A lot of people obsess over their eyebrows and how well they are shaped. The custom of shaping eyebrows goes back to the Tang Dynasty of China when women painted their brows to look like butterfly wings. The tradition was carried forward in Europe of the Middle Ages when people plucked every hair off their brows to get a stark, naked forehead.
These arches are equally (if not more) important today, and have become rather apparent in the last few months. With only our eyes being visible above masks and our eyebrows becoming more noticeable during Zoom calls, people have begun to take special care with this particular aspect of self-care and body-fashion.
Grooming experts have quoted that shaping one's eyebrows is an art, and there are many ways in which it can be done right. Many such people today have started to offer virtual sessions for self-grooming with their clients.
But it goes without saying that no matter your instructions, tuning your brows at home needs a little firsthand experience as well as control- nobody wants to over-pluck their eyebrows after all. When you are done making your brows, the result should be able to express your personal style while complementing your face and features.
How to Prune Your Brows
Stylists suggest the brows should be allowed to develop out for six to eight weeks to achieve their maximum potential. As experts say- The longer, the better as it lets you accentuate your natural shape.
Start by tracing the beginning of your brow. This can be done by holding an eyebrow pencil vertically right in the middle of a nostril and marking the spot for future reference. Turn the pencil to the edge of your iris so that you may find your arch and mark it duly. For the tail end of the arch, you need to swing the pencil until it reaches the outer corner of each eye, where another mark can be made.
If your eyebrows are long and bushy, you might want to give them a little trim. The goal is to cut any long hair without having to give the brows a close crop. The best way to go about it? Brush your hair with a spoolie taking only one hair at a time, and trimming only the longest hair.
Before you begin plucking, it is recommended that you massage a good amount of your favorite facial oil on top of your brow bone. This helps to lubricate the skin and hair follicle, which lessens the skin's sensitivity while tweezing and prevents unnecessary breakage of hair.
To make sure you don't get messy eyebrows, skip the hot wax and instead take up a pair of tweezers. Try and remember- less is more. If you wish to keep the process as painless as possible, tweeze your hair in the same direction as your hair growth while you tautly hold the skin. Avoid using a magnifying mirror and complete the process in natural daylight. Keep in mind that you will need slight bushiness for the perfect eyebrows. Ensure that any baby hair that complements your natural shape stay exactly where they are. Begin by plucking any unwanted hair at the beginning of your brow and continue the same beneath the arches and the edge of the tail. To avoid over-doing the clean-up, tweak a few hairs from your brow, and look into the mirror for perspective.
The process of plucking hair can really irritate the skin, so remember to apply a cooling gel to soothe the skin and loosen the pores.
In case you have any sparse spots, you can make use of a brow pencil to get a bolder brow. This will help to feather your eyebrow in the same shade as your natural brow, which can later be combed down with a clear brow gel.
Do not touch your eyebrows for the next six weeks! If your brows have the tendency to get out of shape rather quickly, make sure you tweeze only the essential hair.
Features of a Good Brow
Each person has distinct eyebrows, and there is no ideal form. But, generally speaking, brows should start just above the nostril line, have a slight arch above the pupil's far side, and end at an angle, slightly above the eye's outer corner, as stated by eyebrow specialists from Serge Normant in New York City's John Freida salon. They are also overlooking many of her clients virtually.
Under certain loose guidelines, though, you should play around, changing your natural form to make it a little smoother, thinner, or more pointed. Many make-up artists are proponents of "full, beautiful, brushed-up brows." Additionally, experts also maintain that the right individual will look amazing even with a unibrow. They recommend playing by filling in the brows with a make-up marker and using the design as a reference to find a form that you want.
If you've settled on a form, dip a spoolie (or a clean mascara wand) in soap or hair spray for grip, then comb your brows with an upward motion so you can see hairs that stretch over your penciled-in outline. Making your way from the inner side of the brow (the part nearest to your nose) to the arch, cautiously trim those hairs with sharp, pointed tips, using a pair of brow scissors or a cuticle.
Snip every hair independently at an angle to develop a soft end instead of a blunt one(this will discourage over-cutting and stringy brows). Complete this cycle by wiping down your brows and trimming hairs that hang under the bottom of your design.
Afterward, shave any extra hair behind your eyes or under your lip. Tweezing is the easiest option for a brow-scaping amateur, as wax or gel strips will tear off too many hairs at once. Pluck with slanted tweezers in the direction of hair growth, removing just a few hairs at a time. After this step back and take the perspective from a full-length mirror (small make-up mirrors can result in tunnel vision). Dab on cold rose water or antibacterial witch hazel to alleviate redness and calming irritation to finish off.
