Brows have been a staple beauty statement for many years now – whether you’re talking about the pin-thin trend of the 90s, or the bushy brilliance of the 2000s and beyond.
But for many people, they present many seemingly impossible-to-conquer challenges, from achieving the perfect shape to ensuring that both brows match every morning (remember, they are sisters, not twins).
Thankfully, help is on hand in the form of beauty pro Jared Bailey, Benefit Cosmetics’ Global Brow Expert, who shared his foolproof technique for creating the ideal brow shape for your face, while also sharing the best methods for applying product to get the most natural finish.
According to Bailey, the best way to shape the brow is to use your nose and eyes to work out where they should start, arch, and end. Here, he explains exactly how to master the technique…
Before and after: Benefit Cosmetics’ Global Brow Expert shared top tips for how to achieve the perfect brow shape for your face
1. MEASURE FROM DIMPLE OF THE NOSE
Use your brow pencil to measure straight up from the dimple of the nose to the beginning of your brow and make a mark.
This is where your brows should start – and using this technique will actually create a slimming effect on the nose.
Step one: Use the brow pencil to measure straight up from the dimple of your nose. This indicates where the brow should begin
2. GO ACROSS THE EYE TO FIND THE ARCH
Next, position the side of your brow pencil against the outer portion of the nose and measure straight across the center of the eye to the brow; make a mark here.
This is where your natural arch sits – the highest portion of your brow – and it helps to round out the eye.
Step two: Take the brow pencil from the outer portion of the nose through the center of the eye to find where the natural arch should be
3. FINISH THE BROW USING THE EDGE OF THE EYE
Measure from the outer portion of the nose across the outer corner of the eye and this will point to where the brow should end.
The length of the brow is important because if the brow is to short the face becomes more round – it its longer it becomes more oval.
Once you have the three marks in place, start to fill in the eyebrows, using those as your guide for the shape. Et voila! You’ll be left with perfect face-flattering brows.
Step three: Trace from the outside of the nose along the corner of the eye to find where the brow should end
JARED BAILEY SHARES TOP BROW TIPS AND TRICKS
Fill your brows in before you tweeze them
If you pluck stray hairs when your brows are filled in, you will find it much easier to identify which ones to tweeze, and which to leave alone.
Go slowly and pluck hair by hair
Bailey advises that the best method for plucking your own brows is to tweeze them hair by hair, warning that pulling several out at a time will likely result in unwanted gaps in your brows.
He also notes that brushing the hairs up before plucking will allow you to see the root more clearly.
Expert advice: Bailey shared several tips and tricks for creating the best brow shape at home, warning against over-plucking
You CAN tweeze the tops of your brows
When it comes to the age-old myth that plucking your brows from the top will cause irreparable damage, Bailey insists there’s no truth to it.
‘I don’t know where that came from to be honest,’ he explained. ‘And as a licensed esthetician who went to school, studied skin, studied hair, how it grows, where it comes from, [this myth is] one of those things, kind of like the Boogie Man, that literally does not exist.’
However, he does urge you to be cautious when it comes to plucking the tops of your brows, because the direction of growth can change the further up the brow you go.
‘Depending on your hair growth and the way your hair grows, a lot of times at the top of your brows, some of your hair will start to grow downward, and if you remove the wrong ones, it can cause a little bit of a gap or a hole in your brow,’ he explained.
‘So I think that myth started as more of a warning: “Be careful when you are tweezing along the top of your brow because you don’t want to create a gap or a hole in that shape.”‘
Options: Two of Bailey’s favorite Benefit products are the Precisely, My Brow Pencil Ultra-Fine Shape & Define (left, $24) and the Gimme Brow + Volumizing Eyebrow Gel (right, $24)
When filling in your brows, use a light hand
Bailey notes that you don’t need to use a lot of pressure when it comes to applying your brow product, explaining that the brows will look much more natural if you use a light hand and small strokes – trying to imitate the hairs.
Focus on filling in the gaps, not drawing on entire brows
A mistake that many people make, Bailey shared, is drawing over the entire brow with your chosen product. According to the brow pro, you should focus your energies on filling in the places in your brow that are naturally sparse.
Taper off the color at the end of the brows
The hairs at the ends of your brows tend to be naturally finer, and if you attempt to mimic this while filling them in, the end result will be much more natural.
If in doubt, seek professional help
When it comes to removing those ‘should I or shouldn’t I’ hairs, Bailey says the best thing to do is leave them. Referring to the hairs that sit just along the outline of your preferred brow shape, Bailey insists it is always best to leave them.
‘If you pluck a hair from this “no zone” you could end up with a gap,’ he warned. ‘If you’re not sure, leave the hair, and next time you visit a professional, they can make the call.’