Sisters Not Twins

It’s no secret that the key to beauty in 2017 starts with a pair of killer brows. We know they have the power transform our entire face-- but that only adds to the immense pressure to get them right.

For me, it all started with what the experts call “Brow Rehab” in which I was told not to touch my eyebrows for 6 months! It turns out I had been over-plucking and over-waxing for years. After I got my brows back I was comfortable in my new role as Eyebrow Snob, and solicited advice left and right to just about anyone I felt wasn’t reaching their brow-potential. I’m lucky in that I have thick brows with a great natural shape (this wasn’t ideal in the early ‘00s, hence my generous plucking/waxing), but don’t get me wrong-- I still get eyebrow anxiety.

Just discerning between the different kinds of tools—no less figuring out what you're supposed to be using—is extremely overwhelming. We've got pencils, markers, powders, gels, tinted gels, pomades, waxes, brushes, combs, scissors… and like we mentioned earlier, this is officially the most important part of our face, so we better not screw this up.

Let’s decode them once and for all, shall we? Our go-to brand for all things brows is BH Cosmetics, in all of their infinite wisdom:

Pencil

What to use it for

Filling and refining. Few options on the brow market offer the precision of a pencil, no matter what kind of arches you have naturally. We love love love the Flawless Brow Pencil (designed to achieve full, natural brows) and the Studio Pro HD Brow Pencil (the ultra-fine precision tip lets you truly define those arches and fill in gaps). Both dual-ended pencils feature a spooley brush for blending perfectly flawless brows. No brow is complete without a highlighter, and the Flawless Brow Highlighter features both a matte and shimmer brow highlighter that’ll have you glowing.

How to do it

Use very light strokes that mimic your own brow hairs. Be patient and take the time to layer the strokes if you'd like to go darker-- but beware of going too crazy. Comb through the brow after you’ve applied the pencil, in order to distribute color evenly.

Powder

What to use it for

Filling in light or sparse brows. Eyebrows appear fuller, more dense & defined with a little help from our favorite palettes from BH Cosmetics.

How to do it

It’s important to have the right color and the right brush. Sweep powder across your arches, layering and refining with the brush until you’ve reached the perfect shape/color. Don’t be scared! Powder is arguably the easiest brow product to use because you can control the applied and clean up more easily if you make a mistake.

Gel/Pomade

What to use it for

Holding and defining hairs. Tame and lock hairs into place for a simple groomed look. We also like to use brow gel as the final step after swiping on some of the products mentioned above. Pomades are slightly different than gels in that they don’t lock hairs in quite as firmly as gel but it does offer some help!

How to do it

Comb your existing eyebrow hairs into the shape of your choice. We advise you brush the fronts of the brows up and the tails of the arches up and out for the best natural-looking shape.