Eyebrow Shaping

Bridal Beauty Tips from Debbie Jean Bridal Make‐up Artist

As a bride to be, before you can even consider what make‐up look you are going to wear for your wedding day, you need to pay attention to the shape of your eyebrows.

Scruffy, unkept brows create a masculine look, which most women don’t realise until they have actually shaped their brows and see how elegant their eye area can actually look.

Shaped brows open up your eye area and create an impactful illusion for the eyes – as you can see from the example below.

Where to go for a shaping:

If you have never shaped your eyebrows before, I suggest you visit a beauty salon and have your eyebrows waxed. Plucking your eyebrow hair is even more accurate than waxing, however for first timers it is rather painful to pluck out one hair at a time. Waxing is over quickly and much less painful for most women. By waxing your brows the first time you will be able to maintain the shape by plucking out the unnecessary hairs every few days. First prize would be to have your eyebrows threaded – this is an ancient technique used to twist the eyebrow hair out of the follicles using cotton thread. If there is a salon or individual offering threading in your town or city make use of this service, it is amazingly accurate and I have never seen incorrectly threaded eyebrows. Start shaping your brows at least 3 months before your wedding, this way you can tweak your eyebrow shape to perfection before your big day. The first time you shape will get rid of most of the unwanted hair and there after you can really study your brows and ensure you get rid of all the unnecessary hair.

What is the perfect eyebrow shape?

Firstly don’t be influenced by eyebrow trends, rather stick to a classical shape that looks groomed and flatters your eye area. The above image is a great example of the correct eyebrow shape: Notice how the left brow has only two lines underneath – one long line runs from the beginning of the eyebrow upwards and creates a high point just after the iris of the eye. The second line of the brow runs from this highest point, ending just past the end of the eyes. The eyebrow works gradually from thicker at the beginning to thinner on the end. Once your brows are in shape, compare them to this image as a guide.

Top tips for eyebrows:

• If your eyebrows tend to move out of shape easily purchase an eyebrow gel to use on your wedding day, the gel will provide some hold and stop the hair from moving so easily. Using hair spray on an eyebrow brush works in much the same way as eyebrow gel.
• Shape your eyebrows a day or two before your wedding day, this will save time on the actual day.
• Wedding photos last a life time, ensure your eyebrows are brushed into place before your close up photos begin.
• For those brides shaping their brows for the first time before their wedding – make sure you wax, thread or pluck a good few days in advance, just in case you have a bad reaction (sometimes you can get a little rash because the shaping is an unknown experience to your skin) this gives your skin a few days to calm down and look great on the day of your wedding.

Maintaining the shape:

• Investing in a high quality tweezer is recommended once you start shaping your brows – they last a life time and provide accurate effective tweezering. You will need to maintain the shape for your honeymoon and there after, so the investment is worth it.
• Many stores sell tweezers with a small light attached – these tweezers don’t last forever, they make the perfect accessory for your honeymoon because they work well in dim lit bedrooms and bathrooms.
• If you have a lot of fine blond hairs growing all over the eye area which are difficult to see and pluck out with a tweezer – purchase wax strips, they work well on fine soft hair. By getting rid of all the ‘fluff’ your eye shadow application will look smoother and neater. Powder the area you would like to wax, this will ensure you dry the eye surface and wax all the hairs.
• Curly eyebrow hair can be a pain – cutting the hairs shorter to obtain some order is totally fine. Brush your already shaped brows upwards and snip off the unruly hairs that are outside of the general bulk of the hair.
• If your eyebrow hair is fair have your eyebrows tinted, this way the hairs that are out of place will become more obvious and you can pluck with accuracy. Tinting also defines and enhances the brows, so it’s a worthwhile task.

If you are no used to shaping your brows and find it tedious – give it a month or two, you will be hooked and wonder how you could have left your brows unplucked.

All the best for your big day.

To read more information on applying your bridal make‐up look, visit my make‐up website www.realwomenmakeup.com you will find detailed notes and images on wedding make‐up.

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