It's all in the eyes
Prepare to dazzle with the beauty secrets to perfect brows.
15:31 10 April 2007
Whether or not you live by the beauty commandments - thou shalt never have greasy hair; thou shalt never allow more than 5mm of regrowth; thou shalt never wear red lips with a smoky eye - one thing's for certain, when it comes to brows there are no hard and fast rules, you need to make it personal!
Brooke Shields might have looked devastatingly sexy with inch-thick arches in the 80s, but that's no reason to assume they'll lend you the same appeal.
In fact, for most people, a slimmer arch is far more flattering, especially as you age.
Achieve the perfect brow for you
Before you let loose with the tweezers, you need to take a hard and close look at your face in the mirror. As a general rule of thumb - the larger your eyes and face are, the larger your brows should be.
The inner corner of your brow should begin at the innermost corner of your eye. The tail should finish a centimetre or so past the outer corner of the eye.
The shape should ideally remain the same width along most of the length too - thinning slightly at the highest point, then along the tail end of the arch.
If you've over plucked and are thinking of a new look for your brow, use an eyebrow pencil in a lighter shade, draw in the shape and look in a mirror from a distance. Don't examine them, just look for a few seconds - you will know whether or not the shape suits you.
Once you have the shape you like, it's essential to keep them in shape. Plucking everyday might seem tedious, but it's the easiest way to rid strays before you lose sight of your perfect shape.
It normally takes about six weeks for sparser brows to fill in and it will require more willpower than giving up chocolate to dodge your tweezers, but at the end of this time you'll have the foundation for a strong, sophisticated arch.
Hot buys
If it's taking a while for things to thicken up, try Talika Eyebrow Lipocils (£20, Talika), which is a plant-based gel said to promote eyebrow growth.
If you don't trust yourself to whip up a good shape, it's worth seeing an expert. Este Lauder, Bliss and Pout counters nationwide all offer brow waxing or threading at a great price, so it's worth popping by.
Eyebrow Gel should be a make-up bag essential. The range from Giorgio Armani is ideal, as it's colourless and locks hairs in place all day long.
If your brows need a little painting, look no further than MAC Eye Brows, (£10 M·A·C Cosmetics) - a fine-tipped pencil in six shades, that's ideal for filling in the blanks.
Be sure to highlight an attractive arch by patting some liquid highlighter onto the brow bone - this will also widen the eyes and make your face look more contoured.
Great highlighters include Benefit High Beam (£16.50, ASOS), MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush (£12.50 M·A·C Cosmetics), and Nars Multiple in Copacabana, (£27, NARS Cosmetics).