Make Your Eyelashes and Eyebrows Look Good

When it comes to creating a beautiful makeup look, your eyebrows and eyelashes are crucial. Your eyebrows can change your entire face, and they have the power to convey emotion. Your eyelashes act as a frame for your eyes. When properly curled, they open your eyes up, making them sparkle and highlighting your natural beauty.

Steps

Shaping Your Brows

1. Determine the perfect eyebrow shape for your face. Grab a straight edge of some sort, like a pencil or a ruler. You’ll also need an eyeliner pencil, or anything that you can use to mark up your brows. Using these two tools, you can create the ideal shape for your features.
   • Hold your straight edge against the side of your nose, so that it runs parallel. The inner edge of your eyebrow should start here. Use your eyeliner to make a small dot right here, so that you have a reference when you begin plucking.
   • Find your perfect arch. Reposition the eyeliner pencil so that it is running diagonally from your nostril to your pupil, or the black center of your eye. Where it overlaps your brow is exactly where your arch should be.
   • Use your pencil one more time to determine where your brow should end. Angle the pencil from your nostril again, but this time running it to the outer corner of your eye. Where it meets your eyebrow is where your eyebrow should end.
2. Start plucking according to the shape you just mapped out. It may be helpful to shade in your entire brow, outlining the exact shape you want. Then, you can see exactly which hairs are outside of this. Use tweezers to carefully pluck the stray hairs.
   • Only take a little bit at a time, continuously examining your progress. You can always pluck more, but you can’t replace hairs you’ve tweezed.
   • Make sure your brows are the same shape on both sides. If they aren’t perfectly symmetrical, that’s ok.
3. Calm any redness or swelling with a cortisone cream. Beauty is pain, and plucking your eyebrows can certainly create a reaction. Grab some cortisone cream at your local drugstore to help reduce any inflammation, and you can cover redness with concealer if you have somewhere to be.
   • If you have trouble dealing with the pain and redness of tweezing your eyebrows, try doing it immediately after getting out of a hot shower. The warm water makes the process easier by opening up your hair follicles, helping you pull the hair out smoothly.
4. Consult a professional if you don’t trust yourself with tweezers. Plucking your eyebrows isn’t difficult, but it certainly requires a bit of practice. If you don’t want to risk messing up, get your brows waxed, plucked, or threaded at the salon. If you know someone with enviable brows, ask them where they got theirs done. Otherwise, consult Yelp to find a great specialist.
   • Waxing is quick, inexpensive, and typically lasts for over a month. However, it can also be painful and you will certainly leave with redness around your eyebrows.
   • Getting your eyebrows professionally tweezed can be helpful because a professional can ensure they are symmetrical and properly shaped. The hair grows back quickly, however, and it is a more time-consuming option.
   • Eyebrow threading is quick, inexpensive, and typically doesn't cause redness. However, threading can cause a little bit more pain than waxing, because it is not as quick.

Perfecting Your Brows

1. Brush your brows. Just like the hair on top of your head, your eyebrows can get messy and tangled. Use an eyebrow spoolie to tame your brow hairs. You should brush them out before applying any product.
   • Start at the inner edge of your eyebrow, and carefully brush the brow hairs slightly up and out. Continue brushing outwards, until the entire brow looks sleek and tidy.
2. Fill in sparse or light brows with an eyebrow pencil, powder, or gel. If you have dark hair, your brow product should match your natural color. Things get a bit trickier if you have blonde or white brows. If your natural brows are super light, choose a product one or two shades darker.
   • If you are using a brow pencil, apply the product in quick, short strokes to mimic hairs. The key is to try to make it look natural.
   • If you are using a powder or gel, less is more. Follow the natural arch of your brow, lightly applying the product in short strokes. After you've filled the entire brow, it's important to brush it out with a spoolie so that it looks three-dimensional again.
3. Apply a clear brow gel to hold the hairs in place. As you apply the gel, try to brush the hairs up. Rather than matting them against your skin, you want to fluff them up a bit. This will make your eyebrows look textured and natural, rather than one-dimensional and fake.
   • You can find brow gels at beauty supply stores and pharmacies. However, clear mascara works perfectly for this step as well.
4. Use concealer to accentuate your brow. Carefully apply concealer right around the perimeter of your eyebrow using a small, angled concealer brush. Blend it out, taking care not to get any product into your eyebrow. This will help create a crisp, clean border between your eyebrow and your skin, accentuating the shape you’ve created.
   • Take your brows to the next level by applying highlighter to the brow bone. Carefully use your finger or a small eye shadow brush to apply a highlighter under the length of your eyebrow. This will make your brow appear lifted, making your eyes look even more big and beautiful.

