About Eyebrows

Regardless of your style needs, flawlessly groomed eyebrows can give you a polished look. Sensitivity to pain need not hold you back from tweezing your brows -- witch hazel is a natural anesthetic that you can use on your own at home. If a lack of coordination is your issue, there are brow stencils you can purchase to help you create your ideal brow shape. To get expert results if you are uncertain about your skills, book a session at a spa or salon with a professional brow technician.

Benefits

Neatly maintained eyebrows serve as an attractive frame not only for the eyes, but for the rest of the face as well. If you haven't yet tried to clean up or enhance your eyebrows, make the effort at least once. You will immediately notice the difference in your appearance even before you apply the rest of your makeup. Your eyes will appear somewhat larger and your face brighter. Begin by removing the strays that grow underneath your brow line and those over the bridge of your nose that may give you what is called a "unibrow."

Considerations

Eliminate stray eyebrow hairs through the method you find most appealing.
Plucking is the most common means of brow hair removal, requiring nothing more than a pair of tweezers.
Threading can be done at home or at a salon. It requires a relatively high threshold for pain as strays are pulled out with a string, but produces longer lasting results than other procedures.
Waxing and sugaring are similar techniques that make use of strips to pull the unwanted hair out. Both can be painful, although waxing is more likely to cause irritation as wax adheres to the skin, while the mixture used in sugaring attaches to only the hairs.
Electrolysis treatments permanently eliminate hair growth. These should only be attempted if you are certain the resulting brow shape is one you will always be able to live with.
Finally, shaving with a razor especially made for brows is also an option, although it is a last resort for some, because it causes ingrown hairs.

Features

The arch of the brow is its highest point. Yours may be low, medium or high. The area underneath the arch is the brow bone. Blending a flesh tone eyeshadow or shimmery highlighter on this area doesn't only make the eyes look bigger, it helps you appear younger as well by creating the illusion of a more lifted brow.
As for brows that are sparse almost to the point of being invisible, look into a permanent makeup procedure if you no longer want to feel as though you have to draw them on every time you want to go out.

Warning

Be careful not to overpluck your eyebrows, as they do not always grow all the way back. Once you begin removing stray hairs and reshaping your brows, the process can get addictive. It is normal for one brow to slightly differ in shape from the other, so don't think they have to be perfectly symmetrical. If you overpluck, allow brows at least a week to grow back before you pick up your tweezers again. Also keep in mind that sometimes brows do not actually need to be tweezed -- the hairs might simply be too long, in which case they should be trimmed. Use a brow or lash comb to brush hairs upward or downward, following their natural direction of growth. Carefully trim the edges that extend past the brow line with a small pair of scissors.

Prevention/Solution

Zealous eyebrow plucking and trimming can leave temporary bald spots in your brows. You can disguise these using the pencil or powder you use on a regular basis to fill your brows in. Do not stroke the pencil or angled brush loaded with brow powder directly over your brows as you typically would. Lift brow hairs instead to uncover the bald spot. Fill the area in, using small strokes that simulate the appearance of fine hairs before combing brows back into place and defining them as usual.

Who Can Help:

• Are you tired of cakey makeup? Try RawMinerals Free.

Resources

• How to remove eyebrow hair

Photo Credit

Leprechaun Art & Photography