How to: D-I-Y Brows that Wow

For me, one of the things every woman should know is how to groom their eyebrows. With or without make-up, the power of a well-groomed brow makes a huge impact not just on your eyes but your whole look as well. It has the ablility to make one look young or old, happy, tired or worried like Bert of Sesame Street or perpetually angry like the Angry birds and Oscar the Grouch. Just as foundation evens out the skin tone which is the canvas, eyebrows frame the face. It has the ability to make or break your look. This is a great tip especially for those who wear glasses. A well-groomed brow opens up and brightens up the face. For the younger teenage crowd though, I would suggest you wait until college before you start touching your eyebrows. An exception can be made probably for your prom or graduation by occasionally having it professionally cleaned at a salon or your trusted make-up artist. Taking DIY route before you are even old enough to get a driver’s license is usually a source of regrets later on when you realize that you over-tweezed and have a hard time growing them back. For the rest of us who are of legal age, DIY can be a way to go and here is how I do it, my way ☺

Things you need:

A pair of good tweezers – I find that the one with the slanted tip works best
Eyebrow pencil, eyebrow powder or cream
White eyeliner (optional. for beginners)
Clear mascara
Angled brow brush

The eyebrow shape should depend on your face shape in order to balance it out. That’s a bit advanced for many and I can do a separate post on that. For now, we’d stick to the basics. To know where your brows should start, arch, and end, use a pencil to measure. From the side of the nose, hold the pencil vertically up, crossing the inner corner of your eye going up the brow line. This is where the brows should start. Look straight in the mirror then keeping one side of the pencil on the side of the nose, move the other end at an angle crossing the outer part of the iris towards the outer corner of the eye extending to the brow line. This is where you place the arch. Moving the pencil it farther away like the hands of a clock, crossing the outer corner of the eyes to the brow is where your brow should stop. To better understand what I mean, kindly see diagram below.

I don’t really do this to my clients but for beginners, you can follow this extra step to help guide you. Using the white eyeliner, mark off the three points where the brow should start, where the arch should be and where it should end. Connect the dots as illustrated below. This would be your cheat guide. With your pair of tweezers, pluck out all stray hair that are outside of the guide you just drew, pulling it out toward the direction of the hair growth.

For those with very sparse eyebrows, I would just clean the area under the brow and avoid plucking the hair on top in order to not make it look too thin. For those with extra bushy brows, you may use a pair of scissors and a brow comb to trim the upper part while you comb the hair upwards.

Do the same thing to the other eyebrow while stepping back from the mirror every now and then to check if they are symmetrical. Remember though that restraint is key. Never ever be too tweezer-happy that you overpluck. You will regret it later on as the hair that grow back are really thin if they do ever grow back.

After removing stray hair, don’t forget to erase the guide you drew earlier. It is now time to fill in the gaps. With this step, I prefer using eyebrow powder as it is easier to control and looks natural for everyday wear. It is safest to go a shade or two lighter than your hair. An exception to the rule is if you are blonde, you should chose something that is a shade darker. Using your angled brush, outline the lower portion of your brow following its new shape. Brush the color upwards filling in the sparse areas keeping it lighter in the inner corner and a bit darker towards the end. Finish it off with clear mascara to keep the brows in place.

Filling in the gaps with eyebrow powder

Finished look without clear mascara


There you have it, the secret to DIY well-groomed eyebrows. A word of warning though: only the brave beginner should dare to go this route. Haha! If you are unsure or are not yet too confident to do it yourself, it is best to let the professionals do it for you, then maintain the shape yourself later on as the stray hair grows back. What about you, how do you shape and groom your brows?

Complete with full make-up for photoshoot

10 Tips for Effortless Beauty for Moms on-the-Go

Hey everyone! It has been a while since I last wrote something but I do have a last-quarter-of-the-year resolution I’m hoping to keep: Blog more! haha! I have been wanting to share more of my thoughts and helpful tips with you but it has been quite busy lately with my little one, Amanda who is turning two years old in a months time. When I gave birth to her, beauty and makeup routines were almost down to zero for me as I embraced motherhood, a new chapter in my life. My husband and I really wanted to be hands-on parents and opted not to get a nanny to help take care of her. With very little sleep, looking and feeling pretty was last priority and my peg for my everyday look was a zombie. Don’t get me wrong because I believe that being a mom is really one of the most beautiful roles a woman could have. It allows her to exercise her inner beauty when she selflessly puts her baby’s needs above her own. However, it is somewhat challenging to match that inner beauty with your outer appearance. I vividly remember that the only me time I had back when Amanda was a newborn was my own bath time and I could only do that when my husband or my parents were around. Now that Amanda is almost two, keeping up with a playful toddler, taking care of my husband’s needs, doing household chores, being a professional makeup artist and trying to look my best on top of it all can still pose as a challenge but definitely not mission impossible. Let me share a few of my tips for effortless beauty on the go.

1. Make time for quiet time. Staying connected to the ultimate Creator of beauty keeps me focused and helps me figure out which tasks to prioritize. At the end of the day, I no longer worry if I am not able to check out all items on my to-do list because I believe in what the bible says that “ Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21. Worrying less is a well kept beauty secret for a youthful glow.

2. Hydrate and nourish yourself well. Being a mom is a lot of hard work. Especially when you breastfeed your child, it is best to have a bottle of water to bring along with you when you are out. To be healthy, it is already a given that you should eat a well-balanced meal whether you are a mom or not. Taking vitamins and your daily supplements would help boost your immune system resulting to a healthier, more beautiful you.

3. No time to exercise? Take short walks with your little one around your village, in the park or even at the malls whenever you can. Think of ways you can incorporate exercise into your daily activities like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It is an added bonus for breastfeeding moms that breastfeeding does burn some of the extra calories.

4. Give your closet a makeover. Being a busy mom is no excuse to wear frumpy clothes. Keep your maternity clothes and find things you could mix and match from your pre-pregnancy days that fit you now. Do a little bargain shopping for clothes that flatter your figure without breaking the bank. If you’re lucky to have a sister like me, you could even shop in their closets if they will let you.

5. Sport a low maintenance haircut that looks great on you. You can even match it with some color if you are bold enough to update your look.

6. Take care of your skin by going back to the basics of cleanse-tone-moisturize routine. Find the right products suited to your skin type and not just what is popular now. Don’t forget to put on your SPF to protect you from the premature aging effects of sun exposure.

7. Do wear some make-up to enhance your natural beauty. Put on some concealer set with powder on areas that need it. Mascara on curled lashes can make a huge impact on your peepers to make you look more awake despite the lack of sleep. Add a little blush and some gloss to finish off to make you look put together. Mind you, with some practice, it doesn’t really take up much time to look polished.

8. Tame those brows. Your eyebrows frame your face and a well-shaped pair instantly brightens up your features with or without make up. Have a professional do it for you if you do not know how. Better yet, stay tuned to my blog as I will be doing a brow tutorial very soon.

9. Schedule regular dates with your husband. It keeps the romance in your marriage alive by giving you time alone together to reconnect. It also gives you a motivation to look and feel pretty for the one you are spending the rest of your life with. It’s a no brainer that your beauty blooms even more when you are in love.

10. Smile is still your best accessory. A joyful grateful heart makes it easier to genuinely flash those pearly whites even during crunch times and those moments that are not exactly going the way you want it to. This is where tip number one can help.

Ironically, looking effortlessly beautiful can really take some effort on our part. Even if becoming a mom has made our schedules impossibly busy, the choice is still ours to make to squeeze in some time to take care of ourselves and be beautiful both inside and out.