How To Shape Your Eyebrows

Few things make you appear more groomed than well-plucked eyebrows . Many women have their eyebrows tweezed or threaded professionally and the trend is so hot, eyebrow boutiques are popping up in big cities across the country. I recommend you have a professional do your eyebrows first to set a 'blueprint', then all you have to do is pluck where the hairs grow in. (A pro waxing should set you back about $20 depending on where you live). Here's some tips on how to tweeze your own eyebrows.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 10 minutes

Here's How:

1. Cleanse your skin with a washcloth which naturally exfoliates the skin. If you want to go all out, use a facial scrub. Worried about pain? You can actually apply Anbesol, Orajel or any teething gel for babies.
2. Brush brows up and out with a clean toothbrush. I usually use my fingers.
3. Situate yourself near a window with light pouring in or under a bright light with a good mirror (magnifying mirrors are best, but be sure and flip it over to see your overall effect in the regular mirror).
4. Make sure you have a good pair of tweezers with a slanted edge (my favorite, hands down, are Tweezerman slanted tweezers. They last forever because the company will sharpen them for free.
5. Tweeze hairs in the direction they grow. Don't grab too many hairs at a time. You can hold skin taut as you pluck.
6. You can start anywhere, but I usually tweeze the area under my arch first, then I move above the brow and I clean up in between my brows last. It's a myth that brows should never be tweezed from above. You want both the bottoms and tops to be smooth. So be careful, but tweeze the top AND the bottom.
7. The best brows have a slight arch. To find yours, take a long eyeshadow brush or pencil and hold it parallel to the outside edge of the colored part of your eye (the iris). Where the brush meets the brow is where the highest part of your brow should be. Tweeze the hairs underneath the arch.
8. The space between your brows should be equal to, or a little wider than, your eyes. To find where your brow should go, take the brush or pencil and hold it parallel to the side of your nose. Where the brush meets your brow is where your brow should begin. Tweeze the strays in between.
9. Stop every few hairs to step back and look at the job you're doing. If you overpluck, you're stuck. Unlike most hairs on your body, your brows won't always grow back once they're yanked.
10. Once you're done plucking, you can apply aloe vera gel, which will calm the redness right away.

Tips:

1. To ensure your tweezers maintain their firm grip, regularly wipe the tips with alcohol to remove any oily build up. Also, keep in mind that Tweezerman will sharpen your tweezers for free when they dull. (I always lose mine before they become dull).
2. If your brows are sparse or spotty, you can fill them in by pressing a brown shadow into your brow. Chanel makes the ultimate brow shadow. It's expensive, but worth the price. Plucked too much? Ji Baek, owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge in Manhattan suggests in Elle Magazine that you stimulate hair growth by massaging brows with a toothbrush.
3. If you use a pencil to fill in sparse brows, apply with short, feathered strokes from the inside of the brow out. Then carefully rub brows with a brush or your fingertips to soften the effect.
4. Brow gel helps keep your brows in place all day. Or if you don't have gel, apply a dab of hairspray to your finger and use it to keep unruly hairs in place.
5. I've saved the best tip for last. The ideal time for brow-shaping is the week after your period begins. It the time in your cycle when your body is least sensitive to hair removal.

What You Need

• A great pair of tweezers. My recommended choice: Tweezerman
• A mirror, preferably magnifying
• Anbesol or children's teething gel if you're afraid of pain