Tips & Tricks for Shaping the Best Brows

By Megan Miller

At one time or another we have all experienced DIY eyebrow disasters—over-plucked, misshaped or waxed into submission. To avoid these hair-raising mishaps, the staff at Style investigated some tips and tricks to make the perfect brow possible.

1. Before diving into tweezing or waxing, it’s important to figure out which eyebrow shape is best suited for your face:

Round Face

Oval Face

Heart Shaped Face

If your face is round, brows with an angled arch complement the fullness of your face.

Those with a heart- or square-shaped face should stick with a softer rounded arch to balance the sharper angles of the face.

If you have an oval face, you have it the easiest. You can keep your brows fuller and choose between a higher arch or a gentle angle.

2. Once you decide which arch is best for you it’s time to get started! Whether you like to tweeze or wax, we have step-by-step methods for shaping and sculpting your look:

• Using a pencil, figure out where your brows should begin and end. Hold the pencil vertically against the bridge of your nose. Your eyebrow should start at the pencil’s outside edge. Then place the pencil on the outer part of the eye. This is exactly where the brow should stop. To figure out where your arch should be, line up the pencil with the outside edge of your iris.
• Next, use a toothbrush to brush your eyebrows into their natural shape using an upward motion.

• Draw in your desired eyebrow shape with a soft eye shadow pencil (try Wet ‘n Wild Idol Eyes Shadow $2, CVS). Note: Using an eyebrow pencil may cause you to over-pluck, so a shadow pencil is recommended.

3. If you prefer tweezing, the best (and least painful) time to tackle your brows is after a shower when the hair is softer and easier to remove.

• Take slanted tweezers (try Tweezerman $20, Ulta) and start plucking individual hairs, beginning under the brow and pulling in the direction of your hair growth.
• After tweezing, soothe the area with a cool moistened teabag.

4.) For women who wax, it is important to clean the area with astringent beforehand.

• Use an eyeshadow pencil to determine where your brows will begin and end and where the arch will be. Unlike the tweezing method, mark these points with a dot.
• Connect these dots together, giving you an idea of what the brows should look like and where the wax should be applied.

• Apply the hot wax (try Bliss Poetic Waxing Wax Strips for Face $10, Sephora) following the guide you created. It is very important that you follow the directions for any waxing product you choose. Also, it is recommended you remove hair in small increments to avoid making brows too thin.
• Pull skin taut with one hand and pull the wax strip against the hair growth.
• Remove any remaining stray hairs with a tweezers.
• Apply a soothing balm to the recently waxed area.

Tools to Use:

Benefit Speed Brow $15, Sephora

Lancôme Le Crayon Poudre Powder Pencil for the Brows $25.50, Macy’s

Anastasia Brow Express Palette $39.50, Sephora

E.L.F. Studio Eyebrow Kit $3, Target