1. Choose The Best Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

• Big forehead: Thicker eyebrows will create less of a gap between your hairline and brows.


• Small forehead: Thinner eyebrows will create the illustion of more space.


• Round, square or heart-shaped faces: Brows with a big arch in them will elongate your face so are the most flattering.


• Long face: You're not in need of extra elongation, so try a straighter eyebrow style without an arch to "shorten" your face.


• Diamond or triangular shaped faces: Softly rounded brows are best to offset an angular jaw typical of these face shapes.


• Heart shaped faces: You need to balance a smaller chin with perfectly groomed (but not bushy) brows.


• Big eyes can be balanced out with thin brows while small eyes can be complemented with big, bold brows.

2. Eyebrow Shaping - Line Up the Edges

• First off, use a brow brush or spoolie to brush your brow hairs downwards. This helps reveal the natural line and arch at the top of your brows.

• You want your brows to begin in line with your nose, as this will give you a perfectly proportional look. Use something straight, like an eyebrow pencil, and place it along the outside of your nose (where your nostril ends).
  
  The point at which is hits your brow is your starting point so make a mark with your pencil at this point then tweeze any hairs that fall outside this line into the gap between your brows.

• Next keep your eyebrow pencil along the outside of your nose and swivel it to meet the end tip of your eyebrow. This is where your eyebrows are going to end so mark a dot with your pencil and tweeze any stray hairs around there to give you a neat and sharp tip.
  
  By using your nose as your starting point your brows will be symmetrical, starting and ending at the same point on each side.

3. Shaping Your Eyebrow Arch

• Firstly, find your arch by placing an eyebrow pencil from the side of the nose to the centre of your eye and seeing the point at which it hits your brows.

• As a general rule you should never pluck the top part of your brows when shaping your brows – just remove the odd stray hair that ruins your neat line.

• The main thing in shaping your arch is to remember that less is more. So many of us are guilty of over plucking at this step and it leads to the dreaded 'tadpole' look.
  
  Pluck a few hairs from the very bottom part of your arch and step back to assess your work. Chances are you won’t need to pluck more than a couple of hairs to get a beautifully natural look so take it slow.

• Use the natural arch on top of your brows as a guide and pluck your hairs in proportion to it. Think of your arch as the area for shaping the thickest part of your brow (your starting point) towards the thinnest part at the outer edges (your ending point).

4. Choose Your Eyebrow Thickness

• Use your eyebrow pencil to draw a line along the underneath part of your brow from the starting point next to your nose to the end point at the outer edge, following the natural curve of your brow as best you can. Now pluck any hairs that are below that line.

• A lot of women are too scared to trim their eyebrows but extra-long strands could be getting in the way of a truly polished look. Use a brow brush or spoolie to brush all your eyebrow hairs upwards then use a pair of small and sharp scissors to trim any hairs that reach above your top brow line.

• If your brows have been over-plucked or are seriously thin or sparse, we recommend the award-winning RapidBrow Eyebrow Enhancing Serum that helps to condition, boost growth and improve the appearance of eyebrows.
  
  It's pricy and takes about 2-4 months to see results – but will give you far better results than other home remedies you may pick up online.

5. Line and Define - How to Draw Eyebrows

• Brush brows downwards.  Start with a brow brush or spoolie and brush your eyebrows downwards to reveal any gaps you need to fill. Many brow pencils are conveniently double duty and include a spoolie at the one end of the pencil.


• Mark key brow points. Using your brow pencil, place a dot at the start of your brows, on the top of the arch, and the outer edge of your brow in a similar way as you did when shaping your brows. It’s best to choose a pencil colour one or two shades lighter than your natural brows to avoid them looking too heavy and unnatural.
  
  A go-to universal brow colour that many pros use on lighter skins is taupe, which is a cool, grey-toned shade (sometimes referred to as dark blonde) that looks very natural on pretty much all eyebrows, no matter their normal colour. Try Essence or Rimmel for a taupe brow shade.


• Join the dots. Take your pencil and start drawing your eyebrows by joining the dots. Very lightly, using small hair like strokes to look as natural as possible, draw a line between the beginning of your brows and the arch, then go down the other side to the dot at the end of your brows. Using your spoolie, brush your hairs all back into place so that they are lying naturally.


• Underline your brows. Then, taking your pencil, draw an outline underneath your brows with the same small hairlike strokes. Once this is done, take your spoolie and brush the brows back into place. You should now have a fairly clear outline both top and bottom.


• Fill in the gaps. If you prefer sticking to a pencil, you can now start filling in the gaps, again using short, hair like feathery strokes to look as natural as possible. Otherwise, you can choose to fill in your brows with a powder or tinted gel, both of which will give you a very natural looking finish.


• Brow powder.  If you are skipping a pencil and are just using a powder formula, try a brow palette with two shades of brown, one light and one dark. Use the lighter one on the inner part of your brow and the darker one for your arch and tail to get the perfect amount of definition.
  
  Drag the angled edge of the brow brush along the bottom of your brow, followed by the top, then lightly fill in your brow with short light feathery strokes. The goal is to look as natural as possible; you just want to add a little bulk where you are lacking.


• Brush the brows. Once you have completed filling in your brows, it’s back to the brush or spoolie again to lightly brush your brows into shape and softly smudge out any hard lines.


• Set with brow gel. Finish off your perfect brow with a little clear brow gel or the Catrice Brow Fix Soap Stick to keep stray hairs in place.


• Finishing makeup. Once your brows are shaped and filled to perfection try some complementary make up. To get a really crisp and clean finish use a little bit of concealer on a small tapered brush to draw a line directly below your brow line and blend it in well.
  
  Then take an eye shadow or highlighter in a nude shade a bit lighter than your skin tone (if it has a touch of shimmer in it even better) and fill in the area below your arch and tail of your brow to highlight and lift your brows.

• Our best eyebrow makeup picks:
  
  Brow powder styling sets:
  Essence Brow Powder Duo Set with two powder shades and brush.
  Rimmel Brow This Way Brow Sculpting Kit including two powder shades, a double-edged brush and a spoolie.
  Maybelline Express Brow Satin - a 2-in-1 eyebrow pencil to shape brows and a powder makeup sponge to fill and smooth for full natural-looking eyebrows.
  Catrice Brow Powder Set Waterproof with two matte finish shades for flawless brows.
  
  Brow pencils:
  LA Girl Brow Bestie Pencil - a two-in-one triangular tipped pencil and spoolie.
  L'Oréal Le Skinny Brow Artist – an ultra-thin waterproof eyebrow pencil which is perfect for "hair like" strokes and brow precision, with styling brush.
  Maybelline Tattoo Brow Micro Pen with a microthin tip for precision shaping to achieve a natural microbladed look, and longlasting ink for all day wear.
  Palladio Brow Pencil - a pencil and spoolie in one; range includes the universal taupe shade.
  
  Brow filler and gel:
  L'Oréal Unbelieva’Brow Longwear Brow Gel - a 2-in-1 brow tint and gel formula if you love natural, fuller looking brows.
  Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brow Styling Gel, a high pigment tinted brow gel that quickly fills brows for a naturally thicker finish and lasts for up to 36 hours.
  Essence Lash & Brow Gel Mascara - a clear gel to style unruly brows and also condition lashes.
  
  Under brow highlighter: With both a matte and a shimmering tip, Michelle Ori Contouring and Highlighter Pencil creates versatile eye looks with targeted highlighting.
  
  Brushes: Cala Eyelash and Brow Groomer and Foschini All Woman Eyelash & Brow Comb.

Frequently Asked Questions