my-oh-my eyebrows

ever have those random pieces of information that you heard somewhere, sometime completely randomly- but for some reason they just stick with you forever? if you're like me, this occurs pretty much on an hourly basis. during the shower, I always remember that I once heard that shampoo should only be used on your roots and conditioner is meant for the "ponytail area" of your hair. so for the rest of my life, I have this nagging voice dictating to me proper shampooing and conditioning practices. or how eyelashes should be curled not just once at the base of your lash line, but again in the middle and at the end if you want them to really curl. so even I'm pressed for time and rushing through my makeup, I always take time for that step.

but for the sake of this blogpost, the one most important tidbits has to do with my most discussed features- my eyebrows. a person's eyebrows are what frame their face and draw attention to their eyes. they should be like sisters and not twins. as an Italian girl with very thick hair, my unruly eyebrows have been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember. (insert picture with bushy eyebrows here) it wasn't until I discovered the miracles of waxing, that I realized my true eyebrow potential. Now while there were a few slip ups along the way (who doesn't remember the ever popular and universally unflattering look of pencil thin eyebrows?!) I managed to find a shape, thickness and all out perfect eyebrow for myself.


tool of the trade:
eyebrow brush/"spoolie"
tweezers
small manicure scissors
hard angled eyeliner brush/stiff eyeliner brush
matte eyeshadow: choose the color that corresponds with your hair color/eyebrow color. brunette: dark brown (not black!) blonde: light brown red: medium brown/chestnut




pardon the close up but this is my brows naturally before any grooming/filling in

the best way I've found to shape my brows is to follow their natural shape as much as possible. straight up from the inner tear duct of your eye is where your brows should start, and about a 45 degree angle from your outer corner is where they should end. now, I naturally have very strong brows, so the beginning part of my eyebrow is a bit larger than some people are comfortable with, but I start my arch right about where my pupil begins and arch it slightly through my whole brow. because of over-plucking during my teenage years (curse me!), my brows end a bit earlier than they should. easy fix with the stiff brush and dark brown shadow!

using short strokes with a stiff brush and shadow, I create the strong start to my brow. I continue with that same pattern through the front of my brow, filling in any sparse areas and making them look nice and full. be careful to use a light hand when doing these short strokes, you don't want to have eyebrows that look colored in- too cartoony! to fix my sparse ends, I use the same stiff brush and shadow, except this time I wet the brush to give me a nice clean line. I continue following natural line of my brow, getting thinner as I get closer to that 45 degree angle mark. to make sure they look natural and not drawn on, I take an eyebrow brush or spoolie and brush through my brows and over the line. the last step is to pluck any stray hairs that fall outside the defined brow area and trim the tops to make sure everything is neat and in line.

it sounds like a ton of steps and seems a lot more complicated than it actually is. eyebrows probably take up 5 minutes of my entire makeup routine, but trust me when I tell you that it makes a world of difference!

xx,
Marissa