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How To: Shape Up Your Eyebrows (Without Making Them Worse)

Oh, the anxiety of ever-changing eyebrow fashion. We may be feeling the full-brow look right now, but remember when thin eyebrows were the rage? Remember the early 2000s? Remember when you basically plucked out your whole entire eyebrow for your senior class photos only to look back at those pictures 3 years later and realize how crazy you looked? (We're kidding. You looked great. It's fine. Really.)

The problem with changing brow styles is that once you’ve over-plucked them, they may not ever be the same. Ripping out the hair damages the follicle, which keeps the hair from growing back in. Once this happens, it's hard to find someone you can trust with the few precious eyebrow hairs you have left. We're here to help you take matters into your own hands!

Step 1: Determine the natural arch and shape of your brow. Don’t try to morph your brows into a shape they don’t naturally grow in – that will only make them look like an accident. A good way to find the start and end of your brow is by using a straight object (like your brow pencil) and your facial features to map things out.  

  • Place the straight object at the corner or your nostril and the inner corner of your eye. This is where your eyebrow should start.

  • Repeat, angling the pencil towards the outer corner of your eye. This is where your eyebrow should end.

  • Now, look at the top of your brow and find the area where the hair starts to slope downwards, the middle of that area is your arch.

Step 2: Consider the sparse spots. You'll want to take that into account when shaping your brow. Kat's are missing some hair beneath the first half of each brow (thanks, 2006) but we don’t want to make them too thin overall. Instead we will create an illusion of fullness by removing hair in certain areas which will allow our eye to draw a line straight to the arch.

Step 3: Use a brow pencil to outline the shape. Even if you're widening it, follow your natural brow. This will make it easier to know where you can and can't remove hairs. Check both brows to make sure the shapes are, at least, somewhat similar.

[Unless you have a completely symmetrical face, it is likely that your left brow may be shaped or grow a little differently from your right. That’s okay. Symmetry is a myth, and frankly, passé.]

Step 4: Pluck outside the lines to remove stragglers and give yourself impressive brows. To create a straight line to your arch and prevent the dreaded “sperm brow”, you may need to remove a few hairs beneath the start of the brow. This helps with that illusion factor: the wider the start of your brow, the thinner a skinny end will look.

Personally, we recommend not plucking too much from above the brow. This can make the brows look “too done” and less natural overall. Instead, only pluck the strays that don't really belong in the overall brow shape.

Step 5: Once you’ve accomplished most of the tweezing, comb the hairs from the inner brow upward and trim the hairs in line with the top of the brow. A little at a time! You can always cut more off, but you can’t put it back on. Baby steps here are key.

The hair is usually less dense in the “tail” of the brow, so don't trim those unless they are extremely long or unruly. That can create gaps in the brows.

Step 6: Repeat steps 4 & 5 on the other brow.

Step 7: Check out your handywork and see if there are any areas that could use a little tweakin.  

If you’re not sure, take a picture and check it out there. Sometimes it’s easier to see what needs adjusting when you’re not looking directly in a mirror. 

YOU’RE DONE! Hey, great job!

Psst did ya know: You can make filling in your brows optional by tinting them!  This will help give your brow shape by darkening those baby fine hairs that are hard to see.  

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