How to Get a Perfect Arch for Your Eyebrows

Waxing and tweezing are the most common ways of shaping your eyebrows at home. Threading is common as well, but it is difficult to do at home, so it is best to see a professional to have your eyebrows threaded. While waxing is less painful, it is often difficult to do at home. Tweezing gives you more control, as you pluck just one hair at a time. For many people, the most challenging aspect of shaping their eyebrows is getting the correct shape.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing to Pluck Your Eyebrows

1
Make sure you have the right equipment. You will need several tools to shape your eyebrows correctly.^{[1]XResearch source}
- You will need sharp tweezers. One of the mistakes many people make when tweezing is they use old, dull tweezers. Replace your tweezers if yours are getting dull on the ends.
- Find a magnification mirror. This will help you see smaller, lighter hairs that are harder to spot using a conventional mirror.
- Get an eyebrow pencil. You will need this to reference and mark where your brows will begin and end, as well as where the highest point in your eyebrow arch goes.
- You will also need an eyebrow brush and trimming scissors.
2
Clean your tweezers. You should never perform any type of brow shaping without a clean tool.^{[2]XResearch source}
- Consider getting a case for them if they get dirty in your makeup case or medicine cabinet.
- If your tweezers are dirty and caked with makeup from your makeup case, wash them with warm water first.
- You can sterilize tweezers with rubbing alcohol.
- Let them dry before you use them.
3
Brush your brows with the eyebrow brush. Trim the ends of your hairs with the eyebrow trimming scissors.^{[3]XResearch source}
- Start by brushing your brows upward.
- Then use the brow scissors to trim just the ends of the longest hairs. Angle your scissors horizontally and trim the tips of the hairs along the edges of the eyebrow.
- Trimming the hair will reveal your brow shape and remove weight and bulk so you can see better when you are shaping your brows.
- Brush your eyebrow hair back downward before you start shaping.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Marking Shaping Points for Your Eyebrows

1
Determine your face shape. This will help you decide what shape for your eyebrows will be best.^{[4]XResearch source}
- If you have a square face, the sides of your face are straight and your jawline is slightly angled with a minimal curve. Your face is nearly as wide as it is long.
- If you have a round face, your face will be wider with soft angles. The sides of your face will curve outwards rather than be straight. Your chin will be rounded and your cheekbones will be the widest part of your face.
- People whose faces are longer than they are wide have a long face shape. The forehead, cheek and jawline are roughly the same width and the chin has a very slight curve.
- If your chin is pointed and your forehead is the widest part of your face then you have a heart shaped face.
- People with oval faces will have a forehead that is only a tiny bit wider than their curved chin.
2
Decide what shape your brows should be based on your face shape. Most people would not think to do this, but your face shape should determine what general shape your brows should take.^{[5]XResearch source}
- If you have a square, angular face shape, you should opt for thick, well defined eyebrows. Cosmetologists recommend going to a bolder look if you have a face that is more or less square shaped, since your face is already so well defined. It wouldn't look natural to contrast this with a thinner eyebrow.
- For those with longer faces, beauty experts suggest a flatter, thinner eyebrow. This will help to open up your face in a sideways direction.
- If you have a heart shaped face, you should opt for a softer rounded arch. This will help to balance out a sharper, pointed chin.
- For those with oval faces, this face type will look good with most brow shapes. This will depend more on your personal preference.
3
Determine where your brows should begin. You can use an eyebrow pencil to help you find this landmark.^{[6]XResearch source}
- Most people dread having a uni-brow, but a common mistake when shaping eyebrows is taking off too much from the middle of the face.^{[7]XResearch source}
- Most people use the nostril of their nose as a landmark for where their eyebrows should begin, but beauty experts suggest the side of the bridge of the nose is actually the correct reference point.
- To find the place where your brows should start, hold your eyebrow pencil vertically right besides the outer side of your nostrils (the "ala"), parallel to the side of the bridge of your nose.
- Mark this landmark on your eyebrow with your eye pencil.
4
Find where your brows should end on the side of your face. Another mistake many people make is trimming the sides of the brows too short.^{[8]XResearch source}
- Angle your eye pencil from your nostril to the far corner of your eye.
- This point is where your eyebrow should end.
- Mark this point on your face with your eye pencil.
5
Locate where the highest point of your eyebrow arch should be. This should be slightly right of the center of your eyebrow.^{[9]XResearch source}
- Remember, if you have a rounder face, you will want the arch to be high.
- Those with a longer face should opt for a flatter eyebrow with a less defined arch.
- Hold your eye pencil vertically. Line it up with the far side of your iris.
- This area just to the side of center will be where the highest point of the arch should be.
- Mark this area with your eye pencil.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Shaping Your Eyebrows

