DIY - perfect eye brows

There’s little that flatters a woman’s face more than beautifully arched and groomed eyebrows. Knowing this, some women consult eyebrow designers; professional stylists who go beyond just trimming and tweezing to enhance beauty.

Besides framing and helping to balance the face, eyebrows can change a woman’s look - completely! They can make a face look happier, more polished or even wild – if you have the know-how.

Although there’s no such thing as one brow "fits all", the most flattering eyebrow form for any woman of any colouring, age or personal style is a softly rounded long brow with a rounded squared-off start and a tail that tapers to a point at the end.

Common mistakes that women (and even some salon staff make) include having eyebrows too close or too far apart, too bushy or too thin or having the ‘surprised clown look’, where the brows are over plucked and arched too high.

Just like stripes on a dress can visually alter one’s body shape, so can eyebrow shape and length influence face shape. Brows are after all face stripes. Women with long face shapes for example tend to look best with flatter eyebrow shapes (‘no arch or low arch). This is because the flat horizontal line succeeds in breaking the length, making it seem shorter.

The 5 steps to having perfect brows

Step 1 – Know your face shape

To achieve a professional look at home, the most important design concept to bear in mind is that the eyebrows should flow with your facial structure and suit your face shape.

So if you don’t know it yet, start by pulling your hair back and tracing the outline of your face onto a mirror using a lip or pencil liner. When you stand back you should see one of 6 shapes: round, oval, square, heart, oblong or diamond. See notes for your ideal brow shape.

Step 2 - Trim your brows

Once eyebrows reach a certain length they lose pigment on the tips. Using a clean mascara wand brush your brows upward then cut any hairs that extend outside of the natural hairline. Then comb your eyebrows down, and do the same. Use small scissors. Rather take off less hair than you think you need to. You can always trim more afterwards if needed.

Step 3 - Using a pencil, create your design

Line 1 (red) links the outside edge of the nostril and the edge of the inner corner of the eye.  
For women who have a nose with a slightly widened base, like Victoria Bekham for example, this ‘rule’ will serve to balance brows and nose. In this photo Posh’s brows are too far apart.

Line 2 (blue) runs from the nostril edge and skims the outside of your iris when you look straight ahead. The place where it meets your eyebrow is where your natural arch is.  Depending on your face shape you may need to adjust the position of the arch a bit. Only tweeze hairs from below your brows to create the arch.

Line 3 (green) is taken from the outer edge of your nostril past the outside corner of your eye. It marks the shortest your brow tail should be. In other words the tail can be longer (and this is ideal), but never shorter than this.

Step 4 - Shape the brows

Before you start:

• Since it may cause redness, avoid tweezing before a big event.
• Never tweeze white hairs from the brow; colour them. Too light brows should ideally be dyed prior to shaping.
• If you use white eyeliner pencil to mark the hairs you want to remove, this can help you visualize the end result and show you which hair to remove.
• Hold a warm cloth to your face before you tweeze. This will open up the hair follicles making plucking less painful.
• Angled tweezers are the best to use.
• Never pluck above the brows.
• Never trim or tweeze the very last hairs from the eyebrow; the longer the brow the better. Rather brush and fix them with gel. 

Now tweeze all the brow hairs that don't belong.
 
Perfect eyebrow design allows for the correction of asymmetrical and very fine brows.  This can be achieved through various methods such as powders, brow pencils and permanent makeup (eye brow tattoos). Recently, we have even seen eyebrow transplants coming onto the scene. 

Step 5 - Adjust brow thickness according to features and own personal style

Remember, the eyebrows should never take centre stage and overpower the face, but rather complement the beauty of the eyes.

So, although the trend lately is towards fuller, more natural looking brows, you will still need to take your own unique facial structure into account. 
 
Features:

If you have strong features – full lips, a strong nose and large eyes – like Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johansson, you will look best with eyebrows ranging in fullness from medium to very full. If you have more delicate features – like Ashley Judd or Megan Fox – medium to medium thick brows will look best on you.

Personal Style:

Penelope Cruz’ bold arched brows suit her earthy Latino style, just as Dita Von Teese’s defined lines suit her retro sex appeal. While Sharon stone’s brows epitomise her natural glamour.