How to Brow

My friend, Katie, recently graduated as an esthetician and got a sweet job as an Ulta Prestige Beauty Advisor and Benefit Arch Expert. Since she's officially an expert on brows (wow), she gave me the lowdown on how to maintain awesome arches.

So, here's how to brow:

You start by painting a weird tribal mask above your eyebrows. This is important to get into the mood, so you'll have the whole Amazon woman thing going for you. (Just kidding.)

Katie suggests making these lines to guide your brows, which is a great idea for anyone who may not have a super well-defined natural arch. She uses a white pencil to guide where the lines should go, so it's easier to wipe off when she's finished. (Smart girl.) First, she holds a pencil straight up and down from the side of her nose, and draws the line where the pencil would hit. This guides where the brow should begin. For the second line, she holds the pencil from the side of her nose, and continues as if it would make a line through her pupil—it is approximately a 45-degree angle. She draws this line to see where the arch should go. Then, she holds the pencil again from the side of her nose and ends at the corner of her eyelid. That is where she draws the last line, and where her brow stops!

After the lines are drawn, Katie tweezes what's outside her guide. She recommends that you alternate between brows as you pluck, so that you don't over-tweeze one brow, and then have to play "catch up" with the other. Also remember, "eyebrows are sisters; not twins." It is more important that you follow your natural arch line than pluck each brow to look exactly like the other. Trade secret: It hurts less if you tweeze close to the root and in the direction of hair growth. Another trade secret: It also helps to have a cute cat to hang out with you.

Katie draws a sharp, straight line from the beginning of her brows and continues it until she reaches the highest point of her arch. She stops drawing the line at this point, and she uses a small brush to blend the liner both at the front and into the ends of the brow. Katie has learned that this looks most natural because eyebrows tend to grow in softer closer to the nose and darken a little as they complete the arch. Interesting, huh?

Katie uses a variety of brow products (I didn't even know brow products were a thing.. Look at how much I'm learning!), but she says the necessities are a good pair of sharp tweezers (for obvious reasons), and either a pencil or a powder to fill in your sparse spots.
Products from left to right: Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Caramel, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (to make the white guides around her brows), tweezers, Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter (to make corrections), e.l.f. Small Angled Brow Brush, MAC Cosmetics Eyebrow Pencil in Spiked (this is what she used in this post), e.l.f. Clear Brow Gel, and Naked 3.

Like you probably noticed earlier, Katie uses a pencil to fill in her brows instead of a shadow. Either is fine to use, but it is usually easier to get a well-defined brow with a pencil since a pencil makes sharper lines and is easier to control than a shadow. You don't need a fancy-schmancy "made-specially-for-brows" pencil, either; an eyeliner is just fine! Katie finishes her brows by covering up any color that made it outside the lines.

Picking the right color to fill in your brows is mega important. Best-case scenario, you'll find one that matches your hair color perfectly. But if this isn't the case, use this as a guide: Ladies with dark hair tend to look best with eyebrows a little lighter than their hair color, and blondes tend to look the best with brows just a tad darker. Katie recommends that you pick a brow color within two shades of your hair color. She also said one of the biggest "no-no's" is choosing a brow shade that is too red. So, when in doubt, choose a color that is a little more ashy than red-hot.

Ain't she just the prettiest?? I'll take beauty advice from this girl any day! If you want to see more of her makeup looks, you can check her out on Instagram @katielitter. Happy brow-ing!