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