Yahoo News A complete guide to at-home brow grooming
Among many of the beauty-related hangovers of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown will inevitably be overgrown eyebrows. While this will certainly suit some, it will no doubt leave others pining for the professionals at the brow bars many of us periodically frequent. If this sounds like you – and you normally resist the urge to pluck between threading or waxing appointments – it might soon be time to dust off the tweezers and take matters into your own hands.
"These are very unusual times," the founder of Blink Brow Bar, Vanita Parti tells us, "where we would normally say to avoid plucking between appointments we are now giving advise on DIY brows at home". But while, thankfully, she has plenty of tips, let's not be fooled into thinking a brow overhaul is as easy as it looks.
"Grooming your brows yourself can be tricky," adds Bobbi Brown pro artist, Zara Findlay. "The tendency to accidentally over-pluck can definitely lead to a nineties looking brow."
To avoid a disaster, both experts recommend taming stray hairs, rather than brow shaping (which can hopefully wait). "Always pluck the stray hairs first before tackling shape," Parti says. But should you need a full brow-over, the authority has tips to help you avoid getting too tweezer-happy when shaping.
Tweezing stray hairs
"Make sure you do not have any make-up on your skin as you want a clean area to pluck," advises Findlay.
Then, "take your time to comb and fill in your brow to a shape that you love". This is because, "pre-filling your brow really helps prevent over-plucking, as you can see the shape you want."
Once the brow is filled to your natural and desired shape, slowly pluck any hairs that are stray around it.
Once you are happy, "gently cleanse the make-up off the brow and apply something like the Bobbi Brown Remedies Skin Relief to instantly cool and calm the skin," adds Findlay.
Shaping your brows
As Parti says, shaping your brows should come next, if really necessary.
You can try the Blink method of measuring them up: "A pencil is a great tool to define the shape of your brow," she says. "It is simple. Place the pencil at the edge of your nose and where it hits your eyebrow is where they should start. Then swivel it from your nose to your iris – this is where the arch should be positioned. Finally swivel again from your nose to the end of your eye and where the pencil hits the brow – this is where they should end."
With this technique, "it is also useful to take a concealer pencil and mark the boundaries to avoid over plucking."
Next, gently tweeze where needed. "The arch is the tricky part, so ensure you only ever remove one hair at a time to get the right height and stay within your boundaries. Often two or three hairs is enough."
Now, "step away and view your brows before you continue – moving step-by-step is key." Viewing your brows from a distance also helps put your work into context before you overdo it.
Trimming longer hairs
"You may also need to trim the longer brow hairs with nail scissors," says Parti. This part is actually less risky, because at least length will grow back (whereas when hairs are plucked from the follicle they might not).
To do so, "brush them up with a brow tamer [or spoolie] and snip any hairs poking above the brow line". Again, just remember that less is more.
Filling in your brows and concealing regrowth
"If you don’t feel confident plucking your brows, I would recommend to just conceal the regrowth and fill in the natural shape," says Findlay.
"Using a very small amount of your natural skin tone concealer to shape around the brow will help conceal the look of overgrown hairs," she advises.
When it comes to filling them in, the make-up artist says: "I love using our Long-Wear Brow Pencil which has a comb on one side and a retractable pencil on the other. The angle of the nib makes it very easy to follow or create a natural shape."
And for an easy way to build volume and definition, try the BBB London Brow Build Gel (available in five shades). This newly reformulated tinted brow gel both shapes and adds texture with a conditioning formula that acts as a treatment for the hairs.
This product is also a handy make-do for those who usually have their brows tinted, but are unable to do so at this time. While we wouldn't recommend tinting at home, this brow gel imparts rich pigment that is smudge and budge-proof until removed with cleanser making it an easy alternative.
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