs that fall beyond these points. Ideally, the inside portion of the eyebrow should be thickest and should taper towards the outer edge. in summary, the eyebrow should begin along a line from the outer edge of the nostril to the inside corner of your eye, reach its peak (or highest point) at the line from the outer edge of the nostril to the outer edge of the colored portion of the eye (the iris) and extend to just beyond the outer corner of the eye (the side of the nostril and end of the eyebrow should form a line that intersects the outer corner of the eye).

remember these easy steps and you’ll know how to shape your eyebrow arch to always achieve the ideal eyebrow shape. then again, if all of this sounds too daunting for you to do yourself, you can always get your eyebrows shaped by a professional first and then just follow the shape he/she has given you to maintain it. your call.

check out some of these celebrities without this important feature: hmm, something is missing...

we'll introduce WAX soon!

happy vogue.