Beautiful Eyebrows

Growing up I had thick dark brows that were the envy of all the women in my family. My grandmother would scold me for "coloring them in" and making them so dark, until she finally realized that they were naturally that dark. My mother encouraged me to make my one brow into two brows, that was a leap into teen hood for me. ha ha! My aunt would tell me about how thick and beautiful her brows were until she went crazy tweezing them, and now she has just remnants of what used to be, that she has to fill in with a pencil. At around age 16, one of my fashion forward goth girlfriends told me that my brows were hideously bushy and then gave me the run down on maintaining a gorgeous brow (despite the fact that she had 4 hairs total and the rest was pencil). Since then I have been a slave to balanced beautiful brows. Working in the fashion and beauty industry, my Esthetician friends always wanted to know who did my brows. The answer was always "me!" because after years of obsessing, I never let anyone else touch them. Bad brows have become a pet peeve of mine. I can not understand how people walk out of the house with lines drawn on, or brows shaped like sperm, or just nasty un-groomed caterpillars! Here are some guidelines for those of you that fall into those categories, and also for those of you that just want to learn a little more.

Here are some step by step tips for finding the right eyebrows shape.

Step 1
Use a straight edged object (a pencil or orange stick works well) and hold it vertically along the side of your nose so it reaches up to where your eyebrow starts (1.) The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where it should naturally start.

Step 2
Use the pencil again, look straight ahead and line up the pencil with the center of your pupil. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your arch should naturally start (2.).

Step 3
Hold the pencil at a diagonal from the outer corner of your eye to the corner of your nose so it extends up over your eyebrow. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your brow should end naturally (3).

Step 4
Repeat the steps for your other eye.

How To Tweeze Eyebrows Step By Step

The best time to tweeze eyebrows is after a hot bath since your pores will be wide open.
Make sure you have enough light to see every hair and exactly what you’re doing and you don’t end up taking out a hair you didn’t want to. A magnifying mirror is great for being able to zone in on every little hair.

Step 1 - Brush the eyebrows up and away to show the natural shape.
Step 2 - Use your fingers to hold the area above the eyebrow taut.
Step 3 - Using the tweezers, grip the hair as close to the root as possible.
Step 4 - Pull it out in the direction in which the hair grows with one swift motion.
Step 5 - Tweeze the hairs moving back and forth between the brows to make sure they stay balanced.
Step 6 - Wipe the area with a little toner on a cotton ball to close your pores.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Tweezing

1. Use smooth fast movements to remove the hair (less pain for you).
2. Numb the area with ice or skin numbing cream.
3. Only remove one hair at a time for the least amount of pain.
4. Use white eyeliner pencil to mark the hairs you want to remove.
5. Unless yours are very bushy, never pluck eyebrows from the top.

Eyebrow Grooming Step by Step
Well kept eyebrows make you look gorgeous without any makeup at all! They give your face structure and make it look more balanced. Properly arched and groomed eyebrows open up your eyes making them look bright and youthful. Here are the two eyebrow grooming steps to take yours from bushy to breathtaking.

Step 1
Use a brow brush to smooth them out by brushing upwards and outwards.
If you do it that way it gives your eyebrow the most natural flow. Using a brow brush also gets extra powder and foundation out of your brow hairs.

Step 2
After you’ve brushed them properly you can set them by using a clear brow gel or clear mascara.
That will help you to control the hairs and keep them from going where ever they please.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Grooming
After you’ve combed the brows up and out you might notice some of the hairs stick out further than they should. A quick and easy solution for this is to trim your brows with a brow trimming scissor.
Take the brow scissor and holding it horizontally carefully snip the extra length from the top of your brows.
Finish it off by brushing through your brows one more time then set your brows with a gel to make the hairs lie down completely.

