Whether she's posting photos of herself gurning on social media, strutting her stuff on a catwalk, or looking all fancy in the YSL BabyDoll mascara ad, onesie-wearer of the moment Cara Delevigne rocks a pair of seriously impressive eyebrows. Now, maybe it's coincidence or maybe it's The Cara Effect but, whatever the cause, the AW13 shows were stuffed with fuller-browed models and there's been a noticeable thickening of celebrity brows of late.
Before (L) and after (R) as Jessica Alba embraces her inner (outer?) Cara Delevigne
Not everyone can pull off such mega strong brows as Cara herself, who has the bone structure and pout to go with them, and of course what suits your face should be foremost in your mind rather than current brow fashion. Even so, growing in an extra line or two of hair can take years off while helping to frame your features.
If you've really overdone it with the tweezers, give hair a few weeks to grow back in. This post on how to cope with in-betweeny brows might help and I'd counsel leaving them to their own devices where possible, but you can tweeze away really obvious stragglers that get on your wick (provided they're not actually along the brow line itself.) And when you have something to work with, I strongly recommend taking yourself to a professional to have them whipped into shape.
I'm a threading devotee, but whatever your method of choice let your preferred brow whiz know that you're keen to keep them strong and natural looking, and they should be able to sort you out with the best shape for your face and features. With a bit of judicious tweezing to remove just the regrowth as it appears, you should be able to maintain your new brows for months at home.
If you're already in possession of a luscious pair, a lick of brow gel will help keep them in place and add definition to their shape.
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To fill in any gaps or simply achieve a more striking brow look, use light, feathery strokes of either a brow pencil or powder (applied with an angled brush; I like the MAC 263) in a lighter colour than your brow hair to draw in individual hairs. Generally, powder will give a softer effect, while building up the look of hairs gradually offers maximum control and helps to avoid brows looking obvious, harsh, and drawn on.
Now that my too-skinny brow has grown back in (hurrah!) here's what I use to keep the pair of them looking as awesome as possible.
PENCIL
Catrice pencil, €1.99, is my everyday go-to. It's a wee bit hard, but since it's cheap as chips I don't mind warming the nib on the back of my hand to soften it before going at my brows.
BRUSH
I originally bought my MAC 263 brush to use for eyeliner but could never get the hang of it so it was repurposed as the perfect brow brush: stiff bristles ensure accurate, dense product placement and the corners enable precision at the brow edges.
BROW KITS
Sleek Brow Box, €9.99, is veritable a one stop shop for all your brow fixin' uppin' needs, containing a powder and wax duo as well as dinky tools; xgirl loves the Catrice version, which is even more budget busting at €4.99. MAC Omega is a great all-rounder eyeshadow and works well to fill in blonde or light brunette brows, and finally Anastasia Clear Brow Gel (Elysian Brows are stockists) invisibly locks hair into place without ever going crunchy.
As long as they're still groomed and don't make me think "Brooke Shields called from the '80s and she wants her brows back", I'm definitely a fan of the full browed trend. What do you reckon to it?
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Jessica Alba pics via Just Jared // The Trend Diaries