After this, you can design and shade your eyebrows to further improve the shape. Use a hard wax eyebrow pencil (preferably brown) to fill the remaining empty spaces. Use the pencil by applying light, short strokes that can later blend in with a brow brush. If you want to create a fuller look, you can also make use of some powder, try and use one which has different shades that can blend and match the color of your brows. To create a look that is brushed up and bolder, consider using gels in tinted shades. If you have thick and unruly brows, you can always take the help of a strong-hold pomade along with a concealer to create a lift.
Experts recommend that brows be groomed every six to eight weeks. In the meanwhile, take care of them by exfoliating gently with a gommage or facial scrub to avoid dried flakes, patting on soothing castor oil and using a facial roller to improve circulation and promote new hair growth. To keep the follicle safe, experts recommend brushing your brows daily with a clean spoolie that you can hold next to your pillow. It's a little massage that helps you feel relaxed.
Final Thoughts
Beautiful yet natural-looking eyebrows are one of the latest fashion patterns. Above, we tried to come up with a handy tutorial about how to make your eyebrows appear perfectly amazing at home without making a trip to high-end salons and make-up artists. This guide will ensure you have amazing looking eyebrows - shaped at the comfort of your home.
You’ve recently had your brows laminated and you’re wondering how to look after them post treatment. When are you allowed to wear brow products? Can you brush them? Can you get them wet?
In this post we help you answer all your post Brow Lamination questions.
How to care for your brows after Brow Lamination
What is Brow Lamination?
First off, to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s start by outlining what Brow Lamination is. Brow Lamination is a semi permanent chemical ‘perming’ treatment designed to create lasting fluffy, brushed up eyebrows. The treatment lifts and separates stubborn and downward growing eyebrow hairs into a new desired position that can last anywhere from 4-12 weeks.
Because it is a chemical treatment (regardless whether you do it at home or at a salon) you will need to look after the brows following the treatment to not only keep the brow hairs healthy but to try to maximise the time between treatments.
Caring for your brows straight after a brow lamination treatment
During the treatment process, moisture is stripped from the hairs and surrounding skin so it’s important to replenish and recondition the hairs. Post treatment the hairs will be much weaker and more brittle so directly after the treatment, whilst the hair follicles are still open, we’d advise applying a generous amount of brow serum on and around the eyebrows. A serum like EyebrowQueens Brow Serum, packed full of high quality ingredients will moisturise and nourish the hair follicles from root to tip. It will recondition the brow hairs as well as adding much needed hydration to the surrounding skin too.
We would also recommend applying a generous amount of brow serum morning and night in between lamination treatments to keep the brows in tip-top condition. The Brow serum also contain around 15 key ingredients which have been proven to enhance hair follicle growth over a sustained period of time.
Can I get my brows wet after Brow Lamination?
When considering how to care for your brows after a Brow Lamination treatment, you may wonder whether or not you can get your brows wet. Can you wash your face? Can you go for a swim? In a word…No! Straight after a brow lamination it is not advised to get the brow hairs wet for at least 24 hours as it can affect the longevity and success of the treatment.
Going forward we recommend applying one drop of our EyebrowQueens Brow Fix (included in the EyebrowQueens Essentials Kit) directly to the brows, making the brows water-proof and smudgeproof - helping to keep them dry whilst they settle in.
Can I brush my brows after Lamination?
You can brush your brows post treatment however we advise not to ‘over brush’. Post treatment brow hairs are more brittle and therefore more prone to breakage so the less you mess around with them the better however that said, you will need to style them so a gentle brush into place daily will be absolutely fine.
One thing to remember is a Brow Lamination alone won’t make your brows stay ‘brushed up. The process just makes the hairs more manageable and fluffy allowing you to move them into the position that you want. You will need to style them into the brushed up position using your brow products.
What shall I use to look after and style my brows post Brow Lamination?
The Essentials Kit by EyebrowQueen has everything you need to look after, style and shape your brows post lamination. Each kit contains a Brow Pro precision pencil, perfect for creating realistic looking hair strokes and a full sized Brow Colour Boost which adds colour and fullness to the brows. Also included is a pair of double ended Precision Tweezers and a pair of Precision Scissors; both of which will keep your brows tidy and in shape. Included in the satin-feel cosmetic bag you get a fabulous and much needed double-ended angled Brush and Spoolie which you can use to carefully brush up the brow hairs. You also get a bottle of Brow Fix which will keep your brows looking fresh all day long as well as making them water and smudge-proof for 24 hours.
We hope that this has given you all the info on how to look after and care for your brows post Brow Lamination treatment.
You may also likeYou may also like Home lamination Kits - How do they work?