Basics: Perfect Brows Tutorial

2:15 PM

Happy Sunday everybody! As we all prepare our homes for annual Spring cleaning, the requests for cleaning up brows has been high on my list as well! I think it's only appropriate as the appeal for a fresh-faced look is more and more alluring as the weather warms up.


So how do you get those perfect brows? Here's my tutorial:



Products mentioned:
Sephora angled eyeliner brush
Lioele Automatic Eyebrow pencil
The Body Shop brow brush/comb
Slanted tweezers (I don't use a specific brand but Tweezerman is excellent)
Cuticle scissors
Anastasia Brows in Bloom palette in Brunette
(discontinued packaging but this is the same thing, or just powder duo here)

As I mentioned near the beginning of the video, the perfect brows depends on the shape of your own face. The key is to look at proportions as show in this example (image credit Anastasia):


What is the Golden Ratio? If you want the full-on mathematical explanation you can see the Wikipedia here, but basically it has been used in both art and nature as an aesthetically pleasing proportion.

And here is some sweet gif action of the golden ratio for brows on my face:


1. The beginning of the brows goes from a straight line from the side of your nose
2. The arch should be from the tip of your nose through your pupil
3. The end is a line from your outer nose through the outer eye corner

Generally, following these key points will help to guide a basic shape into your brows, especially if you have vaguely shaped brows as I do.

If you are just starting out on your brow journey, an easy first step is to simply clean up the stray hairs under your natural brow shape only. I especially recommend this if you are in high school or younger because over-plucking can be the worst at this stage in life, in my opinion! I am a strong believer that one's natural brow shape is usually almost always the most flattering and just plucking beneath the brows can brighten the face but also help to retain this youthful look. This brings me to my next list.

Here are some really, really important tips for brows:

1. Don't Overpluck! Nobody likes sperm-brows, nobody! (Okay, probably untrue but nobody should.)
2. Pluck both brows, back and forth, at the same time and check the whole face as you go.
3. Don't fill in brows too dark because it will look harsh on your face. Dark-haired ladies can go 1 to 2 shades lighter than their hair color and blondes should go 1 to 2 shades darker.

I hope this video tutorial was helpful and, as I said in my video, this is not necessarily how everyone everywhere should do their brows but this is a system that I believe in and has worked for creating clean, natural-looking brows that are flattering and compliment the eyes.

Let me know if it worked for you, or if you have any extra brow tips to share in the comments!

Also, for time travel super fun check out my older blog post on how to shape brows.

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40 comments

  1. hamstaballMay 22, 2011 at 2:26 PM

    hahahah love the gif action, though at first I was hoping you would be making a gif of you wiggling some sexy eyebrows XD

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  2. bubblelove304May 22, 2011 at 2:30 PM

    This is so helpful. Thanx for sharing.

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  3. AnonymousMay 22, 2011 at 2:45 PM

    You have such nice eyebrows! (: I already have sparse eyebrows to begin with & they never really had an arch.

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  4. UnknownMay 22, 2011 at 3:17 PM

    This is super helpful! Thank you. I love how you actually let your brows grow and showed the difference of ungroomed and groomed eye brows :D

    http://yamismakeup.blogspot.com/

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  5. michelleMay 22, 2011 at 4:50 PM

    damn that's some sweet gif

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  6. KatinaMay 22, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    Hi Jen

    Thanks for this!!!!

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  7. Kisti BelleMay 22, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    This is a really great post! it's good to go back and remember the rules!
    Thanks! :)

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  8. AnonymousMay 22, 2011 at 6:23 PM

    They look perfect! I loved the line guides you put in the gif.

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  9. LilyMay 22, 2011 at 6:55 PM

    Hey that's how I do mine!! But I have really sparse brows :( Also, what do you think of Anastasia's brow stencils? I'm tempted to try them...

    xoxo
    Lily
    chloeash.bloodspot.com

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  10. theonlytennyoMay 22, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    Hi! AFter using the eyelid tape for a while, do you stop needing to use it? or are you still using double eyelid tape in your videos?

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  11. UnknownMay 22, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    ah yay! haha, I've been waiting for this ;)
    muchas gracias !! <3

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  12. JeanMay 22, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    Thanks for growing your brows out shaggy for us : P This was very helpful. My brow hairs are LONG and I need to go do the cuticle scissor trim now. I actually found brow razors at Sasa that work ok but I am eager to try the method you showed with the brushing down and then trimming.

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  13. TiffanyMay 22, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    Thank you for this post! Brows can make or break a face, they're so important :)

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  14. GeorginaMay 22, 2011 at 8:42 PM

    thanks for sharing your method of cleaning up the brows Jen! you look great as always! :)

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  15. LouiseMay 22, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    Thank you for the awesome tutorial and tips! This was extremely helpful and informative!

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  16. LizzieMay 22, 2011 at 11:01 PM

    Thanks for sharing!!! My mother says that filling the brows will gradually make it fall out more. She say she heard it from old people, have you heard of this myth?

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  17. SheNailedMeMay 23, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    Perfect! Best explanation ever! I can finally get my brows to look normal!

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  18. YumikoMay 23, 2011 at 1:05 AM

    thanks for sharing jen. it's very easy to follow. your tutorials are always so great!

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  19. JeanneMay 23, 2011 at 3:55 AM

    Hi Jen,i LOVE You!Just subscribed as I found all your vids and tutorials really really helpful and well explained..You solved lots of my problems :-)) Keep up the great work..You are FAB!

