Big, bold, beautiful brows

Jessica Alba once popularly admitted to the biggest beauty mistake she ever made—plucking her brows too thin. Exactly, ‘to look as skinny as humanly possible.’ “I’m always envious of girls who have the ones that aren’t over-plucked...because the nineties just ruined my brows. I’ve been on the mend ever since.” Not everyone has nineties trends to blame and plucking brows too thin or not starting with the right shape, isn’t the only beauty blunder women love to make. “They go horribly wrong with brows. Either they are over defined or not defined at all. Without a good eye brow, you cannot have good make-up,” celebrity make-up artist Adrian Jacob had said during one of the recent workshops in the city. Crafting groomed arches takes some thought and a little care.

Say hello, spoolie brush

Even though the right shape is the most vital part of any face, it’s for another day. Back to spoolie brush. The wand that looks like mascara, comes with the brushes kit and we’ve all seen. Only rarely used. The spoolie brush is the unsung brow shaping tool that can make the right difference. Use a spoolie brush after filling in the brows. It evens out the colour and blends any overdone edges.

Avoid being brow beaten

A few more tips for some more perfection...

Filling in the brows, before you start plucking will help not over pluck.

Avoid waxy brow pencils. They might be alright for very thick and bushy brows, but they clump and stick.

Several women suffer the problem of hair drooping down into the arches instead of lifting up. That means, you’ve accidentally tweezed into the arch, which brings the brow down.

Filling in the brows? Powder, pencil or gels?

Powder Great for filling in any gaps or faking a natural fullness. Application with a brush in light but firm strokes makes for precise definition. Use an angled liner brush and go in the same direction as the hair growth. Use bare minimal powder and add on gently as required. Also use very little at the beginning of the brows and at the end of the brows. Concentrate more on the arches and in the middle.

Pencil Easiest to use. Pencil products are good for really angled brows but can easily show through. Pencil application needs a lot of blending to look natural. Prefer using a pencil along the bottom of the brow line and then blend upwards.

Brow gels and tints—Ever wondered how your brows look a wee bit better after washing the face? Well, gels are supposed to have that sort of effect but in a more controlled way. Their primary purpose is to hold hair in place rather than fill in any bald patches. —TNS