HOW TO TWEEZE YOUR EYEBROWS
Here are some tips on finding the right foundation for your skin type:
Credits: Photography Justin Brimacombe Stylist Emilia Pelech Makeup Shannon Hoover and model Lilian Leopold at Liz Bell Agency Hair Chris Deagle at Moods Hair Salon
With spring starting, it's time to show some skin again! One of this season's biggest trends is the Femme Fatale which requires strong, perfectly shaped eyebrows. Gone are the days of those pencil thin-almost invisible brows, now is the time to make a bold statement, however don't think a unibrow is what we're talking about, but something bold that frames that lovely face of yours.
There are several means of removing hair such as waxing,threading and tweezing. Waxing can cause skin texture changes as well as changes in the direction of hair itself (we can be difficult to control). Threading is better, it tends to give clean, precise results and makes shaping very simple, however it is best done by a professional, which leaves you with tweezing. Since most women have tweezers, a makeup mirror and little time, we thought tweezing is the perfect solution for the woman on the go.
Firstly, you should first prepare the area. Basically this involves cleansing the area with warm water and mild exfoliation. By cleansing your face of the dirt and oils, it makes it easier to pull hairs out. This also acts to loosen the hair roots making them easier to remove and prevent splitting of the hair providing a longer lasting hair removal. A great facial exfoliator is Olay's Regenerist Daily Regenerating Cleanser ($6.99 www.olay.com). Gentle, yet effective it's an exfoliator that can be used everyday, great at getting rid of dead skin cells and replenishing your skin. After washing and exfoliating, blot the area dry with a wash cloth. If you are worried about pain you can also apply Orajel or Anbesol (or any sort of teething gel) to numb the area or apply ice after.
Next is figuring out how much hair you should remove. The number one mistake made by most women is to overpluck their brows so they end up looking unnatural. Here is a good trick to figure out how your brows should look:
1)Hold a eyeliner pencil parallel (straight up) to the side of your nose, where the pencil meets your brow is where the brow should begin. 2)To figure out where your brows should end, take the same pencil and hold it diagonally starting from your nostril to the outside edge of your eye towards your brow. Where the inside edge hits the brow is where your brow should end.
BROW TIP: Generally the space between your two brows should be a equal to, or a little wider than your eye.
Now that you know how much to pluck, next is to make sure you have the proper set up and tools to see what your doing. It's best to tweeze where there is good light, so you either want to be near a mirror with good light, or near a window that provides adequate daylight. We suggest getting:
1) A good illuminated magnifiying mirror (so you see all those fine hairs), they are also useful because you can flip them over and check to see what the area looks like with a regular mirror. Our pick is HoMedics Spa Reflectives Illuminated Mirror with Satin Nickel Finish ($29.99 www.homedics.com). Looks good, portable, gives 3 illuminating levels and 7x magnification, so you can find even the tiniest hairs. 2) A good pair of tweezers, preferably with a slanted edge (this aids in gripping even the tiniest hairs). Our pick is Tweezerman's SlantŪ Tweezer ($20.00 www.tweezerman.com). A favorite amongst makeup artist and known for it's precision and accuracy, it also comes in a Mini SlantŪ Tweezer ($10.00), perfect to go in your purse.
Now, you're ready to pluck. What's the proper way to pluck? Basically you want pluck the hairs in the direction they grow and try not to remove too many at one time. It's good to hold the skin so that it is tight, that way you can get a good grip on those hairs. Hold the tweezers like you would a pencil, placing the tip of the tweezer as close to the root of the hair as possible (but don't be digging it into your skin!!) and pull the hair out in the direction it grows, keeping the tweezer angled as close to your skin as possible. Once you've pulled out a few hairs, it's a good idea to switch to the other brow, this aids in getting more balanced results.
Remember to take breaks and step back every few hairs to check what you're doing. It's also a good idea to wipe the tips of the tweezer at this time with rubbing alcohol to remove any build up, as well as helping in keeping the tweezer grip firm. After plucking, if the area is red or irritated, try using a cool compress or ice to cool the area down and help calm the inflammation, and consider using an aloe vera cream to help calm redness down. To avoid ingrown hairs, apply an astringent or toner to the area immediately after to keep the area clean.
