By: Rose Prieto, CPCP, LE, CCE – Owner of Beauty and Brow Lounge, Miami Florida, Host of The Beauty Lounge Podcast.

IN-HOUSE BEAUTY With millions of us being forced to stay home as we ride the wave of a global pandemic, we are left to nix our in-salon beauty routines and opt for creative at-home solutions. Visits to the brow salon have been temporarily halted as a result of social distancing which means that do-it-yourself beauty has become the new normal, for now.   As the owner of a Miami based eyebrow salon, my studio sees dozens of clients a day in an effort to get their eyebrows in check. After 30 years of shaping arches, my brow-beliefs are simple: Never wax the face, never succumb to brow trends and always maintain the natural integrity of the eyebrow’s blueprint. The eyebrows are the quintessential pillars of the face. In fact, no other feature on the face holds as much dramatic punch. This is why the art of brow-care should begin at home, and it is not as difficult as you may think. Learning how to navigate around your arches isn’t rocket science, but will require you to get to know your brows a bit better.

AN ARCH BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A BROW

Eyebrows are born with a distinctive anatomy complete with identifying borders that are unique to the owner. As long as the integrity of the eyebrow’s natural shape is maintained, the facial features will remain in balance. The question that some may have is, “how do I find my natural shape?”. The common denominator similar in so many women is when years of over-removal have rendered their brows thin, sparse and full of permanent gaps. This phenomenon is typically a result of hoping on the brow-trend bandwagon in an effort to stay current with a certain fad.

The first concept that you should understand is that eyebrows are part of the facial anatomy and should never subscribe to trends. If you look at the evolution of brow trends over time, you will note that each decade had their own interpretation of the arch: In the 1930s, brows were removed and pencil-drawn into a submissive arc. The 1940s put the subtle arch back on the facial map as they welcomed a fuller brow. The 1970’s brow was thin and over-tweezed and in the 1980s, brows were thick and on steroids. Esthetic trends are inevitable, but instead of reaching for your tweezer, reach for your makeup brush. Makeup is a great tool whereby trends can be experimented, by the use of color and specific products that can be easily removed. Altering features in an effort to experiment with trends (like over-tweezing for example) can lead to permanent damage; eyebrow hairs are temperamental and may not grow after they have been removed.

As a licensed electrologist, I also see clients with irregular hair-growth patterns. It is important to understand that hair grows from a tube-like structure called the follicle and every individual hair follicle requires nourishment in an effort to survive. When a hair is removed from the follicle, regardless of the modality (wax, threading or tweezer), it causes a micro-injury at the root, which will eventually influence the efficacy of the growth cells. Ask any woman with sparse brows and she will typically admit that over-tweezing in her younger years is the reason why her brows never grew back properly.

TIME IS A GIFT

Since most of us are stuck at home with time on our hands, let’s use this opportunity to allow our eyebrows to rest and grow. The typical hair-growth cycle for a single brow hair is (up to) six months. In other words, a hair that is removed today may take up to six months to grow back. There are ways, however, to encourage accelerated hair-growth, such as applying cold-pressed castor oil to the brows (twice per day), or by applying a lash or brow growth serum. Topical stimulants will nourish the follicle, similar to what fertilizer does for a garden, and may ignite growth if the follicle is active. When clients come to me for hair-growth advice, I always encourage the use of a growth serum, in an effort to see whether their hair follicles are dormant or inactive. If the follicle is dormant, like a hibernating bear, the serum will spark the cascade of growth and your new normal may be to continue its use, a few times a week, to maintain a healthy growth cycle. If, however, after six months of using a serum the hair is still a no-show, then you must resort to alternative measures to fill-in those inactive gaps, like using a brow pencil or a tinted pomade.

BROW SHAPING 101 Think of your eyebrows like a flower garden; there are flowers and there are weeds. Terminal hairs which represent the body of the eyebrow are like flowers, and the stray hairs surrounding the garden represent the weeds. During a brow grooming session, the goal is to remove undesirable weeds and leave the flowers intact. The goal is to distinguish the flowers from the weeds, particularly if they grow close to one another.

In order to identify your eyebrow’s blueprint as it pertains to the hills and valleys of your facial anatomy, you must first get to know the contours of your face. Take a moment and look at your face in a mirror. Note the placement of your nose as it relates to your orbital bone (your eye socket) and observe the curved ridge above your eyes, this is known as the superciliary arch. Notice how the sides of your nose lead up and into that arch, in one continuous line. It is on that superciliary arch where eyebrow hairs grow. If you glide a finger up the side of your nose, you can actually feel the movement of the curve as your finger navigates into the ridge that sits above your eyes. This is the first step in identifying where the placement of your eyebrow should be.

Before you begin the process of removing the weeds from your proverbial brow-garden, you must first outline the boundaries of your eyebrows so that you are not working blindly. Take an eyebrow pencil (pointy tip facing up), hold it vertically next to your nostril, and make a mark (on the skin) at the location where the tip is resting on the superciliary arch. This technique shows you the starting point of your eyebrows; it identifies the placement of the brow bulb. This is a typical location where eyebrows have been compromised. If the bulb is sparse, yet has some hair that is in line with the mark you just made, then this proves that there was once life on your eyebrow planet. If, however, there is a gap where you marked the skin, and brow growth starts within a few millimeters of the pencil mark, then you need to simply fill in that gap by simulating brow-hairs with the use of a narrow pointed brow pencil, like SUPERBROW FINE PRECISION PENCIL in an effort to easily simulate those missing hairs.

