How to Pluck and Shape Your Eyebrows

In junior high school, I all but plucked my eyebrows into thin barely there lines. I'd like to think it was all the rage in 1993, but the truth is, not a single one of us knew what we were doing.
Sadly, by the time I recognized the severity of my barely there brows, the damage had been done. Try as I have over the years, I was never able to grow them back. For the last 10 years, I’ve worn thick, blunt bangs that I trim to eyebrow length every two weeks, but occasionally (especially in the summer) wear my
hair out of my face, brows exposed.

Over the years, I’ve picked up some tips from pros and peers for making the best of mediocre brows. They are as follows:

Use a Brow BrushCheck your local drugstore for a brow brush and use it daily before applying an eyebrow pencil or plucking errant hairs.

Eyeshadow Is Your Friend 


I use an eyeliner brush and a natural shade of brown eyeshadow that matches my hair. I was a blonde for 20 years before my hair darkened. My brows, unfortunately, stayed blonde. Adding a spot of color not only defines my eyebrows' shape, it gives them an existence.
Caution: there is nothing freakier than a too-dark-brow. Experiment with different shades to see which works for you.

For those who prefer pencil to shadow for brows, a great pencil, like Covergirl Queen Collection Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner & Brow Pencils, can work the same wonders.

Invest in a Great Pair of TweezersThe difference between a great pair of tweezers, like CoverGirl’s Enamel Slant Tip Tweezers, and terrible tweezers can be as little as $10. Do your brows a favor and spend the extra cash. Cheap tweezers = disasterville.

Shape Your BrowsStencils actually exist to aid your plucking, which would have been really nice to know in eighth grade. I know some women who swear by them. I, for one, have never met a stencil I trusted. Instead, I follow my brow-line, pluck errant hairs above, below and between my brows, but never interfere with my shape. I leave that part to the professionals.

Bring in a ProI’ve done everything from waxing to threading to hiring someone to tweeze my brows for me. Waxing is the least painful, but in my experience the most, uh, rashy. I have never met a wax I didn’t hate, and I much prefer errant-haired misshapen brows to four to six weeks of itchy red bumps above my brows.

Threading is far and away the most painful method of brow hair removal. I have never not cried whilst getting my brows threaded, but it almost makes it worth it when presented with the mirror and seeing how gorgeous (and non-bumpy) your brows can be.