Nine Pointers for Creating the Perfect Brows

Everyone knows that eyebrows frame the eyes—“the windows to the soul.” But there is way more to creating a perfect brow than simply perfecting the beginning, the arch and the end of the brow. Read on for more tips and tricks on how to shape what I like to call the “model” eyebrow.
 
Tip 1: Everyone understands where the eyebrow starts, but not where it ends. Line up a pencil at the end of the nose, toward the outer corner of the eye. That’s where the line of your eyebrow should end. This is also where eye shadow should end. A shorter line doesn’t “lift” the eye. It actually creates an imbalance to the eye and can make the eyes look closer together.
 
Tip 2: Balance to the eyebrows is very important. The line of the eyebrow from arch to arch should be perfectly horizontal. If it’s not, then you know that one eyebrow is higher than the other.
 
Tip 3: The Model Eyebrow service that I create in my brow salon in New York City is a shape that looks great on everyone. From the start of the eyebrow to the arch, the line is straight. From the arch to the end of the eyebrow, the line is softly curved. It’s a classic eyebrow shape.
 
Tip 4: Avoid creating a straightness in your eyebrows—usually the result of tweezing above the eyebrow at the arch. By tweezing too much on top, you tend to flatten the arch, making it very difficult to create a high flowing arch. You get your arch only by tweezing underneath, never on top.
 
Tip 5: If you’re getting that pinching “ouch” feeling when tweezing, hold the skin down tight with two fingers. Then grab the hair with tweezers, and pull the hair with the tips of the tweezer touching the skin as you pull. Pull in the direction that the hair grows, and you’ll find tweezing to be virtually painless. Why? It’s the pulling up of the skin that hurts, not the hair. By keeping the skin flat, you eliminate much of the sting factor.
 
Tip 6: Find skin breaking out after tweezing? A way to avoid this is by keeping the area sanitized before and after plucking. Dip a cotton ball in witch hazel or toner and apply it to the area to avoid those little red bumps. Also steer clear of applying any cream, oil or foundation after tweezing or waxing to avoid those little red breakouts.
 
Tip 7: Ideally, the best shape is the natural line that an eyebrow already has. If eyebrows are extremely thick, a very thin eyebrow won’t work. If eyebrows are thin, trying to maintain a thicker eyebrow will be too much effort. Just as in hair texture, work with what is there.
 
Tip 8: That being said, softer facial features are enhanced with a thinner, more elegant eyebrow, while a strong, angular bone structure is the perfect balance for a thicker, stronger eyebrow.
 
Tip 9: The secret to model eyebrows is to never completely wax the brow. Models know that eyebrow looks come and go, and if you wax only, you lose the ability to grow in eyebrows at a later date should the trends change or you want to alter your appearance. The best technique is to only wax the hairs that are never needed, and then tweeze to further define the shape of the eyebrow. –Elke Von Freudenberg
 
 
–Elke is a celebrity eyebrow specialist and makeup artist, beauty blogger, creator of The Brow Collection and The Model Brow Service, and owner of Elke Von Freudenberg Salon. Her work has appeared at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, in numerous magazines and fashion shows, and on the faces of celebs such as Kate Moss and Blythe Danner.