Brow Beating

There are more to brows than meets the eye (!?) ya know! One of the most important features on our visage, they can frame your face, define your eyes, balance your features -  be the bane of your life when you don't know how to control them and  can create the impression that you sat on your bike minus the saddle when you over do them! - Scouse Brow anyone?

Knowing how to work the eyebrows to achieve your perfect look has been mastered by icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Liz Taylor.  Not knowing has helped create the not so perfect look on the stars such as the lovely, but once slightly under plucked,  Susan Boyle above.

Brow Beating - Getting Them Right

First things first if you aren't confident about shaping your own brows then don't! Well not at first anyway - go to a professional who will be able to talk you through what shape suits you and why. Get them plucked or threaded, but try to avoid waxing around the eye area if possible.  The most important rule when getting your eyes done by a pro is to look at their brows - if you don't like what you see, then don't let her loose on your brows! It is very difficult to reverse the damage done by over zealous uneven plucking.  Once you have a good shape you can maintain the shape yourself by plucking away any stray hairs as the grow.

Tools of the Trade:

• Good quality Tweezers
• Nail Scissors
• Flat Angled Brush
• Brow Shaper/Brush
• Brow Powder
• Brow Pencil
• Brow Wax

Defining your Brow

Defining and shading your brow when making up your face is an important step - if  you tend to skip this step, don't-  give it a go - you will be surprised by the difference it makes.

Follow these steps using the tools above to achieve your perfect brow look at home:

1.  Dip the flat angled brush into the darker shade of brow powder - tap off any excess.  Use the brush in upward strokes to sketch your desired brow shape ( if you aren't too confident in your free hand skills the NYX Eyebrow Kit comes with stencils, powders & brushes to help you along)    
2. Once you have sketched or stenciled your desired shape, you will be left with unwanted stray hairs, carefully pluck these hairs. Always pluck a hair in the direction of which it grows and as close to the root as possible and never pluck hairs from above the eyebrow, only below. 
3. Now grab your brow brush and brush all the eyebrow hairs upward - this will reveal any more stray hairs which you may have missed.  
4. Using a small nail scissors, trim any hair which appears long or straggly ( I usually trim so the hairs are level with the brow bone, when brushed upwards) 
5. Get your brow pencil and using light feathery strokes fill in any gaps apparent in your brows - go easy and never draw in a straight line, always upwards as per the natural growth pattern of your eyebrow.  
6. Again with your flat angled brush take some eyebrow powder (about half shade darker, than your hair colour) and go over the pencil with light feathery strokes.  If you prefer you can just choose to use pencil or powder only. 
7. Wipe the powder off your brush and choose a lighter colour powder to lightly fill in under the brow and arch, as brows are not only defined by darkening the brow itself, but by also highlighting under the brow using a pale colour to define. You can also achieve this with products such as NYX Eyebrow Push Up Bra - but most kits contain more than one powder shade so you can contour the brows. 
8. Once you are happy with the shape and colour definition of your brows, use a bit of eyebrow wax to set the look and keep the shape. 

Choosing the right Brow Powder shade

While you can get away with using a dark eyeshadow to fill in brows, it is advisable to use a specific brow powder formulated for use over hair and not just skin. The pigment will be different and there will be no shimmer etc.

Black Hair - Very Dark Brown - avoid black as it is too harsh
Brunette - Any Shade of Dark Brown
Redhead - Chestnut / Aurburn
Blonde - Taupe / Soft Brown


Beautyemporium.ie has an extensive range of brow products to suit all colourings. Prices range between €3.76 - €23.15.  We are offering a further 15% off all brow products using the code WOWBROW . Offer ends Sunday 15th January 2012 @ midnight.

Shop All BeautyEmporium.ie Brow Products Here......



And if you still don't believe in how important eyebrows are ..............

Catherine Zeta Jones -  Missing Something?