Beauty 911 : Eyebrows

Once upon time, a little girl named Val used to have one big fluffy caterpillar across her forehead. That's right, I had a unibrow, big and bushy.

Then, I made the mistake many of us do, I over plucked. THIN CHOLA EYEBROWS. Ok not really, but think Mila Kunis in That 70's Show (Ironically, she now has my dream eyebrows):

The fact that my eyebrows are so dense and grow so fast is a blessing and a curse. I have unlimited tries to get the perfect shape (which I am still far from), but I do have to groom them basically everyday.

I would recommend getting them threaded or waxed the first time, and then just maintain that shape. If not, well you can still work it out.

Getting the right shape:
The easiest way to get the perfect shape, is to take a pencil, tip of a brush whatever you have on hand, to figure out the 3 major points. 

1. Take your tool of choice from the outer part of your nostril to the inner corner of your eye, that's where your eyebrow should start. 
2. Then take it from the outer part of your nostril to the center of your eye, and that's where the highest point of your arch should be.
3. Lastly, take it from the outer part of your nostril to the outer corner of your eye, and that's where your eyebrow should end.

Make sure you also go for a brow shape that suits your face! You can refer to this image for a general idea of what that means :

Credit : camerafilmroll

Grooming:

Ok warning! I let my brows get a little out of hand to REALLY show you how I do it.

You'll need a few tools :

Scissors and tweezers are from Revlon

The first thing you want to do is brush your eyebrows upwards with a spooly or a brow brush, and cut any hairs that are longer. If yours are little cray cray like mine (long and curly at times), you might have to create holes (almost bald spots) in your shape. Luckily we can fill them in! Point is, they should lay flat (you should also use brow gel).

Then you want to just pluck out any stray hairs from under your brow :

And then you can just use a beauty razor (like the ones from my Korean cosmetics haul) to create a clean line on top :) :

Play around with them for a bit with tweezers and razors until you get them as clean looking as you want or you can! (keep in mind these are extreme close ups, no one will actually notice the tiny little dots that are left!)

Filling them in :
Now this step is optional for some people. More often than none, I won't do it. I only do it if I'm wearing a full face of makeup, contour and everything. You know when you do ALL the little extra steps you don't on a daily basis? Yeah!

You can chose a powder, a wax or a pencil. I prefer pencil in general, as I find they look the most natural. Though sometimes, the powder/wax combo is easier on the go, like the Brow Zings from Benefit :

My go to pencil is the Brow Wiz by Anastasia, it has a super thin push up waxy pencil (so you don't need to sharpen) and THE BEST spooly of life on the other end, all protected by caps in a stylish packaging. However, the last (pretty big) chunk from my pencil just fell out and I couldn't find it on the floor. At the price I paid, I was pretty upset and decided to pick up the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil at the drugstore. I am quite pleased with it.

No pencil = sad panda

Best spooly ever. Anastasia Brow Wiz

The pencil from Rimmel

When filling your eyebrows in you want to start at the middle working in short strokes (to mimic hair) towards the end of your brow. Your brow should be fuller at the end and more sparse at the start (near your nose). Loosen your hand and define the line in the front. You can gently trace the line you want all across your brow but make sure you use a light hand and brush over with a spooly to blend everything in. You do not want to make them look painted on!!

Make sure you are using the right shade : if you hair is light go for a shade darker than you hair, if your hair is dark, choose a shade lighter.

Finishing touch:

To finish up your eyebrows, you can take some concealer on a small brush and trace the outline of your brow with it (above and under). Blend, blend, blend! And then you'll get a really clean, crisp line to make your brows pop!

You can also top off with some brow gel (clear mascara works fine too) to make sure they stay in place all day!

And voila! You're all set!

Hope you guys found this helpful! :)

- Val