Face it ladies we’ve all been there: disastrous eyebrows! Too short, too thin, too bushy, monobrow, albino brows, uneven brows, mismatched brows the list of complaints is endless.
Between a rock and a hard place
The other day I was in a rut, my regular beautician had moved premises (miles and miles away), I had an impending trip across the country and my usually sleek and manicured brows looked like an unkempt and overgrown lawn. So I bit the bullet and booked an appointment at the nearest beauty salon. Unknown to me, that was my first mistake.
Ignorance is bliss
I arrived for my appointment and was promptly ushered to an empty cubicle where the therapist set about her task. Riiiippp, she waxed the left brow, so far so good I thought as she showed me the result. Former glory had returned, I relaxed, she waxed the right brow and ushered me to the counter. Strange, I thought, but remembering the left brow I smiled and went off happily to the gym.
Ugly stepsisters
Only later did I discover the horrific truth: My eyebrows were horrendously mismatched! While the left brow still shone in all its glory, the right looked like its anorexic stepsister. However would I recover? My options were limited. There was no way to miraculously re-grow the disfigured, grotesque right brow and I was definitely not ruining my remaining good brow. The other alternative was to thin both brows even further and hope for the best. So I turned to the one place all women turn when things go wrong: the makeup kit.
The solution
First I brushed both eyebrows with an eyebrow brush and assessed the damage. I would have to thicken the right eyebrow quite significantly. I grabbed an eyebrow pencil (the softer the better) and proceeded to “thicken” the thinner brow, using short light strokes to mimic the natural eyebrow hairs Luckily my eyebrows are pitch black so choosing a colour wasn’t too difficult. As a general rule, eyebrows should be a shade or two darker than hair colour.
Next I brushed a bit of dark eyeshadow (matte eyeshadow ladies, the last thing you need is a shimmery mismatched brow) over both eyebrows to fill in any gaps and define. VÓila instantly better.
Top tips for glorious brows
If you love the look of full, lush brows like Brooke Shields’s or Keira Knightley’s, let them grow in their natural shape and tweeze only the stray hairs between and below your brows. Thick brows can look bushy and messy, so groom them with an eyebrow brush like and keep them in place with hair gel or hair spray (put a bit on your fingers and rub onto your brows) or try a specially formulated brow gel.
If you prefer a sleek, streamlined shape like Gwen Stefani’s or Mariah Carey’s, try an eyebrow stencil such. Choose a shape that’s just slightly different from what you have, so it’s not a drastic change. Better yet, have your brows shaped professionally the first time (many makeup counters will do this for you free of charge). Then just follow the shape and tweeze the strays.
Watch the Art Meets Makeup eyebrow shaping and defining tutorial.
Article By: Serisha Singh
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