If the eyes are the window to the soul, then our eyebrows are definitely the frame to our personal portrait.
I cannot stress highly enough how important your eyebrows are to your overall look.
Brow fashions come and go, from the ultra thin, pencilled-in brows of the 1930s through to the Instagrammed drama of Kylie Jenner’s and the full and feathery set belonging to Cara Delevingne.
Personally, I like to take the middle ground, keeping my brows reasonably full with a defined but not exaggerated arch.
There are basically only two steps in my brow routine – shape and tint, followed by gel or pencil. Every month or so, I get my brows professionally shaped and tinted, maintaining in between with very careful tweezing.
Scary with no makeup whatsoever, but the benefits of shaping and tinting speak for themselves. Even with no makeup, the brows still frame the face nicely. Image via Chic Mummy.
Most of the time, I make the drive into the city so I can go to the Benefit Brow Bar to have them done. I have tried and tried plenty of other places, but for me, the girls at Benefit always do the best job.
There are plenty of tutorials online if you prefer to shape them yourself; Into The Gloss also offers some insight on how to fill in brows. My only tip is to be ultra conservative when shaping by yourself. It is easy to pluck hair out; from personal experience, it is a much more painful and time consuming process to grow them back in.
Once my brows are in tip-top shape, I use two different products depending on the look I am after.
For everyday wear, I prefer a natural, feathery look, but still with some definition. (Post continues after gallery.)
The best celebrity eyebrows for your browsing pleasure.
To achieve this, I love the Eyeko Brow Gel. The gel is lightly tinted, and while it goes on glossy, it dries down to a perfectly natural (but better) finish with good hold and absolutely no flakiness over the course of the day.
It has a wonderful brush that makes it really easy to apply to all the hairs and is small enough for the tail end of the eyebrow. I brush through starting at the nose end, brushing upwards in small, light strokes, before gliding through to the ends.
Eyeko Brow Gel, $34. Image via Mecca.
Remember to always remove excess product on the brush before starting.
Eyebrows with Eyeko Brow Gel brushed through adding definition and volume to my brows. Image via Chic Mummy.
For a more polished look, I always reach for a pencil, and in my opinion, you just can't go past Hourglass' Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil.
Available in an eye-boggling nine shades, you will have absolutely no issue finding the right shade for you.
I use Soft Brunette, a cooler-toned dark brown which while defining my brows beautifully does not come across as fake or over the top. The reason I love this pencil so much (apart from the perfect colour) is that it is so ridiculously easy to use.
Hourglass arch brow sculpting pencil, $49. Image via Mecca.
By combining pencil, powder and wax in one product, the triangular shape of the pencil tip makes filling in and defining my eyebrows a job completed in just seconds.
I use the pencil tip horizontally to line across the top and bottom of the brow (defining the shape), followed by the side of the pencil tip to fill in the bulk of the brow. Remember to go easier on the inner third of the brow, and heavier towards the tail end. I also don't line the inner centimeter or so on top.
I then use the "point" of the triangle to shape the tail and finally, brush through with the attached spoolie to blend and soften.
Defined and polished with the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil. Image via Chic Mummy.
So there you have my two-step eyebrow routine.
What products do you use to ensure that your eyebrow game is always strong?
Sarah Vitsas lives in sunny Australia with her hard working husband and two beautiful children. Refusing to give up living in style when her children came along, Sarah created Chic Mummy.
This post was previously published on Chic Mummy and has been republished here with full permission.