They don’t make enough eyeshadow to disguise overgrown and out of shape eyebrows!!! I’ve been rocking some Groucho Marx bushy caterpillars this last week, and could not wait to see my favorite brow expert, Carla Jones, at Celebrity Brows & Lashes in Charlotte, NC. I feel like I get an instant facelift when I get my brows shaped.
Yikes!!!!!
Eyebrows are one of the single most transformative features on our faces. For some reason, so many women neglect or don’t make the most of their brows. I, like many of you, went a little crazy with my brows in my 20’s, over tweezing and over-waxing. Why did I think pencil thin brows were cute? The good news is that I realized a fuller brow was more flattering, the bad news is that some of that over tweezed hair never came back! I still have to maintain my brows pretty regularly, every 3 weeks or so, to keep the nice arch and shape that I have. I’ve tried tweezing, waxing, and threading over the years. I prefer threading the most.
Tweezing is the easiest brow maintenance tool for most people. The pros are that you can do it yourself and tweezers are pretty inexpensive. The cons are that you can easily overdo it, and you have to do it constantly. It doesn’t last very long, and I think it can be time consuming.
Waxing is a super common way to tame the brow beast. The pros are that its quick and effective, and reasonable price-wise. The cons are that it can be painful, hard on the skin, and mistakes are slow to correct. Who hasn’t had a chunk of brow removed unintentionally?? No fun. Also if you are using any prescription skin products, waxing is a no no. I had an unfortunate incident while on Accutane when I was 19, lost a chunk of skin, and it hurt a lot. If you use Retin-A, Accutane, or other serious skin products, or have had a chemical peel, be super careful when you wax.
Threading is a ancient technique that began in India. I didn’t know about threading until about 12 years ago. Once I found it, I was hooked. It gets all the little blonde baby hairs and the bigger hairs without taking skin with it. It’s safer to thread when you are on any skin medications or have had a peel. I feel like its super accurate and clean. It does involve a little pain occasionally. I feel like it hurts the most during PMS.
Here’s a before and after from my recent brow threading…
Big difference, no?
I also am a big advocate for filling in your brows with some sort of makeup. It defines the eye more than eyeliner or mascara can. You can also fix a poorly shaped eyebrow with makeup. There are tons of options, mascaras, gels, shadows, pencils. Ultimately, you use what is easiest for you. I find a gel and angle brush the easiest to use and blend. The one I use is only sold at Celebrity Brows & Lashes, but if you’re not in Charlotte, NC, you can find something similar, like Laura Mercier Brow Definer.
When you choose someone to shape your eyebrows, make sure they understand what shape works best your face and features. Brows can make or break a look. We’ve all seen the unfortunate results of bad eyebrow shaping.
How do you take care of your fuzzy eyebrows?