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  20. AnonymousMay 23, 2011 at 4:57 AM

    thanks for the tutorial!! it's super duper helpful =3 I'm gonna follow your method over the weekend and fix up my untamed brows. haha

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  21. denise ❤May 23, 2011 at 6:00 AM

    fantastic tutorial, I really enjoyed the video!!! Very helpful and clear, thank you!!!! I also love your eyebrow shape and how you keep them nice and full, but with an arch, I like mine like that, too! ^_^ They look beautiful and natural and that's really something. Thank you!! :3 Your tutorial will come in handy next time I pluck. :))))

    Hugs from Greece!

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  22. UnknownMay 23, 2011 at 8:35 AM

    I love this post! So helpful! I got my eyebrows professionally done for our wedding and it changed my life! LOL the upkeep is quite difficult but no more horrible arches like before!

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  23. vellMay 23, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    hi jen, can do a tutorial on bare mineral makeup?

    thanks :D

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  24. JenMay 23, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    Lily: I haven't personally used the eyebrow stencils before, but it may be quite helpful for those who really can't get a good grasp on the right arch shape for them.

    theonlytennyo: I haven't used tapes for a little over a year now, but false eyelashes tend to give me a crease.

    Lizzie: I haven't heard of that before!

    vell: I haven't tried Bare Minerals specifically, but I do have a tutorial for applying mineral foundation in general. :) http://www.frmheadtotoe.com/2008/04/mineral-makeup-basic-foundation.html

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  25. ChristineMay 23, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    This is such a helpful post, love it :)

    Love Christine ♥
    http://christineiversen.blogspot.com/

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  26. UnknownMay 23, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    Hi Jen!
    I`m from Brazil! And I love your blog!It`s the best! I wish to have your skills! lol!!...Congratulations!

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  27. SilvyMay 23, 2011 at 3:32 PM

    Thank you! It is really helpul :)

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  28. CharleneMay 24, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    The cleaning and shaping was really helpful since I've had an awful time trying to do mine. I normally rely on my sister to do it. But the problem now is coloring. There's a lot of talk with brunettes/ebony and blondes but it's very hard for red heads. Granted my hair has gotten a little dark as I've gotten older but sometimes it's still hard to find the right shade. Right now I'm using the Lancome eyebrow liner in Mahogany. That's just as close as I can get :(

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  29. mrs.myungMay 25, 2011 at 12:19 AM

    thank you!
    I love your make up today!!
    very natural and light.. :)
    I think this one is my favorite!!!
    would you be doing tutorial for today's make up?
    I'm a mom with a young kid, and i stoped wearing makeups, because it is almost impossible to do them with a youngster..
    Can you do a tutorial for someone like me? Mom-on-the-go?

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  30. maryMay 25, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    Hi, what lioele eyebrow pencil color did you use? the dark brown or the gray black? thanks.

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  31. TubbyMay 25, 2011 at 1:50 PM

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you for this and all your other tutorials. I really appreciate them esp. being asian also. Your techniques are really excellent!

    You've mentioned using Darkness eyelash glue in the past. I love, love using the glue but I have a really hard time cleaning my false eyelash after removing it from my eyelid. Do you have any tips on how to remove the glue from the fake lash? Removing the lash from my skin is not a problem.

    Thank you also for your Heart 2 Heart video. It takes a lot of courage to do it and being a lifelong sufferer of hormonal acne, I know how brutal it can be. I tried a bunch of stuff but in the past few years, I've had success visiting Face Reality Acne Clinic in San Leandro, CA. They do long distance consultations. If you are curious, do check out the Yelp reviews and their website. Honestly, my skin has never been better.

    Cheers.

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  32. Beige RenegadeMay 25, 2011 at 3:37 PM

    Thank you so much for this! I really need it >.< I always get my brows waxed because I do a bad job!!

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  33. cream puffMay 26, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Jen, thank you so much for this brow tutorial!! I find it very helpful! Beauty blogs usually don't focus on brow shaping. Most of the time they only mention which brow pencil they are using - that's it. lol. But hey, wasn't it a hard time not to pluck your eyebrows every time you look at the mirror? XDDDD

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  34. Elisa ♥May 30, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    This was so useful, thank you jen !

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  35. AnonymousJune 4, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Nice! Thank you for the great visuals. I have some hairs on the inner corner that always grow in the opposite direction of my other hairs that I always have some trouble with. I wish I could make them grow the other way!!

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  36. ♥ JSeptember 12, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    ♔ this is a very helpful tutorial, thanks for sharing ^-^ ♔

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  37. AnonymousJanuary 11, 2012 at 7:20 AM

    Hi! I'm a newbie and am loving this blog for tips and reviews. I'm also Korean American and my eyebrows are incredibly similar to yours (2 directions, super long, not much of a shape in my case) so whenever I read the magazines, I thought I'd never be able to find any resemblance of an arch on my own face. Thank you so much for this - I'm anxious to get started. (and yes, at 26, that's late to get started.. seriously had no idea what to do and was scared haha)

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  38. AnonymousOctober 30, 2012 at 11:30 PM

    Nice to know about eyebrows..Nice blog...

    Beauty Bar

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  39. GermaineApril 2, 2013 at 12:05 AM

    hi jen, would you have a tutorial on how to get your entire look in the golden ratio gif?

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  40. SJ Valdez | All-Around Pinay MamaAugust 7, 2013 at 7:34 PM

    I love your tutorial, Miss Jen! I shared it in my blog... http://allaroundpinaymama.blogspot.com/2013/02/easy-to-follow-videos-on-how-to-create.html

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