Brows have come in and out of focus with makeup trends over the years. Very thin and arched were around when I first started makeup artistry and now everyone’s trying to grow them back to look more dense and full – what a difference to your face shape a brow can make!
As we mature, if your eyes have a decent to large eyelid space and you continue to have a highly arched, thin shaped brow, you run the risk of your eyes looking smaller.
MB PRO TIP; If you have a very small eyelid space and your brow sits very close to your top lash line, then it is important to add a little higher arch peak to your brows – this will give you lift and make the space appear larger, otherwise the eyes could look heavy.
Having a thicker brow almost acts as that dark eye shadow and will reduce the exposed skin, giving a less puffy appearance to the eyes. As long as the thicker brow contains some sort of an arch, you will still have a ‘lifting’ look of what a thinly arched brow used to do. Mature woman that I create a thicker brow for cant believe the difference, as their weaker skin is less visible.
How do we create density to our brows and still look natural?
It’s all in the shade you use, mixed with feathering strokes!
Use this chart as a guide to knowing your best eyebrow shape:
Use your brow pencil in the same line shapes as above in the chart to see where you may need to re-shape your brows.
Step 1 is hopefully obvious… (Hopefully)
Step 2 is perfect for knowing the finish point of your brow – it must be in line from outer eye – but also a great way to know your outer eye shadow application finish point as well as your winged eye liner angle… No deeper shade should be applied to the right of that line as it can droop the eye.
Step 3 shows the start of the peak of the brow, but the highest point should be at the outer eyes corner edge.
MB PRO TIP; Knowing your brow shape is crucial to be able to accurately add colour/fill in gaps to create a fuller brow successfully. Use your pencil in these lines as guide when applying brow pencil.
Brow Shade
I would say 90% of the brow pencil I use in my work would be a slightly taupe/grey shade…
This is because it can suit all brow hair colours and not look drawn in. Your brows should not pull focus because of their colour, just be a frame, invisible to the fact they may have had some help from your trusty brow pencil.
Match your brow pencil to your brow hair shade, not your hair colour – they can be different.
Black hair, normally means a very dark eyebrow hair – using a black brow pencil will look very obvious, so a slightly grey shade will do its job to ‘fill’ the brow, not draw one – there is a difference.
Blonde/light brown eyebrows normally need a little definition, so once again the taupe shade ones.
MB PRO TIP; As a rule, I normally choose a brow pencil one shade lighter than your brow hair – you can build up pigment to your desired colour, brow pencil is there to fill gaps and create density, not look drawn in. Blondes may have a brow pencil one shade darker (taupe) if their brows are very light with no definition.
Application
- It’s all in the feather strokes; do not draw once continuous line.
- Try to create little flicks, mimicking real hairs to build up density rather than colour.
- I actually add little flicks more to the top of the brow rather than the bottom.
- If you add pigment to the top brow line, this creates a fuller looking brow instantly – problem is, you can sometimes see the line if you are not careful.
- Solution – brush up your brow hairs and this covers the flicks just added, giving a much fuller, dense looking brow.
- Even if you were having a no makeup day, always brush your brow hairs upwards as it creates a lift to the face and makes brows look fuller.
- The direction of brow hair can make a difference to your shape – brush them down and you will look saggy, brush them up and gives a lift!
One of my favourite brow pencils is the shu uemura Hard Formula Brow Pencil in Seal Brown (RRP $34). Such a great shade for most brow hair colour and the pencils are sharpened in a unique way, like a samurai sword, so as you apply a feather stroke, it is a very hair like flick, very natural indeed!
Know your brow shape, use your pencil to measure your start and finish points and always apply light feathered, flicks – this creates a real hair look.