If your really feeling inventive and wanting to really shape your brows, there are Eyebrow Stencils that are available. It's important to know your face shape and brow structure when choosing your stencil, this will direct you to the stencils best suited for your face. Most companies that make the stencils give you instructions on how to determine this and actually guide you towards your options to make things easier for you. To use the stencils is quite straightforward, you align the stencil to the natural beginning and end of your brows, trace the outline of the brow shape with a brow pencil or mascara, remove stencil and pluck away! With stencils and shaping, it's very important to make sure you chose a shape that is similar to your natural brow shape (similar length, curve and arch), too dramatic a change will result in too dramatic (and unnatural) a result! Thinner eyebrows tend to make you look older, so be careful not to overshape!
The next step is to perfect and set those brows for the day. With all the major shaping done, time to fix the little imperfections you may notice. If you notice that parts of your brow look sparse, try filling them in with a Brow Shadow. Most makeup companies are making Brow shadows and even include little brow kits to help with all those little problems. Our favorite brow kits were from Chanel and Urban Decay. Le Sourcil De Chanel Perfect Brow ($65.00 www.umachanel.com) includes 3 powder shades, a mini tweezer and mini brow brush, your one stop shop for perfect, professional brows. Urban Decay's Brow Box ($29.00 www.urbandecay.com) has 2 shades, a slanted brush, mini tweezers and even brow wax to perfectly set them. For $29.00, you can't go wrong! You could also use a brow pencil to fill in areas as well. With pencils be careful to apply light, short strokes from the inside of the brow out. Chanel makes great brow pencils. Gently rub with a brow brush, this will smooth out and soften the effect. If you're wanting the perfect finish to your brows, try trimming them. First brush your brows upward (this helps identify the really long hairs), any hairs that extend above the upper part of the thickest part of your brow can be trimmed with a small trimming scissors, then brush your brows downward and trim any hairs that extend below the thickest part of your brows. Finally to set your brows into place try using a brow gel or wax, which will help set them in place for the rest of the day. We liked MAC's Brow Set in Clear ($13.50 www.maccosmetics.com). It's easy to use and held the brows in place-all without flaking. If you don't have brow gel handy, you can always use a little bit of hair spray on your finger to tame your brows, but we prefer brow gels.
Image on right:
LIPS: Shu Uemura's Rouge Unlimited in Serene Pink ($23.00)
EYES:DiorShow Mascara in Black ($23.00), Chanel's Les Quatre Ombres in Bleu Celestes ($55.00), Precision Eye Definer in Black ($27.50)
CHEEKS:NARS Blush in Orgasm ($25.00)
Here are some tips on finding the right foundation for your skin type:
Credits: Photography Justin Brimacombe Stylist Emilia Pelech Makeup Shannon Hoover and model Lilian Leopold at Liz Bell Agency Hair Chris Deagle at Moods Hair Salon
With spring starting, it's time to show some skin again! One of this season's biggest trends is the Femme Fatale which requires strong, perfectly shaped eyebrows. Gone are the days of those pencil thin-almost invisible brows, now is the time to make a bold statement, however don't think a unibrow is what we're talking about, but something bold that frames that lovely face of yours.
There are several means of removing hair such as waxing,threading and tweezing. Waxing can cause skin texture changes as well as changes in the direction of hair itself (we can be difficult to control). Threading is better, it tends to give clean, precise results and makes shaping very simple, however it is best done by a professional, which leaves you with tweezing. Since most women have tweezers, a makeup mirror and little time, we thought tweezing is the perfect solution for the woman on the go.
Firstly, you should first prepare the area. Basically this involves cleansing the area with warm water and mild exfoliation. By cleansing your face of the dirt and oils, it makes it easier to pull hairs out. This also acts to loosen the hair roots making them easier to remove and prevent splitting of the hair providing a longer lasting hair removal. A great facial exfoliator is Olay's Regenerist Daily Regenerating Cleanser ($6.99 www.olay.com). Gentle, yet effective it's an exfoliator that can be used everyday, great at getting rid of dead skin cells and replenishing your skin. After washing and exfoliating, blot the area dry with a wash cloth. If you are worried about pain you can also apply Orajel or Anbesol (or any sort of teething gel) to numb the area or apply ice after.
Next is figuring out how much hair you should remove. The number one mistake made by most women is to overpluck their brows so they end up looking unnatural. Here is a good trick to figure out how your brows should look:
1)Hold a eyeliner pencil parallel (straight up) to the side of your nose, where the pencil meets your brow is where the brow should begin. 2)To figure out where your brows should end, take the same pencil and hold it diagonally starting from your nostril to the outside edge of your eye towards your brow. Where the inside edge hits the brow is where your brow should end.
BROW TIP: Generally the space between your two brows should be a equal to, or a little wider than your eye.
