How to Shape Your Eyebrows

Don’t think brows matter? A neatly groomed brow with a soft arch not only adds polish to your look, but can also take years off your age by creating a lifting effect. A full brow also balances out and frames facial features, opens the eyes and accentuates cheekbones with its sweeping shape.

Prep for a Painless Tweeze

For painless tweezing, eyebrow expert Elke Von Freudenberg of The Model Brow Specialists studio in New York suggests working after a warm bath or shower. “The steam opens the pores a bit, so it’s easier to tweeze,” says Von Freudenberg. When it is time to tweeze, you want to keep the tweezers as close to the skin as possible when you’re pulling the hair, as it’s the snap-lifting of the skin as you pull that causes a sting.

Trim Your Brows Clean

The key to a polished-looking brow is crisply cut hairs. To determine where to trim, first comb brows upwards. Then, using a small, sharp and slanted scissor (available at beauty supply stores), trim only where brows reach above the top line. Keep brows lifted into place with a coat of brow gel or clear mascara so you can see your brow shape more clearly.

Perfect Your Shape

“The beginning of the brow should be anywhere between the bone of the nose and the tear duct of the eye. The arch should be a straight vertical line along the outside of the iris of the eye when you’re looking straight ahead,” advises Von Freudenberg. The tail of the brow should end as a straight line angled from the bottom of the nose, out towards the end of the eye. Always err on the side of fullness when tweezing, as over-tweezing can cause sparseness.

Fill in Full

For sparse areas, opt for a brow shadow that’s one shade lighter than your natural brow and hair color, and lightly color in the area. If that isn’t enough, take a brow pencil close to your hair color and fill in on top of the shadow. “You’ll get a softer look this way. If you apply pencil first or only pencil, you tend to overdo it, and the brow can look harsh,” warns Von Freudenberg.