How to groom your brows at home so you’ll look presentable before your next brow appointment

The beauty salons are going to remain closed for a while. Your brow embroidery is fading, stray hairs are growing out, and you don’t know if you can still call your brows “brows” anymore.

While you’re staying at home most of the time, there’s one person who’s judging you – the one who’s staring back at you in the mirror.

While we feel that professionals certainly do an amazing job in grooming our brows, now is the time when push has come to shove, and we’ll need to take things into our own hands.

Here are steps to trimming your brows by yourself so they look neat before your next brow appointment. Read on for tips to avoid over-plucking your eyebrows a la everyone in the 1990s.

1. Figure out your ideal brow shape

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Brow shapes are not a one size fits all. If you’re not sure of the brow shape that best suits you, don’t fret: the secret lies in your natural face shape!

While round faces look best in arched shapes to balance the softness, straighter, Kpop-style brows suit oval and thin faces to counter the long shape. Check out the video below to figure out your optimal shape, or simply refer to a celebrity with your shape, whether it’s Suzy’s oval face, or Lucy Hale’s strong square jaw.

According to Leconte, the “golden ratio” of your brows can be found by drawing lines from your nose and eyes. Follow the nose straight up to see where your brows should start, then angle the line such that it now passes through the pupils of your eyes to find your arch. Your brows should stop at the point where it aligns with the line connecting the outer corners of your eyes and each side of the nose.

Oval faces are traditionally the most ideal shape, so simply follow the above golden ratio! However, if you have an elongated face, try straighter eyebrows, and make them a tad thicker, which will “cut” your face into two to give the illusion of a shorter shape.

Although heart and diamond faces are similar in terms of the sharp lower halves, heart shapes often have a wide and high forehead. Counter this with a thinner and highly arched brow. On the other hand, diamonds have much narrower and smaller foreheads, so “expand” the forehead region with a thinner eyebrow that is less arched than the heart’s.

To slim the shape of a round face, try doing a shorter brow. Higher arches will also give angles to balance the round shape.

On the contrary, square shapes could move attention away from the strong jawline by drawing the eyes upwards with a longer and thicker brow.

Brush out and sketch

If you’re not familiar with your new shape yet, try getting some eyebrow stencils to help you out with the symmetry!

Brush out your brows in its direction of growth with any spoolie or brow brush you can find, which will ease the eyebrows into its natural shape. Then, sketch out your preferred shape with an fine eyebrow pencil as a guide while you’re shaping your brows later.

Eyebrow stencils

Perfecting eyebrows and making them look symmetrical can be difficult for beginners, so try these reusable eyebrow stencils until you get the hang of it!

Retails on Shopee for SGD1.22.

Goof Proof Eyebrow Pencil

One of Benefit’s bestselling products, this pencil has a flat and wide shape to fill in brows quickly and evenly so even beginners can achieve their desired brows easily. It also doesn’t require sharpening, which is great if you’re always on the go.

Available on Sephora for SGD44.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

This popular brow pencil comes in 10 shades, and has a super precise point to mimic those feather like strokes for fuller looking brows. In this case, it’ll also help to create a more precise line so you’ll have clean, sharp brows after grooming!

Retails on Sephora for SGD40.

Sephora Collection Retractable Waterproof Brow Pencil

Beauty isn’t necessarily pain- to your wallet, at least. Like the Brow Wiz, this one has a ultra fine tip for sharp and defined lines, while being waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about your brows disappearing halfway through the day.

Retails on Sephora for SGD18.

Start shaping!

Make sure you’re in a brightly lit (but not overpowering) spot before starting, to ensure you can see your brows clearly. Pick a pair of eyebrow scissors and carefully trim any longer hairs that stick out of the guide.

While it’s intuitive to reach for a pair of tweezers when it comes to shaping, it’s best to leave it to professionals if you’re more inexperienced, as tweezing removes the entire strand from the follicle and reduces the chances of it growing back if you made a mistake. For more unruly and overgrown brows, use a disposable razor for cleaner, more precise lines.

However, for a clean look without stubble that razors and scissors tend to leave behind, you can choose to use tweezers. For a painless experience, tweeze the hair quickly and according to the natural direction of growth. You can also tug your skin a little to reduce the drag on your skin so it’s more bearable. Another tip: try shaping your eyebrows right after a bath, when your pores are more open and your skin is softer.

Pluck the darker and thicker strands first, and check if that does the job. If not, try the lighter and finer ones. Refrain from using a magnifying mirror as that’ll increase your chances of over-plucking.

Remember to occasionally stand a distance away from your mirror to check if your brows look equally good from afar!

Tweezerman Brow Basics Gift Set

This set literally has all the tools in the trade. Consisting of a brow brush, precision tweezers, foldable brow razor, small scissors, and even a headband, you can have neat brows wherever and whenever you want.

Retails for SGD68 on Shopee.

Tweezerman Pro Wide Grip Slant Tweezer

Tweezing can get tiring fast. Choose one with an ergonomic shape like this one with a larger handle for a stable grip, as well as a slant tip for an easier reach.

Available on Shopee for SGD32.

Curved eyebrow scissors

Similarly, choose scissors with blades that are smaller in size and have slanted or curved edges instead for precision.

Available on Shopee for SGD4.50.

 

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