EXAMPLES OF GREAT BROWS:

EXAMPLES OF HORRIBLE BROWS:

SOME GREAT BROW PRODUCTS I RECOMMEND:

BENEFIT BROW ZING $30 www.sephora.com

BENEFIT SHE LAQ $30 www.sephora.com

TWEEZERMAN TWEEZERS $20 www.sephora.com

ANASTASIA BROW KIT $75 www.sephora.com

M.A.C BROW LINE www.maccosmetics.com

Good luck and happy tweezing!!!!

My Favorite Beauty Products

I have some favorite products and I would just like to thank them for helping me keep my look together. Yay!!! I thought it would be a fun idea to share them with you, and here are some of my tips for use.

BUMBLE & BUMBLE Hair Powder: I absolutely adore this stuff! It's a dry shampoo and can be used to absorb any oils on the scalp or at the roots of your hair. I LOVE that it comes in five shades, so it can also be used as root coverage if you are due for a touch up, but haven't the time. I found it's great as a root lifter when I do a pomp too. I spray a bit at the roots and let it dry (it dries much faster than an actual root lifter product that you usually have to blow dry) then back comb. It hold great! I also like to use it as a product cover-up. If you've used a lot of hair product (for an updo or a slick pony), and need to refresh your style , but haven't the time to wash first, just comb and if you have any flaky bits, just cover it up with the powder to conceal.
black, brown, red, blondish, & white. 1 oz $19 or 4 oz $35

products can be purchased at a salon that carries this line or on their website www.bumbleandbumble.com

T3 refresh Volumizing Dry Shampoo (light/auburn/dark) 3.3 oz $25

Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo 4.5 oz $18

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo 1.4 oz $11 or 3.2 oz $21

all products can be purchased at Sephora or www.sephora.com

BENEFIT She Laq: This is a makeup sealer. This is a life saving product for especially long days when you can't stop and re-do your makeup. It comes with an applicator and 4 brushes. You can use it to seal your eyeliner, mascara, shadow, and my favorite...eyebrows. I use eyeshadow to shape and darken my brows and it definitely does not stay put all day. With this product over it, my brows ain't goin' nowhere! I love it!!! When it dries it does make your skin feel a little tight, but after a bit it's like nothing is there. .05 oz $30

BENEFIT Stay Don't Stray: A makeup sealer that's used to lock in eye makeup. It can be used all around the eye to keep not only your eyeshadow in place, but also your concealer under your eye. The great part is it keeps eyeshadow from creasing! It also has vitamins and locks in moisture. I'm all for products that help keep the signs of aging away. $24

products can be purchased at a Benefit counter, Sephora or www.sephora.com DERMALOGICA Multi Active Toner: A toner is a spritz that not only refreshes the skin, but assists with hydration. It prepares the skin for proper moisture absorption. I use this after I do an at home facial or just after I wash my face. It closes your pores and keeps the moisture locked in. I find that it keeps me from getting oily throughout the day. I like to keep mine in the refrigerator in the summertime and pull it out to refresh my skin on warm days. I carry it with me to the beach or the pool to keep my skin from drying out. 8.4 oz $30

DERMALOGICA Special Clearing Booster: An acne clearing product that I swear by! Contains 5% Benzoyl Peroxide, Zinc Sulfate, Sage, and Tea Tree. Used as a spot treatment to dry up acne or can be used as a booster with your moisturizer. I like using it as a spot treatment. I have used it on the deepest zits and it drys them up in a couple of days. I love it! 1 oz $42

all products can be purchased from a skin care salon that used Demalogica or at www.demalogica.com

M.A.C Pro Lash & Zoom Lash: I really love M.A.C mascara because the consistency is awesome and the black is the blackest I have ever used (and I have used a lot). They also have a variety of different types of mascara, but I find the best results come from mixing them. I use both of these mascaras together most of the time. Zoom lash is more volumizing and defines the lash and Pro lash lengthens and thickens. Together they form the perfect lash! I recommend these two, but you can check out the many others they have and form your own "perfect lash". $13 and can be purchased at any counter, Pro Store or at www.maccosmetics.com