Brow Beating

About to knock your unruly eyebrows into shape? Here's all you need to know about the perfect pluck. Tweezers at the ready...

• It's worth spending extra on a good pair of tweezers. The tips should be fine enough to pick up one hair at a time - Tweezerman makes the most precise pair around,  Slant Tweezers £15.
  

• Don't just attack your brows and hope for the best - it's helpful to have an idea of the shape you want to achieve before you get plucking. Cleanse the area thoroughly, then draw in the shape you want with an eyebrow pencil.
  

• Well-shaped brows can open up your face, bring out your bone structure, and make your eyes seem bigger than they really are - but to do all that, they have to 'arch' at exactly the right point. Use something straight (a pencil or make-up brush) to guide you to the right spot. Looking directly into a mirror placed in front of you, hold the pencil vertically pressed up against the outside of your nose, then tilt it outwards until it crosses your pupil. Then look to see where the top end of the pencil hits your eyebrow - this should be the point at which your brow peaks and starts to slant down again.
  

• You can use a similar trick to work out where your brows should start. Again, hold the bottom end of the pencil against the outside of your nostril and line it up with the inner corner of your eye on the same side. Your brow should start just above this point.

• Or put yourself in the hands of the pros and use a ready-made stencil. Try Shavata Eyebrow Shapers £12.50
  

• When you pluck, hold each hair towards the root, then gently but firmly tweeze it out in the direction of growth. Work from the middle of each brow, moving out to the ends.

• Don't finish off one brow before moving onto the next - plucking a few hairs from one, then a few from the other will help you to keep both brows even. Every so often, step back from the mirror and take a look at your reflection from a distance - this will give you a better idea of how the overall look is coming along.

• Unless you're sure you know exactly what you're doing, try not to pluck from above your brow, or you might distort the shape. The pros use a small pair of scissors to neaten the tops of their clients' brows.

• All done? Wipe away your pencilled guideline, soothe any redness with a cold, damp flannel or an ice cube, and prevent infection by wiping a cotton bud soaked in tea-tree oil over the area. When the swelling has gone down, brush your brows into place with an old, clean mascara brush or an eyebrow-grooming tool. 
  

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