Next, using both hands, gently press both index fingers to the center point of your forehead (frontal bone). In opposite directions, slide both fingers across the horizon of your forehead just to the point where the forehead begins to curve; mark that point with your brow pencil. This is the longitude line of the brow-arch, so draw a vertical line from that marked point, down into the eyebrow. This line should mark the boundary of the arch. Finally, take your brow pencil again, and hold it (pointy side up), placing the end of the pencil diagonally along the side of your nostril and the pointy side should touch the outer corner of your eye. Carefully slide your pencil up from the corner of your eye and into the brow region to create another mark on the skin, indicating where the tail of the brow should end. You have just identified the three major points of the eyebrow: The point where the brow should start, the point of the arch and the point where the eyebrow ends. Once you have these three points marked, you can easily outline the four lines of the brow.

I find that a sharpened brow pencil does an easy job at marking the boundaries of the brow’s four lines; a pencil like SUPERBROW 3-in-1 POWDER PENCIL works well for this purpose. First sharpen the pencil with an ALL-ROUNDER DOUBLE COSMETIC PENCIL SHARPENER then go back and locate the first mark you made at the beginning of the brow bulb. Using the spoolie end of your PRECISION BROW & COMB, brush the hairs in a downward pattern, in an effort to clearly define the top portion of the eyebrow. Trace a straight line, starting at the top of the brow, from point 1 (the bulb) to point 2 (the arch). Continue the process and draw another straight line from the top point of the arch to the top line of point 3, the end of the brow-tail. Now you have two straight lines (on the top of your brow) that identifies line 1 and line 2. Now take your spoolie-brush again and brush the hairs in an upward direction. Repeat the process of connecting the three points of the brow, only this time your focus will be on the bottom portion of the eyebrow, that which lies closest to the orbital bone. Now that your hairs are brushed upward, you can take this opportunity and carefully trim any hair that is out of line. You want to make sure that (when brushed upward) your eyebrow hairs either touch or surpass those top two lines of the brow. The hairs should be even with one another, like a picket fence. This step is optional, however. If your brows are long but you are hesitant to trim them, then simply glide-on a brow wax or even a clear lip balm, to help keep the hairs in place after you finish the shaping process.

After you have outlined the underside of the brow (from the underside of the bulb to the arch and from the underside of the arch to the tail), you should be left with four clearly defined lines. Congratulations, you have just mapped-out your eyebrows as they pertain to your specific brow’s blueprint! This is the shape of your true brow; the unique shape that represents your face. At this point, you can begin the final phase of brow shaping. If you prefer a more defined template, now that you have outlined the boundaries, you can fill in the entire brow using your SUPERBROW 3-in-1 pencil. Don’t worry if your brows appear too dark, you can easily wipe away the excess pencil after you have finished the shaping process.

BRING IT ON HOME Now that your eyebrows are clearly defined, it is easy to identify the stray hairs that need removing. Think of your filled-in brows as the mainland, and the strays as islands in the Pacific! The objective is to have a clean ocean, so removing all those stray islands will keep the arches looking balanced and defined. I recommend using a tweezer to remove the strays. Tweezing is the most effective way to manipulate the shape of the eyebrow without compromising the skin’s elasticity. The skin around the eyes is the thinnest skin on the body and elasticity in the skin can become compromised as a result of continued waxing. Threading is another removal option. Although this method is gentler on the skin, it involves a process of removing multiple hairs at once. I am partial to tweezing one hair at a time; in my opinion, it is the only way to truly maintain the integrity of the eyebrows’ true form. Tweezing not only allows for precision shaping but for gentle execution as well. For those who are hesitant to remove hair on your own, an eyebrow razor is a great option for hair removal. You can find brow shaping razors in your local drug store or online. Hold the blade at a thirty-degree angle and gently shave those strays away! An eyebrow razor is a quick and easy method for removing hair without running the risk of damaging the hair follicle, in the event that you make a mistake.

After you have removed all of the outlying strays, you can take a cotton swab and gently rub any excess brow pencil off the brows, if they appear too dark. Here’s a pro tip: If your brows are sparse and you have oily skin, it may be in your best interest to use a tinted pomade like SUPERBROW COLOUR POMADE. A water-resistant product like this is ideal for those who find it challenging to keep their eyebrow pencil to stay put. Apply this pomade with the angled brush side of your PRECISION BROW & COMB, making sure to lightly tap the brush into the product, then lightly blot the brush onto a tissue before applying the pomade to the brows. When applying, use short soft strokes to gently fill in the brows, then softly blend in the color with the spoolie-side of your brush. For added stay-power, gently press-in some SUPER TRANSLUCENT LOOSE SETTING POWDER for a stay-all-day affect.

For a professional finish, take a small makeup brush and outline the perimeter of the eyebrows with THE UNBEATABLE CONCEALER. This step is a great way to -not only- allow the eyebrows to pop, but it also highlights any stray hairs that you may have missed during the shaping process. Concealer is my secret finishing weapon that will take a finished eyebrow to another level! We are treading through uncertain times and it is unclear how long this wave of isolation will last. In the meantime, it is empowering to learn the art of self-care. Just because we are stranded at home, does not mean that we should not look our best while we wait. Understanding how to navigate through your personal esthetic is empowering! We have been given the gift of time, and in the world of esthetics, time is an opportunity to learn about the specific needs of our own individual beauty needs. We are all in this together, and in the end, your arches will be better for it.

See more from Rose through her social media platforms: @Beauty and Brow Lounge @The Beauty Lounge Podcast