If our eyes are the windows to our souls, then our brows are the curtains that frame those soul-windows. I know, I know. Amazing simile there.
Power brows have been dominating the facial hair landscape for a few years now though we’ve been fans of the wild brows since Madonna rocked an impressive pair back in the 80s. As a fair-haired gal, I am constantly overlooking the importance of the brows as I am the slightly bitter owner of quite a lacklustre pair. However whenever I do remember to groom them and give them a bit of TLC, it makes a huge difference in the whole face department.
10 things I never knew about eyebrow maintenance
1. You can come back from over-plucking
What child of the 80s didn’t pluck their eyebrows into oblivion at some point? Aged 15, I plucked mine into an unfortunate likeness for this nineties icon.
Luckily the brows can recover and for those brows that never return to full bushy glory there are great products like Benefit’s Gimme Brow, which has tiny microfibres that cling to existing hairs and make brows appear fuller. Eyebrow transplants are also a thing.
2. There’re hard and fast rules
Over-plucking between the brows can make your nose look bigger and the eyes appear too far apart. A good guide is this; the start of each brow should line up with the bridge of the nose not the outer edge of the nostril. To figure out where the brows should roughly end imagine a diagonal line from the corner of your nose to the edge of your eye. For example check out our browspiration below with Eyebrow Eye-con Cara:
3. It’s not all about the bottom line
The only rule of plucking, I was ever taught was to not pluck outside of the designated brow line. This instruction gave me a deep-seated fear of plucking above the brow however experts do recommend tidying up stray hairs that may appear up there.
4. Professional intervention will give a shape of things to come
We’re all capable of brow maintenance at home but if you are recovering from a bout of over-plucking or struggle to find your natural brow shape, a visit to a brow bar even just once a year will set you on the right track and make maintaining the brows that much easier.
5. Define the brows, don’t draw them
Having eyebrows that are so pale they are practically invisible to the naked eye has led me to some pretty dodgy strategies over the years. At worst I dyed them black and looked full Klingon for a few months (see below), at best I just always manage to overdo the pencil and look a bit insane. Experts recommend using an eyebrow pencil in a shade lighter than your natural colour and shading them in using light strokes instead of drawing them on.
6. Pluck after the shower
The heat and steam of the shower will open up pores and allow the hairs to be removed more easily.
7. Arch enemies
Over doing it on the arches can lead to an unfortunate expression of permanent surprise. Hint: The apex of the arch should be in line with the outer edge of your iris.
8. They’re sisters, not twins
Can’t get them perfectly symmetrical? No probs. None of our faces are perfectly symmetrical if they were we’d look pretty weird check out these two pics of Marilyn Monroe (the one on the left is original, while the one on the right is photoshopped to produce a symmetrical face).
9. Suits you, sir
Compliment your own distinct face shape with the brows that will work for you. We found this chart really helpful for figuring out which brow shape works for each face type.
Via Permanent Pretty
10. ‘Brows’ the internet
Thank god for the Internet. Without it we wouldn’t know how hilarious cats are or how kooky, and adorable J-Law is. I also would have no idea how to fill in my eyebrows to look in any way natural.
