Over plucked and over drawn - here's how to keep your brows in tip top shape
Words by Emma Apps
There's no denying that strong eyebrows are here to stay and luckily, we've got a beauty veteran on-hand to solve your worst eyebrow mistakes and keep your face on point. Emma Apps, the resident brow expert at Hi-Brow, spilled her secrets below.
1. Choosing the wrong colour
This is a common problem, many people automatically choose a colour too dark for their brows. If your natural hair colour in your brow is dark, you don’t want to match that colour. Aiming two shades lighter than your natural shade will help you to define shape, without making them an overpowering feature.
2. Scouse brow
Making your brows too dark, too angled or too thick - any of the above are in danger of giving you a scouse brow. Over defining the front of your brow can make them too bold for your face. Step away from the black eyeliner, it has no place in your eyebrows.
3. Misplacing your arch
To correctly place your arch, you should hold up an eyebrow pencil and use the side of your nose as a pivot point. Hold the pencil so for your right eye it goes through the right hand side of your iris (the coloured part of your eye) right next to the pupil. Follow up from there where the pencil intersects your brow - that's where your arch should ideally be placed. Do bear in mind your arch may not lie exactly here, always check the aesthetic by judging what looks right to your eye.
4. Making brows identical
Your eyebrows are very unlikely to be naturally identical, but there are certain things you can do to make them match up better. If one of your brows sits higher than the other, then shade the underneath of this brow to give the illusion you have brought it lower. Shade the naturally lower sitting brow in at the top to make it look like it is sitting higher. Be careful about removing hair here as taking too much away could leave them looking thin, generally we want the brows to look fuller. To get off to a good start, visit your brow expert and have them tint and wax them into a manageable shape for you to maintain.
Once you have your brow technique down why not try this quiz to find out which eyeliner is best for you!
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5. Not blending properly
When you apply powder or pencil through the brow, make sure the product isn’t applied too heavily. Tap the excess off your brush for powder and make sure your pencil is sharpened for accuracy. Applying product lightly will allow you to build up colour, then once it is applied you can then brush through the brows to keep the brows looking softer. Make sure the product is evenly distributed and not patchy. You can also blend the colour to make the fronts appear more faded.
6. Heavy handed application of eyebrow powder
Choose the right brow colour and make sure the powder isn’t built up too heavily. You can do this by making sure you regularly clean your brush, this will enable you to keep the shape sharper. Keep excess product off your brush, you can tap it away excess or work the powder from the back of your hand. This way, you can build the depth up naturally.
7. Over plucking
This is the number one mistake made by so many women I see in the treatment room. It’s okay to tweeze the odd stray hair, but leave the rest for the professionals. You could be in danger of taking away too many hairs, and then fighting to even them out.
8. The wrong brow for your face shape
It’s not a matter of one size fits all. You should create eyebrow shapes that frame the face and work with the natural shape of your face too.
Choose a eyebrow shape to suit your face with this easy guide.
Oval Face Shape - Considered to be the perfect face shape, and can pull off any brow shape Long Face Shape – Generally a straight brow with extended length is best, which gives the illusion of width to the face Square Face Shape – Generally a soft curve or arched brow, clean, sharp style which will balance out the harder lines that frame the face. Round Face Shape – Slightly shorter brow length to avoid accentuating the width of the face. A clearly defined arch will give shape and length to the face.
9. Over trimming brows
Be very careful when trimming your own brows. Often what seems like a little trim cold be taking the body out of your brow. Only trim when necessary and if in doubt, put the scissors down! Let a professional tidy your brows. Long hairs can be trained into position using a wax pencil, eventually they learn the direction they should be sit at.
10. Brow placement
Make sure when drawing your brows on you don’t take them too high up – or too low down. It can be very unflattering to put them too high, nobody wants to look like a clown! If you feel around the top of your eye socket, you can feel your brow bone. This is where your brows should be sitting.