Get Perfect Eyebrows

If you want perfect eyebrows, you have a few options: you can go to a salon and get them waxed or threaded, or you could can create the perfect shape yourself. First figure out what shape is best for your face, then decide how thick or thin to go and shape your brows using tweezers and an eyebrow pencil. With great eyebrows, you can be one step closer to that movie star look. Grab those tweezers!

Steps

Figuring Out Your Perfect Brow Shape

  1. Find the place where your brows should begin. Finding just the right spot for your inner brows to start is key to creating perfect brows, since starting too far in could throw off the balance of your face.[1] To figure out where your inner brows should start, use the following technique:
    • Take a pencil or another long, thin instrument. Line it up from the corner of your eye to the edge of your nose.
    • The place where the instrument overlaps your brow is where it should begin. Mark the spot by making a dot there with an eyeliner pencil. Repeat on the other side.
  2. Find the spot where your eyebrow arch should peak. Most eyebrows naturally arch around the eye, and finding the place where the arch peaks is essential to making them look perfect. Use the same long, thin instrument to figure out where your arch should peak by following this technique:
    • Look straight ahead in the mirror.
    • Line up the instrument with the outer edge of your nostril and the outer edge of your iris.
    • The place where the instrument crosses your brow is where your arch should peak. Mark it with a dot using an eyeliner pencil. Repeat on the other side.
  3. Determine where your brow should end. Finding the right place for brow to end is as important as where it begins. You want your brows to frame your eyes gracefully. Find the right spot by lining up the long, thin instrument in this way:
    • Line up the instrument from the edge of your nostril to the outer corner of your eye.
    • The place where the instrument crosses your outer brow is the place where it should end. Mark the spot with a dot using an eyeliner pencil.
  4. Determine how thick you want your brows to be.[2] Perfect eyebrows for someone else may not be perfect eyebrows for you. The thickness of your eyebrows is a personal decision that should be influenced by the following factors:
    • The size of your eyes. If your eyes are on the bigger side, thicker brows can help balance them out. If they're small, thick brows might overshadow them, so you'll want to choose a brow thickness that's slightly thinner.
    • The size of your lips. A good general rule of thumb is that your eyebrows should be about the same thickness as your upper lip. This can help 'tie the look together'. If you look at pictures of models in magazines than you'll notice this is the case with many of them.
    • The distance between your brows and your eyes. If you have a low brow bone that is set close to your eyes, you'll want to pull up your brows a bit to lighten the area. If you have a high brow line spaced well above your eyes, heavier brows might provide a more balanced look.
    • Your style preferences. Sometimes thick, bushy eyebrows are in style, and sometimes more people prefer them to be thin and well-tailored. Think about what style you're going for before you dive into plucking your brows.

Plucking and Filling Your Brows

  1. Brush your brow hairs up. Take a small eyebrow brush or a fine-toothed comb and brush the hairs up in the direction they grow. This will make it easier to figure out which hairs need to be plucked.
  2. Tweeze the hairs outside the dots you drew. Now it's time to start shaping your brows according to the plans you laid out. Make sure you're in a well-lit area so that you don't accidentally tweeze too much. Grasp each hair firmly with the tweezers and pluck one at a time in the direction they grow.
    • Start with the inner brow, closest to your nose. Use the tweezers to pluck the hairs that are closer to your nose than the dot.
    • Tweeze the hairs that fall outside the dot on your outer brow.
    • Tweeze hairs above and below the arch area. Look at the place where your arch should peak and carefully tweeze around it to make the peak slightly more prominent.
    • Tweeze the bottom of the brow. Pluck stray hairs under your brow and shape the bottom. If you decided you want thick brows, stop after plucking the hairs that grow outside the brow. If you want thinner brows, carefully pluck the underside of the brow to lighten it up.
  3. Tweeze the other brow. Now that you've shaped the first one, take extra care to make sure the other brow matches it in shape and size. Use the same method to tweeze the hairs on the inside of the inner brow dot, the outside of the outer brow dot, around the arch peak, and on the underside of the brow. Examine both brows in the mirror to make sure they are even.
  4. Don't overpluck. Avoid the temptation to keep plucking hairs in order to create two perfectly even brows. You risk plucking away too much hair. Eyebrow hair can take 6 - 8 weeks to grow back, and sometimes it's gone for good. Take care of the hair you have.

Styling Your Brows

  1. Fill in the brows. Take an eyebrow pencil in a shade close to that of your brows and make light strokes in the direction that your hair grows to help fill out your look. Eyebrow hair doesn't usually grow completely evenly, so filling in the gaps is a necessity for creating the perfect brows.
    • Don't create an arch where there isn't one, or try to lengthen your brows with a pencil. It will be too obvious that you drew extra parts.
    • For a heavier look, choose an eyebrow pencil that's a shade or two darker than your natural brow shade.
  2. Use a brow comb. Gently comb them into shape so that no hairs are poking up in the wrong direction. If you filled in your brows with pencil, take care not to smudge it when you comb your brows.
  3. Apply brow gel. This helps your brows stay in place all day, and prevents them from getting messy under windy conditions. Apply a dab to the inner part of your brow and either smooth it to the outer part of your brow with the tip of your finger or use the brow brush to comb it in.
    • If you don't have brow gel, you can use hairspray instead. Spray your finger with hair spray and wipe it across your brow.
    • You can also use a dab of petroleum jelly in place of brow gel.[3]



Tips

  • To minimize the pain of plucking, do it right after you get out of the shower.
  • Never shave them as you will get dry skin and they will become itchy.
  • To minimize the pain, wash your face with warm water. This will open up your eyebrow-pores and make the pain bearable.
  • Pluck in the evening so you skin has time for the redness to go away.

Things You'll Need

  • Eyeliner
  • Long, thin pencil or other instrument
  • Eyebrow pencil
  • Eyebrow comb
  • Tweezers
  • Mirror
  • Eyebrow gel

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Sources and Citations

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