The Brow Rulebook

Brows-ing through our Insta feed, one thing we notice is how crisp and clean some of your brows are! We see you rocking that Green Tea Fiber Brow to get a full brow look, inspired by celebs like Emilia Clarke or Beyonce. We fall head over heels for feathered, defined and fluffy brows, but we have to admit – not all brows are made equal. If we’re being real, sometimes our own brows aren’t exactly perfect, and that’s okay! There are still cardinal brow rules that all beauty lovers should follow. Check out our brow rulebook of do’s and don’ts below!

Brow DON’Ts

Let’s start off with the don’ts, since it’s really easy to mess up brows, and really hard to repair them. These tips will be especially key for anyone with naturally sparse brows, uneven brows, or those looking for tips on a better brow makeup application.

First things first – do NOT use a magnifying mirror when plucking. On the surface, this rule might sound a bit confusing. Why wouldn’t we want the most magnified view possible to get the sharpest, most stylish looking brows? But think about how close you have to be to a mirror to see every little hair in the brow. Being that close usually prevents us from seeing our face clearly, and we lose our sense of scale. The close proximity can cause us to inadvertently over-pluck, change the shape of our brows, or pluck our brows into being very uneven. Avoid getting too close to the mirror or using a very magnified mirror. Instead use a mirror about the size of your face or a bit bigger. If you need to go in and do detail work with a magnifying mirror, first identify the wild hair, ensuring that plucking it won’t cause the brows to be uneven. Then you can get up close and yank as needed.

The second rule, and this should be a given, but is don’t shave your brows. Unlike body hair that tends to grow back on a regular schedule no matter when it was removed, brow hair has a way of doing a disappearing act once a razor gets involved. Put the razor down and step back from the mirror – no brows were harmed in the making of this blog post. You will have to decide when, how, and if a razor ever comes near your face. But when it comes to brow grooming, practices like threading, waxing, and plucking are a bit more forgiving.

Our final brow beauty faux pas is to avoid over-shaping your brows. This has to do with how well eyebrows look with makeup on them. We’re looking for a refined, not heavy-handed technique. One red flag that gives away a drawn-on brow is having a very bold, square, or underlined inner portion. Using a fine tool combo like our brow brush and gel allows us to control the amount of definition, and gradually build up the look for a seamless transition between eyebrows.

Brow DO’s

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, our brow recommendations are relatively simple. Do maintain great brow care. This means making sure makeup is thoroughly removed every night, and properly moisturizing your brows before bed and/or each morning. You can look for a product that works for your hair and skin types, but a dab of coconut oil on each brow before bed is a great way to start. It can help keep brows tame, thick, and even enhance growth in that area depending on how often the oil is used.

Our next recommendation is to take care in how you shape your brows. Determining the fullness and length as well as brow shape is actually easiest when all the brow hairs are brushed upward and outward (in the direction of the temples and hairline). While brows are in this position, it is easy to see where some hairs might be too long and it is very easy to identify what areas need the most product for filling in.

The last and truly important tip for Instagram worthy brows is to brush brow product through the brows after applying. A classic rookie mistake would be to apply brow gel via the wand in the tube and then think the brows are complete. Going in with a clean spoolie wand removes product clumps, evenly coats the brow strands, and ensures the shape and direction are just right. We find it helpful to do this both before and after any under-brow cleaning you do with a concealer. Do it before because it helps to define the brow shape we just created, and after because it helps to soften the boldness of the concealer for an enhanced but still natural final result.

Going through this list, are you currently following more do’s or don’ts, and what products would totally elevate your brow game?