I know that some of you will be reading this with your neatly arched brows raised in curiosity at just what on Earth could be considered “terrifying” about eyebrow hair. The rest of you (more normal types) will be reading this, twirling your brow hairs around your index finger.
Left to their own devices, mine grow like wildfire – and I’m not talking Cara Delevingne grandiose brows here; more… Dennis Healy. Given an extra coat of brow set, you could zip wire from here to Lands End on one of mine.
This ultimately means that I take the business of beating them into submission seriously. I’ve stopped shaping them myself because, like a two-year old with a biro, I simply cannot be trusted with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying mirror. Instead, I get them threaded every 5/6 weeks and this is enough to keep the arch well-defined. Preventing them from thereafter developing into McDonald’s ‘golden arches’? Well that bit’s up to me.
These are the brow tools that I simply couldn’t live without.
01: Mascara Spoolie. You can either buy these as purpose-built cosmetic tools or (more thriftily) clean an old mascara wand and use that instead. Either way, a spoolie is an absolute necessity in the fight against unruly brows. Comb through the stragglers before snipping and brush them into place before filling.
02: Brow Set/Gel. You can buy brow set products but I use a clear mascara. The Maybelline Great Lash in clear is perfect for the job because it holds the hairs in place without making them feel crusty and it doesn’t leave behind a telltale ‘wet look’.
03: Brow Powder. Much easier than pencils in my opinion. My holy grail is the Illamasqua Brow Powder but the most important thing is to find a good shade match in whatever you use and unless your brows are naturally auburn, beware of warm-toned browns. Many women use eyeshadow… any powder is fine.
04: Sharp pair of eyebrow scissors. These are nothing special, I bought them years ago off eBay but they’re brilliant. Super sharp with a precise point that trims the hair without pushing them ineffectually along the blade. Always brush the hair upward toward the hairline and trim any that stray outside of the bulk of the brow area. Go easy, you can always trim more but you can’t stick them back on!
05: Tweezers. I favour the brand Tweezerman for my tweezers, particularly the wide-grip style. There’s nothing more frustrating than a pair of tweezers that fail to pluck. Particularly when you’ve psyched yourself up to grab an eye-watering one only to find that the points have clutched at nothing more substantial than air. Don’t be afraid to attack anything that looks like it may contribute to a mono-brow or those random ones that appear to be sprouting far closer to your eyelid than your brow-line.
06: Angled Brow Brush. A fairly stiff brush is best for running the powder through the brow area. Always start filling-in from the middle of the brow to avoid depositing too much product on the inner third. Unles you’re going for the scouse brow/Katie Price look – in which case, just dispense of the brush and grab the nearest Sharpie pen. Also, get off my blog.
What steps do you take to keep from tripping over your eyebrows? Do you thread and then leave them be or are you a serial tweezerer?
