Beauty Lesson: How to shape your brows

I used to have very thin brows. My brow routine consisted of plucking them constantly and always trying to make the arch higher. As a result, I pretty much didn't have eyebrows. It wasn't until this last year that I actually became interested in brows. They really shape your face and are becoming a bigger and bigger deal in the beauty industry. I was reading an article that said to go with your natural brow shape for the best balance to your face. I looked closely at my brows and realized I did not know my natural brow shape. I had been tweezing, waxing, and threading them since I was 12 and the shape had been lost over the years. Sure I could go get them shaped by a professional, but how would they know my natural brow shape if I didn't even know. So I had to bite the bullet and grow them out. I did not pluck any hairs near the actual brow for about 3-4 months. I only plucked obvious strays that were not a part of the actual brow. As time went on, I began to see my natural shape. I actually don't have much of a natural arch at all and my brows are much fuller than I originally thought. After I grew them out, I was terrified to tweeze them. I had worked so hard to have natural brows that I did not even want to go to a professional to have someone thin them out again. This is when I decided to teach myself how to shape my own brows. Not only will this save me money, but it will give me total control over how they look.

In case you didn't think this makes much of a difference, see the above photos. In the left two photos, I had thinner arched brows. The right two pictures are more recent. 

To do my shaping trick yourself, you need to first pick out your dream brows. It can be a celebrity, a friend, basically anyone who has eyebrows that you want to emulate. I believe for this to look the most natural, you need to first grow your brows out. This allows you to see your natural shape. Working with your natural shape is much easier and produces a much better result (in my opinion). Since my natural brows were kind of straight, I decided to go with a shape that is very natural and full, slightly arched, and them tapered at the end. 

The tools you need are: tweezers, a white highlighter crayon (or concealer stick), and a brow gel. To start, comb through your brows with the brow gel. This will set them in place so you can clearly see what you are working with. After this, use your white highlighter/concealer pen and draw over the hairs to create the shape. This sounds crazy, but it totally works. I only covered hairs under my arch and on the tail end to create my shape. This part will differ depending upon the shape you pick. By covering up the hairs with the concealer, you can see what it would look like if those hairs were removed. Have patience and take your time. Check a mirror up close and step back to see the overall look. If you don't like the shape, or you covered too much, simply wipe off the concealer and start over (I had to do this several times). This is easier if you have the picture of your dream brows in front of you. Once you get the perfect shape with the concealer, it's time to start plucking. Pluck slowly and only remove the hairs covered by concealer. Use a magnifying mirror for this part if you have one. And viola, the perfect shape! 

My new brows complement my face much better and are easily maintained. 

How do you do your brows?
xxChris