Now that you know how much to pluck, next is to make sure you have the proper set up and tools to see what your doing. It's best to tweeze where there is good light, so you either want to be near a mirror with good light, or near a window that provides adequate daylight. We suggest getting:
1) A good illuminated magnifiying mirror (so you see all those fine hairs), they are also useful because you can flip them over and check to see what the area looks like with a regular mirror. Our pick is HoMedics Spa Reflectives Illuminated Mirror with Satin Nickel Finish ($29.99 www.homedics.com). Looks good, portable, gives 3 illuminating levels and 7x magnification, so you can find even the tiniest hairs. 2) A good pair of tweezers, preferably with a slanted edge (this aids in gripping even the tiniest hairs). Our pick is Tweezerman's SlantŪ Tweezer ($20.00 www.tweezerman.com). A favorite amongst makeup artist and known for it's precision and accuracy, it also comes in a Mini SlantŪ Tweezer ($10.00), perfect to go in your purse.
Now, you're ready to pluck. What's the proper way to pluck? Basically you want pluck the hairs in the direction they grow and try not to remove too many at one time. It's good to hold the skin so that it is tight, that way you can get a good grip on those hairs. Hold the tweezers like you would a pencil, placing the tip of the tweezer as close to the root of the hair as possible (but don't be digging it into your skin!!) and pull the hair out in the direction it grows, keeping the tweezer angled as close to your skin as possible. Once you've pulled out a few hairs, it's a good idea to switch to the other brow, this aids in getting more balanced results.
Remember to take breaks and step back every few hairs to check what you're doing. It's also a good idea to wipe the tips of the tweezer at this time with rubbing alcohol to remove any build up, as well as helping in keeping the tweezer grip firm. After plucking, if the area is red or irritated, try using a cool compress or ice to cool the area down and help calm the inflammation, and consider using an aloe vera cream to help calm redness down. To avoid ingrown hairs, apply an astringent or toner to the area immediately after to keep the area clean.
If your really feeling inventive and wanting to really shape your brows, there are Eyebrow Stencils that are available. It's important to know your face shape and brow structure when choosing your stencil, this will direct you to the stencils best suited for your face. Most companies that make the stencils give you instructions on how to determine this and actually guide you towards your options to make things easier for you. To use the stencils is quite straightforward, you align the stencil to the natural beginning and end of your brows, trace the outline of the brow shape with a brow pencil or mascara, remove stencil and pluck away! With stencils and shaping, it's very important to make sure you chose a shape that is similar to your natural brow shape (similar length, curve and arch), too dramatic a change will result in too dramatic (and unnatural) a result! Thinner eyebrows tend to make you look older, so be careful not to overshape!
The next step is to perfect and set those brows for the day. With all the major shaping done, time to fix the little imperfections you may notice. If you notice that parts of your brow look sparse, try filling them in with a Brow Shadow. Most makeup companies are making Brow shadows and even include little brow kits to help with all those little problems. Our favorite brow kits were from Chanel and Urban Decay. Le Sourcil De Chanel Perfect Brow ($65.00 www.umachanel.com) includes 3 powder shades, a mini tweezer and mini brow brush, your one stop shop for perfect, professional brows. Urban Decay's Brow Box ($29.00 www.urbandecay.com) has 2 shades, a slanted brush, mini tweezers and even brow wax to perfectly set them. For $29.00, you can't go wrong! You could also use a brow pencil to fill in areas as well. With pencils be careful to apply light, short strokes from the inside of the brow out. Chanel makes great brow pencils. Gently rub with a brow brush, this will smooth out and soften the effect. If you're wanting the perfect finish to your brows, try trimming them. First brush your brows upward (this helps identify the really long hairs), any hairs that extend above the upper part of the thickest part of your brow can be trimmed with a small trimming scissors, then brush your brows downward and trim any hairs that extend below the thickest part of your brows. Finally to set your brows into place try using a brow gel or wax, which will help set them in place for the rest of the day. We liked MAC's Brow Set in Clear ($13.50 www.maccosmetics.com). It's easy to use and held the brows in place-all without flaking. If you don't have brow gel handy, you can always use a little bit of hair spray on your finger to tame your brows, but we prefer brow gels.
Image on right:
LIPS: Shu Uemura's Rouge Unlimited in Serene Pink ($23.00)
EYES:DiorShow Mascara in Black ($23.00), Chanel's Les Quatre Ombres in Bleu Celestes ($55.00), Precision Eye Definer in Black ($27.50)
CHEEKS:NARS Blush in Orgasm ($25.00)
