May 31, 2011
It seems like Hollywood loves everything on the skinny side, except one thing - eyebrows. Thick, full brows are the big thing, but there is hope for us ladies who weren't born with fabulous brows.
Celebrity brow expert and make-up artist Tonya Crooks, who has worked with Megan Fox for the last eight years, as well as Fergie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Eva Mendes, and Molly Sims, likes to make brows as full as possible.
Here are her tips to help you achieve gorgeous brows:
"Fuller, thicker, more defined brows (like Camilla Belle's and Megan Fox's) are definitely the trend and most flattering on the majority of people, but so many people have overtweezed their brows that they may have a difficult time achieving this look.
However, there are some things you can do to encourage growth and give the illusion that your brows are thicker while waiting for them to grow in. The main thing I tell my clients with sparse brows is to use a growth serum on brows to stimulate growth. There are a variety of products out there — you just need to find what works best for you! I generally recommend Latisse, but there's so many over the counter options that work well too, like LiBrow, Talika, and RevitaLash, all which help grow brow hairs. Another thing I recommend clients with thinner brows do is get them tinted a shade to a shade and a half darker than their current brow color. This helps to darken the fine hairs that are not usually visible, making brows look fuller and thicker.
To fill in brows on your own while waiting for them to grow, you first need to determine which brow shape you have. Most people have either an arch or an arc. An arch goes up and down like a hill (like Megan Fox's brows), while an arc is more rounded and resembles a half circle (like Pam Anderson or Madonna). Most people have an arch, with the arc being second most common. Much less common is a straight brow, like what Natalie Portman has.
After determining your brow shape, brush your brows with a spoolie brush, which is a clean mascara brush that can be used on either lashes or brows, to determine the direction your brow hairs grow in, the placement of your natural arch and to help define your natural brow line. Finding your natural arch allows you to create a more natural brow shape for your face. Your arch should be where the outer corner of the iris is when looking straight ahead in the mirror.
After brushing your brow hairs, use a brow pencil or brow powder to fill in the shape of your brow and create a fuller look. The main thing you want to do here is make sure you even out the top and bottom line of your brows — those lines should be parallel and intersect where the arch is. Fill in the low spots and any holes in your brows with a very sharp tipped pencil to make it resemble brow hairs as much as possible. Use very light pressure, otherwise your brows will look too overdone and "make-upy." Brush through your brows again with the spoolie brush, and set with a clear brow gel.
Tweeze any stray hairs around the shape you have now created. I always create the brow shape first, before tweezing or waxing, so I have a pattern. It's like fabric — you don't just start cutting shapes randomly — you need to use a pattern.
There are also common mistakes I see on many of my clients that can be avoided or corrected so that you can achieve your best brow:
One of the top mistakes I see is overtweezing at the bridge of the nose. These are actually some of the most important brow hairs as they dictate the shape of the entire brow and removing them can ruin the arch as it makes it less dramatic. Make sure to also keep your tails long.
Another common mistake is disturbing the natural line under the brow by tweezing too much, in chunks. The top and bottom lines should be parallel, but too often I see women tweeze too much out of their arches, which makes the brows look very strange. You don't want Nike swooshes or any weird shapes! When tweezing brows, tweeze one hair at a time, one row at a time, like how a sewing machine sews. If you've taken too much out, even it out with pencil while waiting for the hairs to grow in. Put down those tweezers while growing your brows out! Better to have more to work with than to pull out hairs that may take months to grow back."
For more info on Tonya, check out www.tonyacrooks.com.
