Shape Eyebrows

The shape of your eyebrows can enhance your appearance by flattering your facial shape, balancing your features, and framing your eyes. If you have thick, full eyebrows, you might need to tweeze them; if you have thin, small eyebrows, you may need to fill them in with a pencil. Either way, here is how to find a shape that's flattering to any face.

Steps

Determine Your Ideal Shape

  1. Determine where your inner brow should end. Hold a straight edge, such as an eyebrow pencil or a ruler, vertically in front of your face.
    • If you want your eyebrows farther apart, line it up so that it touches the outermost of edge your nose and the inside of your eye. If you want your eyebrows closer together, line up the straight edge with one side of the septum. These lines will determine where your eyebrow should start.
    • Mark that spot with an eyebrow pencil. Repeat for the other eye.
  2. Determine where your arch should peak. Angle the straight edge so that it lines up with the outermost edge of your nose and the outermost edge of your pupil.
    • It's very important that you look straight ahead — both your face and your eyes should be looking directly forward at the mirror.
    • Wherever the line intersects your eyebrow is where the peak of your arch should begin at the top border of the eyebrow.
    • Mark that spot with your eyebrow pencil.
    • Repeat for the other eye.
  3. Determine where your outer brow should end. Angle the straight edge further so that it touches the outermost edge of your nose and also passes along the outermost edge of your eye.
    • This tells you where the eyebrow should end. Mark this point with your eyebrow pencil.
    • Repeat with the other eye.
  4. Draw a line along the bottom edge of your brow. This will determine the brow thickness.
    • Follow the natural curvature of your eyebrow.
  5. Pluck the strays that fall below the line and outside the marks you've made.
    • Your eyebrows should be 1/4 – /1/2 inch (0.5 – 1 cm) at their thickest.[1]
    • Pluck minimally above the brow — you want to retain your brow's natural arch. Only tweeze stray hairs.
    • If plucking isn't your thing, try shaping without it.
    • If your brows are sensitive, use ice to numb the areas before you tweeze.
  6. Consider your face shape. Certain brows better compliment specific face shapes.
    • To minimize the curve of a round face, direct the outer third of the brow towards the top of the ear.
    • If the face is square, direct it toward the middle of the ear. This helps balance the face.
    • If the face is long, keep the brow more straight across, directing it above the ear.
    • An oval face already looks balanced, but to enhance this harmony, you can direct the outer third towards the ear lobe.[2]

Everyday Maintenance

  1. Trim your brows. You may find that hairs are within your ideal shape, but are just too long. Use a pair of eyebrow trimmers to clean up your look.
    • Using a brow brush, brush the hairs upward.
    • Cut the hairs that extend beyond your natural hairline.
  2. Fill in sparse spots. If your brows are too light (or dark), fill them in with an eyebrow pencil. If you don't have an eyebrow pencil, substitute matte eyeshadow.
    • If your brows are fair, choose a pencil two shades darker than your hair. (If you have dark hair, go two shades lighter.)
    • Hold your skin taut at the temple, and line softly along the upper edge of your brow. Then, line along the bottom edge.
    • With feathery strokes, fill in between the two edges.[3]
    • Remember to blend!
  3. Use a clear gel to set. Brush the hairs how they naturally lie and apply gel to set the hairs in place.
    • Clear mascara can double as a brow gel.
    • This also prevents smudging, if filled in.
  4. Develop a routine. Forming good habits will make your routine shorter, day by day.
    • By sticking to a specific contoured shape, spotting strays becomes easy.
    • Consistently pluck between the brows and at the edges. These hairs grow the fastest and take away from the natural shape of your brows.

Eyebrow Chart

Doc:Eyebrow Shape Chart

Tips

  • Always remember: less is more (less plucking). Once you make them too small, there is no going back. Ensure they are the same length and width otherwise one may be more arched as the other may be more defined and thick.
  • Whatever shape you choose, make sure both eyebrows are symmetrical — both horizontally and vertically.
  • Instead of shaping your eyebrows the first time by using a tweezer, go get them done professionally. Professionals know what they're doing and they know what shape of eyebrow would best fit your face. After getting them done professionally once, you don't have to go back. Just maintain the shape by plucking the stray hairs frequently.
  • When the end of the eyebrow is noticeably above the beginning of the eyebrow, it can give you a fierce, almost angry look.
  • If you have almond shaped eyes that turn up at the outside edges, then you will likely naturally have eyebrows that are higher on the outside than the inside. If you are filling in or shaping, you want to keep the outside higher than the inside — not only to follow the natural line but also to emphasize the shape of this type of eye; it can look clownish if you try to lower the outside ends to match the inside (beginning) of the eyebrow.
  • Use concealer around your brows to give them an ultra-defined look.
  • Line your eyebrow up with the inner corner of your eye instead of lining it up with the outer corner of your nose, because if you have a wide nostril flare, you may create a brow shape that is too far apart.
  • Always start filling the end of an eyebrow with a darker shade, then lighter shade for the front part of the eyebrow, blend it thoroughly.
  • If your brow area is particularly sensitive, take a couple of painkillers before tweezing and hold something cold over your brows before and after to numb the area.
  • Use a hand mirror to look at your eyebrows from the side. If you tweezed or filled them in, be sure you don't have a "hook" appearance on the inside of your brows at your nose line. This will make it look as if you made an obvious mistake attempting to lower the inside beginning of your brow. Not everyone sees you from straight on. If you need to fill in, do a "dry run" by drawing the shape you want and check with your mirror often.
  • A 2007 study out of Germany found that people under 30 years old find low, subtly arched eyebrows more flattering, while people over 50 years old prefer the opposite (high eyebrows with a strong arch).[4]

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/pluck-eyebrows?page=2
  2. ↑ http://makeupblog.janeiredale.com/blog/2010/06/04/how-to-shape-your-eyebrows-like-a-pro/
  3. ↑ http://www.oprah.com/style/How-to-Fill-in-Eyebrows-Eyebrow-Pencils-and-Makeup/2
  4. ↑ http://www.springerlink.com/content/n66787471466384x/
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