I promised on Monday that I would give some eyebrow tips on this week’s Tips, Tricks & Tools Thursday. Well, here we are!
When I opened my trusty Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin, and Hair from the Beauty Authority to get their advice on grooming eyebrows, and I was greeted by a picture of a woman holding a clear plastic stencil over her eyebrow. And step one of "Get the Look" instructs the reader to get a brow stencil.
Now, it may surprise you, but I don’t consider myself an authority on all things beauty related. We’ve been clear here on Chic Critique that we are just regular women sharing our beauty finds. So I shouldn’t be surprised to find that there is something out there that I hadn’t heard of before. But still, a BROW STENCIL?
I’ve stenciled paper, fabric, walls, even a wooden trash can once. But my EYEBROWS? That’s certainly a new one to me.
Since I don’t use a brow stencil, I am going to tell you what I do. It seems to work well for me.
1) When choosing a color in a brow pencil, try to go one shade darker than your brows if you have light hair, and a shade lighter if you have dark hair. You don’t want them to look fake.
2) Always use a very sharp pencil. I told you on Monday about my favorite pencil, the Eyebrow Micro Pencil by Vincent Longo. I sharpen it about every other time I use it. If I go any longer than that, I lose the precision necessary to get a natural look.
3) Start on the inside and fill in with short strokes, shaping until the eyebrow looks gently arched and natural. Sometimes I use a Q-tip to soften it if it gets too dark.
I have no experience with brow powder or gel. If you do and would like to write a review or a tutorial for Chic Critique, I’d love to hear from you!
I haven’t really touched on the whole plucking/waxing side of things, and that’s probably a post in and of itself. But suffice it to say, if you still have virgin eyebrows (meaning you have never plucked or waxed or shaped them in any way) you probably want to consider it.
As the Sephora book states, "A great pair of eyebrows can have transformative powers. ‘People will think you look beautiful without knowing exactly why,’ says celebrity brow shaper Anastasia Soare. On the flip side, neglected brows can do major damage to your look."
I heartily agree. Well-groomed eyebrows are a key component for keeping your look current and attractive. And that’s my Fight the Frump tip of the week.
About Jo-Lynne
I am going to try Vincent Longo’s eyebrow pencil. I already LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, his lip stain. Girlfriend, have you tried it?
It’s true what you said about virgin brows. Do you know I’d never done ANYTHING to my brows until I was well into my 30s? I have fine, light brows and since there wasn’t much I could pluck, I thought there was nothing to do. Then one day for fun I decided to jazz them up with a brush and some brown eyeshadow. And VOILA – I instantly looked better than I ever have. Brows frame the eyes – they need to be given lots of attention. Great tips as always.
Confession – I have virgin brows. They are so light blonde that, like Megan, I’ve always thought there wasn’t much to do with them. Hmm, maybe I should take the plunge.
I just had my brows plucked for the firt time at Mother’s Day. It’s not a huge difference, but I think I look prettier!!
I totally agree on well maintained brows. I have never use a brow pencil, I wonder if I should??
I get my eyebrows waxed every 5 weeks….
It is like giving my eyes an eye lift…..it really does wonders to your eyes and face.
After 10 + years of waxing I keep waiting for the eyebrow hair to stop growing so I can save money on getting them done…but no such luck.
~Amy
Umm. I’ve never thought about my eyebrows as much as I am this minute. :-p
I bought some eyebrow stencils from the drugstore. They TOTALLY don’t make sense. How can you hold this flat stencil on your 3-dimensional face while trying to apply a pencil or powder or whatever?? Maybe the $$$ have some feature I don’t know about?