Discover The Power Of Great Brows – And How To Groom Them Yourself
It’s one of beauty’s most important punctuations. For the uninitiated, having perfectly shaped brows is also a simple way to hit refresh
I was unaware of my brows – and their power – until my first photo shoot at age 19. I’d scored an editorial job at Cleo magazine and agreed (for the sake of my first byline) to model runway fashion. To be clear, this was not because I had a swan-like physique or jaw-dropping looks.
My editor wanted to highlight how ridiculous runway fashion looked on the average person. I still remember the make-up artist’s horror: “Oh doll, look at those caterpillars. Have they ever been touched?” It took me a second to realise what he was talking about. “My brows?” I asked. I focused on them. They did look quite full and dark. And I guess there were several hairs sprouting between the arches, creating what could only be referred to as a monobrow. But it never occurred to me that I should shape them.
The Zeitgeist was overflowing with bushy-browed Hollywood stars, like Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields and Ali MacGraw. I then experienced the eye-watering pain of a virgin brow pluck. I gritted my teeth against every rubber-band flick to my face. “We will find your arch!” he said, gleefully. Once finished, I had to admit the result was impressive. I looked groomed. “Even slightly more grown-up,” I thought to myself.
A few years later when I moved to New York, a brow groomer would come to the Condé Nast offices once a month so that each editor could have her brows perfected. As her expert tweezers hovered over us, she’d growl: “Do not touch them between visits.” We understood. Waiting for brow hairs to grow back is an agonisingly slow process that can throw your shape off for months.
If you never had your brows shaped or filled, I highly recommend starting. You can have them shaped at a Shu Uemura counter as a start. By far the simplest thing you can do is fill your brows. Fill them up with a spoolie so they appear thicker, and use a fine-tip brow pencil to fill in sparse roots, or sweep on a brown powder for softer definition. You will soon discover that brows are the makeover you never knew was right, well, above your nose.
What to have in your brow kit
1000HOUR Lash & Brow Dye Kit, $36.25, delivers smudge-proof brows for up to six weeks.
Manicare Ultimate Point Tweezers, $7.90, are essential for precision removal of teeny hairs.
Kosas Air Brow Clear Lifting Treatment Gel, $29.97, allows you to build dimension and add natural-looking texture.
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