Just like any other personal grooming routine, keeping eyebrows properly plucked and polished should be an essential part of a woman’s daily beauty maintenance. Whether you’re a veteran at this or deciding between at-home versus salon grooming, knowing which eyebrow shape works best for you is a key part of successfully framing your face. But before you turn to tweezing or waxing, aesthetician Cara Paymaster at The Face & The Body Spa says ‘brow mapping’ should be your first step.
“It’s so easy to get carried away with tweezing. I suggest that if you’re not going to get a waxing done, you should follow a brow mapping. Your brows should start at the innermost corner of your eye, arch at the center of your pupil and end at the outer corner of your eye,” says Paymaster.
Getting up-close and personal with your brows can be a bit intimidating, especially if they’re on the thicker side, but here is how to map the line. Use a brow pencil to line the natural arch and pluck only the hairs outside the line. Using the pencil method, you’ll be able to avoid over-plucked, tadpole-like brows. Trim any extra brow hair with an unused mascara wand by combing the hair upward. Use a grooming scissor to trim the longer, overgrown hairs. And if you’re not blessed with naturally bushy brows, don’t worry, you can easily fill them in with a brow pencil or an angled brush and light brown brow powder.
If you’re not sure that at-home tweezing is for you, Paymaster suggests taking a few lifestyle factors into consideration. Waxing is best for those who: primarily wear eyeglasses instead of contacts; need an arch that will last with almost no upkeep; and need the smoothest, cleanest look possible.
“I think it’s best to get them waxed because you get that clean, smooth look and your makeup looks better. It lasts the longest, too—tweezing doesn’t last as long as a good wax,” Paymaster says.
It’s important to remember brow waxing is just like any other hair service you have done at a salon, she says. Don’t skimp on cost or go to a nail salon to have your brows done. If you wouldn’t go to a nail salon to have your hair cut, why would you go to a nail salon to have your brows waxed, Paymaster asks. According to her, aestheticians are trained to shape brows, not just pluck them. “There are so many women who have come in and made the nail salon mistake,” she says. “Aestheticians understand face mapping and can avoid disaster. Nobody wants too-thin brows. It’s just not a good look.”
