Well-defined brows frame the eyes and help balance the features. Shaping, colouring in or bleaching eyebrows are the quickest and most dramatic ways of changing our appearance – but take care to avoid the pitfalls.
The art of the arch
The tried-and-tested measurements for eyebrow shaping are the starting block for "the big tweeze". Don't try to shape your brows without considering how they look in relation to your face. Don't only view them up close, stand back from the mirror and have a look.
Step 1
A line drawn from the corner of the nose to the inside of the eye will indicate the inner point of the brow.
Step 2
A line drawn from the corner of the nose to the outer corner of the eye will indicate the outer point.
Step 3
The highest point of the arch should be in line with the outer edge of your iris, when you look directly ahead.
The big tweeze
It's best to tweeze after a bath or shower when skin is soft and supple, Gently pull skin taut in the area you're tweezing to prevent tugging. Grip one hair at a time, at the base, and remove in the direction in which it grows. Finish with a cold compress to soothe skin, avoid alcohol toners, even aloe vera, because the skin is highly sensitive and there could be a reaction.
Brow beating
Curly eyebrows: Unruly, curly brows can be tamed. Comb hairs upwards, in the direction of initial growth, and trim the tips of long hairs with a small, sharp pair of scissors. Comb into a line across the top of the eyebrows.
Straight eyebrows: You can fake an arch. Determine where the centre point should be. From the arch outwards, tweeze lightly along the upper part of the brow to shape it down slightly. Next, from the arch inwards, tweeze lightly along the bottom line, to lift it. Use an eyebrow pencil to define the shape. From the inside to the arch, fill in along the top of the brow and from the arch towards the outer point, fill in along the lower line. An optical illusion created by the brow bone will finish it off.
Skimpy eyebrows: We all know how it starts, a pair of tweezers, time on your hands and before you know it, your brows look moth-eaten! Overzealous plucking can be remedied as long as it doesn't happen too often. Give hair a chance to grow back, then tweeze only the sprays. Fill in the gaps with a sharp brow pencil. If you can't bear to see the regrowth , bleach the hair rather than tweeze it, until it's neat enough to play by the rules.
Grey eyebrows: Eyebrows generally thin out, lengthen and lighten with age. To groom, a combination of tweezing, trimming and filling in is necessary. Don't overtweeze as the hairs probably won't grow back. Using a magnifying mirror will make the task easier if you need glasses to see what you're doing.
Dark and light eyebrows: Experts all differ in their opinions on how dark brows should be. A general rule is: the darker your brows the harder you look. Brows should be one or two shades lighter than your hair colour, so if your hair is lightened this may mean bleaching them and if your hair is darkened this may mean tinting them.
Tools of the trade
- A good pair of tweezers is worth its weight in gold. Invest in the best you can afford and use it only to tweeze hair.
- An old clean mascara wand or an old toothbrush both work well to comb eyebrows prior to and after tweezing.
- A small pair of scissors is important for brow beating. It's easy to become obsessed with tweezing when it's actually the length of the hair that's the problem.
- Use a sharp brow pencil, the same colour as the brow hair, to fill in areas where there's no growth.
- To tame unruly brows, a dash of hair gel, spray or even Vaseline Petroleum Jelly on an eyebrow brush should keep them in line.
Top tip Keeping the tweezers with your toothbrush will also remind you to check daily on regrowth.