How to Do Your Eyebrows

Co-authored by Yuka Arora

Grooming and styling your eyebrows doesn't need to be complicated. Once you know how to shape and fill in your eyebrows, you can easily keep them looking healthy and stylish.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Grooming Your Eyebrows

1
Wash your face regularly. In order to style your eyebrows, you must clean them as part of a normal face-cleansing routine. Before you attempt to pluck or "do" your eyebrows as part of your make-up routine, wash your face. Wet a small towel in warm water and rub it gently on your eyebrows. Don't rub too hard or you will pull out some hair follicles.^{[1]
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American Academy of Dermatology
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2
Find your ideal brow. The inner corner of your brows should be in line with the sides of your nose. You can use a long pencil, your make-up brush, or some other object to measure this.^{[2]
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- Line up the straight edge against the outside of your nostril and inside of your eye. Where the straight edge is, your eyebrow should begin. Mark this location with the brow pencil. Do this on both brows.
- Look straight ahead and line up the straight edge with the outside of your nose and your pupil to determine where your arch should be. Mark this location.
- Line up the straight edge with the outside of your nose and the outer edge of your eye to determine where your brow should end, and mark this spot.
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3
Pick a brow shape based on your face. Some people prefer to pick a shape based on their general face shape, rather than attempting to measure for a mathematical ideal. Depending on the size and shape of your face, you may try any of the following designs:^{[3]
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- Oval: Soft angled eyebrow shape
- Heart: Rounded eyebrow shape
- Long: Flat eyebrow shape
- Round: High arched eyebrow shape
- Square: Angled or curved eyebrow shape
- Diamond: Curved or rounded eyebrow shape
4
Use tweezers to pluck unwanted hairs. Pluck any hairs that you find outside of your ideal brow line. Find the root of the hair with the prongs of the tweezers and pull quickly in the opposite direction of the hair growth to remove the hairs completely.^{[4]
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- Always pluck from the bottom of your brow because if you pluck on top then that will set you up for a lifetime of stray forehead hair.
- Be very careful to avoid over-plucking. You can always pluck a few extra, but if you take it too far you'll look severe and bare up top.
5
Define your arches. Pluck a few of the hairs on the top and/or bottom as you prefer, to reach your desired shape. Brush your entire brows up and pluck any hairs that lie below your brow line. You can pluck your brows to the width you desire, but alternate working on them so they are more even and make sure to step back to see how it looks in the mirror.^{[5]
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6
Maintain your brows by plucking regularly. It's a lot easier to care for your brows if you do this regularly, instead of all at once. Pluck the stray hairs that may grow back and trim your brows regularly to keep them tamed, then brush your hairs along their natural "grain" so they fall comfortably. Regularly brushing brows upwards and outwards can help them grow in that direction.^{[6]
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7
Try waxing your eyebrows periodically. Apply some gentle facial wax below your eyebrow, just coating the stray hairs you are not happy with. Leave the wax for 30 seconds to make it go a bit tacky so it won't run or smudge into other eyebrow hairs you want to keep.^{[7]
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- Carefully apply the wax strip over your eye and leave it for at least 30 seconds to let it set. Pull outwards firmly to remove the hairs and repeat on the other eye.
- Apply warm water to remove any left over wax, then apply cold water and moisturiser to soothe the skin.
8
Try threading. To thread, you will need a thin piece of sewing type thread. Take a long piece and tie the ends together. Wrap it around the index and middle finger, revolve your hands three times so you now have two circles. Manipulate the string using these two fingers and your thumb.^{[8]
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- Hold the string up to your eyebrow, as you make one circle larger and the other smaller, that middle part that is wound will grab hairs that is passes and remove them. Be very careful and practice slowly to get the hang of it.
- It's easy to slide the thread quickly and tear out a lot of hair, and do so in the wrong direction. Use the thread to keep "brushing" the brow while you work, just swiping in an up-and-out direction. Use a moisturizing face wash afterwards to care for your skin.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Styling Your Brows

1
Use make-up to lighten or darken your brows. Keep your eyebrows 1-2 shades lighter than your hair if you have dark hair such as black or brown, and 1-2 shades darker for blonde/ or light hair.
- For colored hair, if you don't want to dye your eyebrows, use either black, or invest in a high quality eyeshadow and pencil combo in your color. Use a pigmented white cream and a spoolie to neutralize your darker hair color. It may take a few coats. Powder with transparent or translucent powder, and then apply your new color.
2
Apply eyeshadow. Eye shadow will make the color of your brows less noticeable, yet if not a good brand can easily wear off. Eye shadow can also help keep your eyebrows looking more natural and less edgy, however.^{[9]
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- Get a small brush preferably an edged brush to fill in your eyebrows. Don't go out of your eyebrow shape, you are just trying to darken it so work on darkening from the thickest part to the thinnest. Definitely work in the color at thinner spots, but not too much.
- If you want to just make your eyebrows become a bit darker, you should use an eye shadow the same color as your eyebrows, and if you can't figure that out go with your natural hair color.
3
Apply eyeliner. Choose an eyeliner one shade darker or the same shade at your roots to achieve this look. Make sure to stay within the shape of your eyebrows and not to draw outside of it.^{[10]
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- If you want an edgy punk type look you can use liner to outline your eyebrows then color it in darkly. Be careful when doing so! If you do that you may appear to have no eyebrows and you just colored it in.
4
Try brow gel to set your brows. Brow gel is the go-to product you're going to need to make eyebrows look more natural and set the makeup in. Some gels come in clear, light blonde, dark blonde or brown. If you don't have any brow gel, you can use petroleum jelly, a clean mascara brush and hairspray or make-up setting spray to "set" your eyebrows in place.
- Just dip a Q-Tip into the gel or Vaseline and gently smooth it onto your brows, giving a slightly glossy look. This helps to keep the color on your brows longer.
5
Remove the make-up at the end of the day. Make sure to remove all the makeup from your eyebrows, as the skin underneath can become flakey and irritated if left with caked on products. Also, when you moisturize don't skip around the eyebrows, lightly apply some of your moisturizer in the eyebrow area to keep the skin underneath happy.
6
Finished.

Expert Q&A

Question

How do you color your eyebrows with a pencil?

Yuka Arora
Makeup Artist
Yuka Arora is a self-taught makeup artist who specializes in abstract eye art. She has been experimenting with makeup art for over 5 years, and has amassed over 5.6K Instagram followers in just 5 months. Her colorful and abstract looks have been noticed by Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Kat Von D Beauty, Sephora Collection, among others.

Yuka Arora

Makeup Artist

Expert Answer

To do my eyebrows, I do a little bit of pencil, but I prefer a fat pencil because I think the thin ones can look harsh. With a fat pencil, you can just really gently shade the brow. If you have almost no brow, though, a thin pencil is great because you can create hair-like strokes, and it will look more defined.
Question

How can I persuade my mom to pluck my eyebrows?

Community Answer

Just say you feel uncomfortable with your eyebrow shape and you want to change them slightly. Keep your cool! Ask her for her help and tell her you trust her with shaping your brows.
Question

How to I shape eyebrows that have never been done before?

I Read Books About Animals

Top Answerer

Even if this is your first time doing your eyebrows, simply follow the steps in this article. If you're nervous, ask your mom or older sister to show you how. After your first time, you should trim your brows regularly.