BROWS BROWS BROWS!
Ok ladies and gents, here is a blog post all about brows and everything that I know about brows! With this brow trend staying put and all the questions I receive on twitter I thought that I would help clarify some things. Firstly, you do not need to rely on geometry equipment to have acceptable brows like I see on Instagram!
If you have never had your brows professionally done then I suggest going to see a brow lady that a friend recommends. If you do not have a friends recommendation then choose a brow specialist that has nice eye brows, it’s like going to a hair dresser or seeing a makeup artists….. Generally you can get your brows waxed, threaded, lasered, tweezed….. blah blah blah. I prefer threading over waxing as it’s not as painful and I don’t like the idea of the skin around my brow being stretched especially at my age. If you have a tendency to go bright red around the brow area after such treatments like me then I suggest you get your brows sorted on a convenient day not before a first date or wedding. If you are happy with your brow shape then invest is If some good tweezers and tweeze (not pluck as you are not a chicken) stray hairs between visits. I have used tweezer man tweezers for years and love them.
Brow Pencils are a great all round brow product because they will effectively build up bald patches and add a crisp edge. Meaning they are good for you if you over tweezed your brows during the 90s like a lot of us did. A good brow pencil should be firmer than a lip liner or eye liner, this is because if the pencil is too soft you will risk brows being too dark and heavy therefore weighing your face done. To apply a brow pencil, draw little tick marks mimicking how the brow hairs grow and follow the natural shape and concentrating most of your efforts to the top half of the brow. The reason why you need to concentrate on the top half of the brow is because it will lift your brow. If the bottom half of your brow is too dark then the attention will be drawn to it making your brows appear too heavy. I really like Clarins Eye Brow Pencils and Lola Makeup by Perse brow pencils.
Brow Gels like Maybelline Brow Drama are great for keeping unruly brows in place but they will not fill in bald patches and create definition. Think of it as the same as the gel for hair. They will make your brows appear a shade darker. They generally come in some sort of tube like a mascara and you comb the gel through the brow with the applicator wand that looks like a mascara wand.
Brow Mousse are newish to the cosmetics world and I do like Clinique Just Browsing. The also come in the mascara wand type tube and was applied like a brow gel. A Brow Mousse contains powder and a thickening agent that effectively plumps up your brows. A mousse does grab the smallest of hairs but will not fill in bald patches.
Brow Powders are a great choice as they can appear softer than a pencil but give a similar finish. The main thing with brow powders are you need to also use a brush so they aren’t as convenient as a pencil. Generally eye brow palettes come with two different shade like the DIOR All-In-Brows. My top tip for using the two shades are use the darker shade on the top of the brow and the lighter shade on the bottom.
A few extra Pro Tips:
Choose a shade that is only 2 shade lighter than the hair on your head
If you are blonde choose an ashy pencil or powder. If the pencil or powders are too warm in colour then you will have a more ginger brow.
An ideal makeup bag would contain either a pencil or powder for brow novices, adding a gel or mousse if you are more of a brow expert in my opinion.
When I trained to be a makeup artist it was so long ago that there wasn’t the choice on the market there is now so we used MAC matte eyeshadows and a slanted brush to apply.
You can use eyeshadows and hair gel with a mascara wand if you want to.
Brows become spars as we age. A lot is down to how we lay our heads on our pillows when are sleep. Try using a silk pillow case as your brow hairs won’t get pulled like on a regular pillow case.
