How to get perfect brows

Perfect eyebrows. Is this even attainable? Well, according to most makeup artists, yes. Its when your brows look full and shaped, without looking super dark or too drawn in. Think: Lily Collins or Camilla Belle (she’s that smoking hot lady on the cover photo, btw)–these ladies have beautifully strong eyebrows that frame their faces, and make them look super young and fresh. Of course, if your brows aren’t as lush as theirs, there are ways to fake it. And, yes, it is incredibly easy once you know how!

Getting great brows requires a few things. And eyebrow makeup is one of them. These days, brow makeup comes in many different shapes and forms, and it would be good to get acquainted with them. Lets go over them real quick: there’s the ever-dependable eyebrow pencil that most of us still use–this still does the job for me, as it fills in sparse areas and allows you to draw that perfect arch on your brows. Just make sure you choose a pencil that’s two shades lighter than your brows. This has a tendency of making your brows look darker than they should. Then there’s the brow powder, that looks a lot like your regular taupe eyeshadow. This gives your brows a softer definition, as it isn’t drawn like brow pencil. Again, with this, you’ll need a lighter shade as it can make your brows look too heavy (or scary). And then there are these new brow innovations, like liquid brow pencil (it works more like a light drawing liquid pen that dries into soft lines), brow tint/mascara (it looks like mascara, as it carries the same wand but its light and soft on the brow and can even change the color of the hair) and brow gel (it usually comes in a tube and is creamy and blendable; this requires a slanted tip brow brush to apply and its good to remember that a little goes a long way).

A lot of people will usually mix and match these to get great brows. For instance, I use a liquid brow pencil from K-Palette (its called Real Lasting Eyebrow 24H 01), which is great for shaping your brows as it’s not waxy nor does it end up looking too thick or cakey. Then I finish with a very light swipe of brow mascara (MAC Brow Set in Boy/Girl is the best) to make sure my brows aren’t too dark or heavy. There are, of course, many other ways to get great eyebrows. And from watching makeup artist Keith Cruz (she’s a girl, btw) do her thing during one of our catalog shoots for Pormada, I learned a couple of new tricks! I wanted to share these with you, since I took step-by-step photos so its easier to see what she did.

Check it out.

Step ONE: Apply foundation on your face and set with powder.

Step TWO: Wet your flat, angled brush (eyebrow brush) before dipping it into your taupe brow powder. Make sure your brush isn’t soaking wet, you must be able to draw on with the product with ease. You can test it on a tissue before applying directly on your brows. Then draw on the top part of the eyebrows. This is the shape you want your eyebrows to have, so make sure it is perfectly arched.

Step THREE: Draw on the bottom part of the eyebrows.

Step FOUR: Lightly fill in the brows using the same brush.

Step FIVE: Blend, blend, blend. Brows must look soft and defined and not drawn-in. You can follow the growth of the hair for this, using the brush to create diagonal strokes to create a natural arch. You can also use a brow wand/spoolie for this.