If eyes are the window to the soul, then eyebrows are the frames. Welcome back to the Power of Makeup series, Part 4: Eyebrows.

Filling in a sparse eyebrow can change the whole look of your face. Proof positive:

Even when I glanced back and forth at the pictures above, I found myself looking more at my eyes with the picture on the right. That’s because by grooming and filling in eyebrows, you give a focal point, or a landing spot for someone’s eyes to rest. In the picture on the left, there is no landing spot, so as you look at the picture, your eyes scan the whole face, and continue to scan.

Don’t make people’s eyes tired.

My husband was blessed with naturally beautiful eyebrows.

I was blessed with caterpillars. On my face.

Even with the ridiculously small size, you can see the two furry feather dusters. Ugh.

My eyelashes used to get “caught” in them.

Thankfully, my first college roommate was a self-proclaimed expert on makeup and taught me how to tame my brows. If ALL you do for makeup is shape and define your brows, it will still make you look more pulled together. I always do this step before eyeshadow because once your brows are defined, you don’t need as much eyeshadow.

Shaping Eyebrows

To figure out the shape and how much hair on your face is actually needed for your eyebrow — NO unibrows here — follow these simple steps:

Step One: Take a brow brush and hold it vertically, lightly touching your nostril. Lightly mark the outside of where the brush hits with your brow liner or an eyeliner. Then do it on the other side. All the hair in-between those two points has got to go. Gotta.

Step Two: Keeping the brow brush lightly against your nose, look straight ahead in the mirror, and tilt the brush until it hits the outside of your pupil. Mark above your eyebrow with your pencil. That is the high point of your arch. Many of the hairs on your eyelid underneath this area should be removed.

Step Three: Again, keeping the brush lightly against your nostril, angle the brush to rest just on the outside corner of your eye while looking straight ahead in the mirror. Mark on your eyebrow where the brush hits. This is where your eyebrow should end. All the hair on the other side of the brush needs to be removed.

The videos I’m sharing are Kandee Johnson’s tutorials on eyebrows. She is a famous makeup artist and her YouTube channel is chock-full of amazing tutorials for anything beauty related. I love her. You will too. Don’t forget about me.

Removing the Hair

You can remove the hair by waxing — I do not recommend waxing it yourself, although several people are extremely successful at it. Go to a professional and have them wax, but be careful not to over-wax. Some of my eyebrow hair doesn’t grow back anymore thanks to over-waxing.

I prefer tweezers and a trimmer. Trimmers are usually around $10 and you can get them at Wal-Mart or your local drugstore. I use the trimmer to trim the blond regrowth on my upper lids and the hair above my eyebrows to make them more shapely.

Tweezing can be a bit painful, so use some ice to numb the area first if you need to. I always thought that was the wimpy way out, so I just went for it. Do what you got to do though. This is a judgement-free zone. Make sure to tweeze in the direction of the hair growth, however, so the new hair will grow in correctly.

Yes, you’ll have to do this more than once.

Yes, you’ll have to do it for the rest of your life.

Yes, it’s worth it.

Always, always, always take a step back after every few tweezes so you can make sure you aren’t over-plucking. You want your eyebrows to be symmetrical if possible. Don’t have one that’s too thin and one that’s perfect. Don’t.

[Tweet “If eyes are the window to the soul, then eyebrows are the frames. #powerofmakuep @betjett”]

Grooming Eyebrows

Step One: Comb brows straight up with a brow brush.

Step Two: Trim across the brow with nail scissors where the hair passes the natural brow line.

Step Three: Comb the brow back in place.

The rule of thumb here is that your eyebrows should not be long enough to curl over to form the arch. The hair should be short and grow into the arch, not be long strands that form an arch.

Defining Eyebrows

Once your brows are groomed, you can fill them in if needed.

I need.

I use one of two different techniques.

Technique One: Eyebrow Pencil

I love love love Mary Kay’s eyebrow pencil. It lasts foooooorrrreeevvveeerrrrr. I have a new one because mine got lost on my Delta flight. But now I have a new one. Keep it super sharp. That point is your best friend.

Press the pencil into your eyebrow and make short strokes in the direction of the hair in your eyebrow. For the part next to your nose, go upwards or slightly at angle, following the natural direction of hair growth. I have to extend my eyebrows, thanks to a few overly eager waxing jobs.

Technique Two: Brush and Powder (as seen in video above)

This is a great technique as well, as it gives you lots of control. Take the stiff, angled brush and dip it in the eyeshadow of your choice. I love YDK and Busted from Urban Decay’s Naked 2 Palette.

I like blending the two colors because I think it’s more natural than just one color. Using the same techniques as you would with the pencil, lightly dip the brush into your color and fill in your brow line. I like to go just under my natural brow and through the middle when I’m using the brush.

In a nutshell, you can see the difference just the liner makes, and we haven’t even gotten to the best part…eyeshadow and mascara!

Happy Make-up-ing!!!

[callout]In case you missed them: Power of Makeup series, Part One,  Part Two: Foundation,  Part Three: Sculpting, Part Five: Eyeshadow, Part Fiveb: Eyeliner and Accent Colors, Part Six: Mascara, Part Seven: Lips[/callout]

Comments

comments