Brow Raising: The Perfect Brows.

One of the most ignored and misunderstood features in beauty is the brow. The power of a well shaped, symmetrical brow can change and entire face. In my career, I have seen an entire face change before my eyes with the stroke of a brow pencil. So here are some tips, best practices and steps to the perfect brow..

The Perfect Brows:

Shade Finder: You will first need to find the perfect shade of pencil or powder. If you are blonde, pick two shades darker than your hair color. If you are brunette, pick two shades lighter than your hair color. If you have red or auburn hair, it really is best to use a strawberry blonde color or a brunette. I am not an advocate of the auburn brow pencil for that shade so close to the eye makes it appear tired and brings out dark circles. A common mistake most people make in choosing their shade is that they pick a brow color that matches their hair when truly it is too harsh looking to match it exactly.

Shape Template: Now that you have your perfect shade, with your pencil or powder you will mark out the template to follow. Take the length of your pencil or brush and run it up the bridge of your nose. Follow the diagram pictured to the left and make a mark where your brow should begin. Mark where your brow should arch (trick:Your arch should begin to the left of your iris). Finally make a mark where your brow should end by angling your pencil or brush barrel from the bottom of your nose and angle over to the side of your eye.

On average, your brows are not growing in enough towards the bridge of your nose and near the outside they are too sparse and not long enough to meet that marker. If you pencil in and fill your brow starting in closer to the bridge of your nose and extending the tail of your brow out longer, it will make your features look more lifted and open.

Fill 'Em In: Now that you have a template of where you want your brow to start, arch and end..you can begin filling it in. The best practice is to not draw with one line like an eyeliner but rather to feather your strokes on as if you were creating the appearance of hair. Another best practice is to draw your strokes on backwards, against the grain of your natural hair to give it a more natural back lit look. Once you have one to your liking, move on to the other brow. You do not need to obsess over making each one match perfectly, brows are designed to be sisters..not twins so just get them in the same idea.

Set: To keep your brows in place, set the hair with a brow gel. I prefer clear unless you are in need of color correction (Covering gray, trying to lighten or darken the appearance of hair that has been dyed).

There you have it, the perfect brow! Enjoy raising brows ladies..

Lala xoxo