You can only work with what you have

The first rule in how to shape your eyebrows is: You can only work with what you have.  These eyebrows are fairly thin on the ends and  rather straight.  We are going to shape them up a bit, but not give an extreme arch.

You’ll have to do the same, and work with what you currently have. You can remove hair or use pencil to make them look fuller, but you can’t instantly grow them. The following steps will help you decide what hair to keep, or to remove.

Where the Eyebrow Begins

Where should the Eyebrow Begins

The general rule of thumb for eyebrow shaping is that if you took a ruler to the inner corner of your eye, that is about where the brow should begin. If you like a more natural look, you can always leave a bit more hair.

Eyebrow Shaping Tips:

• You have wide set eyes (too far apart), then you could leave a few extra hairs outside of the above line towards the nose of to make eyes “appear” closer.
• You have close set eyes (too close together), then you could leave a few extra hairs inside of the above line towards the eyes, to make them “appear” farther.

As you can see our model’s eyebrows already go a bit further in toward the eye.

How to Arch Eyebrows

How to Arch your Eyebrows

On deciding on how to arch your eyebrows one of the most important part of designing the brow, we are going to use other features for a reference. For our model here, I’ve decided on a small arch because she doesn’t have a lot of eyelid, and she has straight brows.

So placing a ruler on tip of her nose as a reference, and taking the ruler over her pupil brings me to a section of her brow that you see above. This is going to be the “peak” of her arch.

Another reference point is the top of the nostril, still aiming for over the middle of the pupil for a medium arch, but the far side of the pupil for a large arch. (Tip: right nostril for right eye, left nostril for left eye).

Where the Eyebrow Should End

Where the Eyebrow Should End

Place the end of a ruler at the outer nose and put on the corner of the eye, this is where the brow should end. On the model above, she’s right on target. Usually, it’s only a slight bit if women are outside this last line.

Eyebrow Shaping Tips:

Most of the time over-plucking has resulted in brows not meeting this end point. If that’s the case for you, use a brow pencil a shade lighter than your brows until it grows out.

Example of Eyebrows Already Shaped

You can see the perfect eyebrow shape already in place for this model, showing the three lines being used in her design. Notice when someone shapes the brows correctly, the eyes are framed nicely. If the first thing you notice on someone is their eyebrows, then they’re not the right shape.

Now, let’s get back to our original model’s eyebrows. We’ll start her designing.

First trim the eyebrows if necessary

First Trim the eyebrows If Necessary

If you want to learn how to shape your eyebrows like the pros, then trim them if they need it. I’ve already trimmed my models eyebrow, to our right. You can see the difference this has already made.

A big mistake women make is not trimming their brows. When the eyebrow hair is long, sometimes women end up taking out too much hair when they really needed to take out bulk. So trim first!

Here’s how to tell if you need to trim: Brush your eyebrows straight up, and if there are any hairs longer coming out of your natural shape on top, then trim it.

Yes, you can do this on your own, it’s very simple. Use a fine-tooth regular comb or an eyebrow brush to push eyebrow hair up, and then just trim what is outside the shape with small scissors (preferably eyebrow scissors).

Select Hair for Eyebrow Arches and Shape

Select Hair for Eyebrow Arches and Shape

Now, create your eyebrow arches and choose exactly which hair you will be removing. If you’re tweezing, put concealer or white eyeliner on the hairs that need to go: underneath, the middle, and on top so you don’t wander off.

For our model above, I’m only taking off hair underneath her brow. She has nothing in the middle to remove, and no stray hairs above the shape. We’re going to continue to work on her right eye so you can see the difference in the final result.

Eyebrow Arching and Shaping Tips:

If you take hair off the top of the eyebrow, don’t go into the main shape. Just take the stray hairs outside the shape.

Finished Eyebrow Shape

Finished Eyebrow Shape

Here you can take a look at the finished eyebrow shape on our right, compared to the one on our left that hasn’t had any work. Such a difference!

The extra effort prepping your brows will pay off in the result. Once you have the exact shape you like, the upkeep will be easy. You will be able to see clearly what has grown in and needs to be removed.