With most of the country world sheltering in place, we’re having to figure out how to tackle grooming at home. Things like getting a haircut, getting our nails done and taking care of our overgrown eyebrows at the salon aren’t possible right now. But trying to take on these tasks at home is a bit scary. You don’t want to make a mistake and end up looking worse for wear. Well, we can help — at least when it comes to grooming your brows at home.
The Tools of the Trade
Full disclosure: We’re just as nervous as you are about trying to tame our unruly brows. So we decided to turn to the experts. The first tip? Make sure you have the right tools. Anastasia Soare, founder and chief executive of Anastasia Beverly Hills, recommends high-quality scissors and slanted tweezers. And both should be on the thinner side.
“If the tip of the blade is too thick, you run the risk of pulling the hair too high and far away from the skin, potentially breaking the hair and causing unnecessary discomfort,” explains Soare. “As with the tweezers, the blades of your scissors should be incredibly thin. When you brush up your brows and hold the hair in place, the thin blade will let you trim exactly what you need.”
The Best Time to Tackle Your Brows
Audrianna Mora, licensed esthetician and global education manager at RevitaLash Cosmetics, advises waiting until after you step out of a steamy shower. “The warm water softens hairs, making the process a little less painful.” But don’t use a magnifying mirror. “Magnifying mirrors are the gateway drug to overplucking!”
Know Your Type
Back in the 90s, skinny, almost pencil thin brows were in. Now bushy, Cara Delevingne-esque brows are all the rage. But even fuller brows need a little maintenance. “If you have coarse, bushy eyebrows, you want to be careful never to trim them too short. They need the added length to weigh them down,” shares Soare. If your brows are more on the skinny side, she advises not trimming them at all.
When it comes to creating arches, Soare suggests “trimming the top inner part of your eyebrows lower and leaving alone the highest point of the arch through the tail.” If your brow hairs grow downward, fill them in with a brow pencil first, then brush the hairs down before trimming the outliers.
And what about those dreaded brow cowlicks? Fill in your brow, then simply trim what’s left outside that line.
Keep the Plucking and Trimming to a Bare Minimum
Both of our experts recommend the less-is-more approach. Mora advocates trimming your brows every three months or so, depending on your growth cycle. “Use a spoolie brush to brush brows upward and with brow scissors very lightly dust off or trim the excess hair,” she explains. (Feel free to tweeze any strays on a weekly or biweekly basis.)
And your brows don’t have to be perfectly symmetrical. “Remember that eyebrows are sisters and not twins!” says Mora. You can also skip trimming altogether and just use a clear gel, like RevitaLash’s Hi-Def Brow Gel, to keep your brows in check.
Since we’re all staying inside, it’s a great time to let your brows grow out. But that doesn’t mean you should leave them alone. “You can disguise areas of sparseness with a good brow product. I suggest using our Brow Wiz or Dipbrow Pomade to create natural-looking, hair-like strokes,” says Soare.
Don’t Skip the Trip to the Salon or Spa
So now that we know how to maintain our brows at home, we never have to book an appointment with an esthetician again, right? Wrong. “I recommend going back to your trusted esthetician. No one should wax themselves and often it really does take an external eye to get the brow shape that will bring the most balance and harmony to your face,” says Soare.
Mora agrees. “I always think it’s best to leave the real maintenance to the experts. Simple clean up at home is fine between professional services.”
Still feeling nervous? Check out Soare’s easy-to-follow tutorial below.
