Brow Down

If Beyonce sang “Bow Down” to celebrities like Lily Collins or Cara Delevingne, it would go a little something like this…

BROW DOWN BITCHES.

Yeah, let’s talk about eyebrows for a sec.

Fashion people love eyebrows, don’t they? (along with ridiculous footwear and things that don’t make sense) So why exactly is this? Let’s break it down. There’s not a ton of options for what you can highlight on your face — you pretty much just have your skin, lips and eyes to work with. You can contour your cheeks, put on some lipstick or do a smoky eye. But they can all look like you’re trying too hard. The big beauty trend as of late is full brows, a bold lip and barely there mascara (or literally none at all). Even more recently it looks like we won’t even be needing the lip — just some bold brows (the perfectly effortless look). Eyebrows are what shape your face so they play a crucial role in your makeup routine. If you’re lucky enough to just have really bushy eyebrows you don’t need to do much, but for those of us who need to fake it, I got you covered.

I’m in a bit of an odd situation when it comes to eyebrows because I’m pretty much stuck with my eyebrow shape for life thanks to my electrolysis stint in the mid-2000s. But if I would have done that ten years earlier (although I was 7 and watching Full House), I’d permanently have no eyebrows thanks to the 90s trend that is the over plucked brow (for that reason alone, I’m beyond thankful I was born in ’88). Now don’t get me wrong, I’m at a good place with my brows because I can easily darken them (they happen to be a few shades lighter than my natural hair color) and fluff them up. Although my brows will never look like Lily C, Cara, Lily A or Camilla I can think of a few ways to get a similar effect.

In the past, eyebrow shaping had been all about filling in with a pencil, which gives you darker brows but not necessarily the most natural-looking. If you go this route, try a precision pencil (you can’t go wrong with Kevyn Aucoin) or you can do what I do and use powder with a brow brush (although I’m 95% positive my “powder” is actually eyeshadow that I got in a gift bag last year but hey, it gets the job done). This is the first step but one you could skip if you have naturally dark brows and don’t need any filling in. The second step is something I’ve only been doing more recently but one I find to be the most important. There may be some technical term makeup artists use for this but I just call it “fluffing up.” I’ve used brow gels in the past just to give them one last sweep before I take on the day, but I was never 100% sold. In the Fall, I had the pleasure of meeting Troy Surratt (whose line Surratt is sold at Barneys…and it’s really good) who taught me a little trick with brow pomade. Just brush your eyebrows up (so you look like a crazy person) then gently push them down with the brush so they look bushy yet controlled, exactly like brow-master Cara. When I’m feeling pretty lazy in the makeup department (so, quite often) I will literally only do my eyebrows and nothing else. Then if I’m extra lazy, I will only do the “fluffing” and not the filling in. Trust me, the fluff is key.

So that’s my take on brows. So, what’s yours? Do you like the full eyebrow look? Any favorite tools you’ve used? If you’re still stumped, here’s a few things to get you started.

Images via Pinterest