The Eyes Have It: Bow the Brow

This installment features a subtle, but ever-so-important facial feature: the EYEBROWS. Eyebrows shape our faces and (I know we've read this in other posts) can make or break your look. Can you imagine-facial hair that accessorizes the overall look for men and women. Really, we don't need to discuss makeup too much regarding eyebrows. We should however focus on the shape and grooming of the eyebrow.

Shaping the Brow

The chart illustrates how the eyebrow shapes vary in style (round, narrow, sophisticated, etc.) and weight (thin, natural and thick). I have found that the least popular styles are Exotic and Round, and my personal favorites are Gradual and Sophisticated. But hey, you have your own personal style to contend with, so choose an eyebrow style that best suits your facial shape (round, diamond, square, etc.) and dimensions (placement of your eyes, nose, forehead, mouth and chin).






Grooming the Brow
And so that you go into shaping your brow more informed, it would be only fair to share how to correctly shape and groom your eyebrow. Hint: you will need your nose for this. :-) Take a straight edge, and lay it against the outside of your nose and the outside of  your eye (see line C in the diagram). This gives you a good idea about how far (or short) your eyebrow should extend. Line A shows where your brow should begin -- just in line with the inner corner of your eye. The apex of your eyebrow's arch is illustrated in line B. Take the same straight edge and line it along your nose and the outside of the pupil. This is a good way to inspect the the work of your grooming professional, or to make additional requests.





Embellishing the Brow
Filing in your brows can also be a challenge. Eyebrows can be filled in using powder, gel, cream, and wax based liners or shadows. I would not recommend using liquid. Perhaps you've seen the person with eyebrows that unintentionally appear way too heavy (for whatever reason). Usually, this is because the strategy used included a technique that called for coloring the skin under the eyebrow --WRONG MOVE! When filling in the brow, try to only color the hairs of the brow. If your eyebrows are extremely thin, and you feel the need to color the skin under the brow, I suggest using a dark (not black), matte eye shadow and a small angled brush to fill in the desired area. Gently apply short and brisk strokes of the shadow inside of the area. When using oil or wax based products - ideally a pencil - carefully color the hairs of the brow that appear thinnest.

Side note: I have also learned that using my pencil for mascara was a great plan B (but only for misplaced or forgotten mascara).