1
Look in the magnification mirror. You will be able to see all the hairs that need to be plucked.^{[10]XResearch source}
- At this point you can also use your eyebrow pencil to lightly color in the exact shape of your eyebrows. It might be difficult to do this over your eyebrow hair, but even a thin outline of the ideal shape of your eyebrow can help.
- Any hairs outside of this shape will need to be plucked.
- Make sure your aren't making your eyebrows too thin. One of the mistakes most people make is removing too much hair from the top and bottom of their eyebrows.
- A good rule is to only remove 2-3 rows of hairs from above and below the eyebrow.
2
Start by plucking the hairs in between your eyes. This will clean up the beginning of your eyebrows.
- Position the tip of the tweezers at the base of each hair and pull it out from the base.
- Don't pluck past the landmark point you marked or your eyebrows will look too short.
- Look in the mirror to make sure you haven't missed any stray hairs before moving on to the next area.
3
Make the arch of your eyebrow. Make sure you are angling the shape of your brows up towards your arch landmark.^{[11]XResearch source}
- Remove one or two rows of hairs. As you remove your hair you might have to remove more hair as you angle up towards your arch landmark.
- As you remove hair at the apex of the arch of your brow, be careful not to make your eyebrows have a very angular and sharply angled arch.
- Once you reach your arch landmark you should start angling the shape of your eyebrows downwards towards the far corner of your eye.
- The ends of your eyebrows should end in a fine taper.
- Try not to shape the arch of your eyebrow as a sharp angle. A smoothly curved brow will look more natural.
4
Examine the shape of your eyebrows. You want to make sure that they look smooth and natural.^{[12]XResearch source}
- The thickest part of the eyebrow should be at the middle of your face by your nose.
- The brow should then gradually taper to a point at the end by the far corner of your eye.
- At the arch, you should not have a sharp angled shape, but rather a smoothly curved transition. Your eyebrows should look natural.
5
Make sure that your brows look even. You don't want one to look thicker or higher than the other.^{[13]XResearch source}
- Remove any missed hairs. By looking in your magnification mirror, you will be able to see where there are inconsistencies between your two eyebrows.
- If you accidentally remove part of your brow or thin it too much, use a brow pencil to fill the missing hair.
- Remember, dark brown pencil is best even for those with darker complexions as it will look more natural than a black pencil.
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How do I determine my eyebrow shape?
Shara Strand
Makeup Artist
Shara Strand is a Makeup Artist and the Founder of Shara Makeup Studio, a makeup and image consulting studio based in New York City. She has over 15 years of image and makeup consulting experience including working as a regional artist for Bare Escentuals and Estee Lauder, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales, and Bergdorf Goodman. Her work has been featured in WNBC, Fox 5, Direct TV ABC morning news, and Hamptons Magazine. She is the creator of Shara Cosmetics and is a two time Billboard charted singer. She holds a BFA from New York University.
Shara Strand
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How do I find my perfect eyebrow shape?
Shara Strand
Makeup Artist
Shara Strand is a Makeup Artist and the Founder of Shara Makeup Studio, a makeup and image consulting studio based in New York City. She has over 15 years of image and makeup consulting experience including working as a regional artist for Bare Escentuals and Estee Lauder, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales, and Bergdorf Goodman. Her work has been featured in WNBC, Fox 5, Direct TV ABC morning news, and Hamptons Magazine. She is the creator of Shara Cosmetics and is a two time Billboard charted singer. She holds a BFA from New York University.
Shara Strand
Makeup Artist
Expert Answer
If you have a rounder face, cosmetologists recommend a higher arched brow shape. A higher arch will open up the eye area and make your face look longer.
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Try to do your brows monthly to maintain your arch.^{[14]XExpert SourceShara Strand
Makeup ArtistExpert Interview. 14 April 2020.}
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If you remove too much hair you can fill in the area with an eyebrow pencil until the hair grows back.
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Avoid using too high of an arch in your eyebrows or they will not look natural.
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