Getting Voluminous Eyelashes

1. Curl your lashes. You can purchase an eyelash curler at any pharmacy. It looks much trickier than it actually is. Hold the eyelash curler up to your eye, sliding your lashes through the clamp. Carefully bring the curler to the very base of your eyelashes so that the clamp is close to your eyelid, but not touching it.
   • Slowly squeeze the handle of the eyelash curler so that the base of your eyelashes is clamped.
   • Hold the clamp down tightly, counting to three. Then, carefully release.
   • Slide the eyelash curler down your lashes a little bit, and repeat this process. Use the curler over the length of your lashes, and you’re all set.
   • If you want to add even more drama (and staying power) to your lashes, blast your curler with a little heat from your hair dryer. Just like when you curl the hair on your head, this heat will give you a curl quickly and help it last all day. Just be very careful not to burn your eyelid!
2. Line your top lash line with eyeliner. Choose a color of eyeliner that matches the mascara you will be using. Close your eye, and gently pull your eyelid taut with your pointer finger. Carefully apply the eyeliner to your lash line, from the outer corner to the inner corner. Repeat this process on the other eye.
   • Try not to make the line too thick in order to make it look natural. If you find it difficult to create a thin line, try dipping a cotton swab into makeup remover and carefully cleaning up the line after you've applied the eyeliner.
   • If you are using pencil eyeliner, make sure that it is sharpened. If the end of the pencil is dull, you will have trouble creating a neat line to your lash line.
   • If you are using a powder or gel, apply with a very tiny brush. This will help you create a clean, sharp line.
   • Lining your lash line will create a solid base, giving the illusion of dark, thick eyelashes.
3. Apply mascara. Wiggle the mascara wand in the bottle to pick up the product. Before applying the mascara, examine the wand to make sure there aren’t any large clumps. Starting at the base of your lashes, apply the mascara by gently wiggling the wand as you slide it over the length of your lashes. Do this a couple of times, making sure that all of your lashes are evenly coated in mascara. Let it dry.
   • Do not slide the wand in and out of the bottle to gather product, because that will trap air in the mascara and dry it out.
   • To take lashes to the next level, you can let your eyelashes dry and then apply a second coat– and a third and a fourth if you want!
   • If no amount of mascara will give you the length and volume that you desire, try false lashes!

Related Articles

• Put on Lashblast Mascara
• Apply Eye Makeup on Fair Skin
• Put Eyeliner on Small Eyes
• Apply Eyeliner to Round Eyes
• Apply Eyeliner
• Create a Chic Makeup Look With a Smokey Eye and Pink Lips
• Create Smokey Eyes like Jack Sparrow
• Make a Smokey Eye Effect for Gray Eyes
• Apply Makeup
• Apply Lipstick
• Apply Blush
• Apply Foundation and Concealer Correctly
• Apply False Eyelashes
• Apply Eyeshadow

Sources and Citations

See also

• Clean Eyelash Extensions
• Get Longer Lashes
• Use a Lash Curler
• Make Your Mascara Look Great
• Apply False Eyelashes
• Apply Mascara
• Have Beautiful Eyelashes and Eyebrows Using Castor Oil
• Make Your Eyelashes Look Longer Without the Expensive Mascaras
• Curl Your Eyelashes Without an Eyelash Curler
• Make Your Eyelashes Naturally Longer

Read more ...