Image: 123rf.com
Ready to ramp up your brow game? Contouring can sculpt your eyebrows to give you the beautiful brows of your dreams, all in five minutes or less to boot.
Our guiding principle: Bringing balance and proportion to your face is of the essence for any “look” you’re gunning for, trendy or no.
Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Brow, $40
The only swag you’ll need on hand are an angled brush – I’m partial to Mac Cosmetics’ cult fave in 266, $38 – and a multi-shade powder palette as per Dior’s delightful Diorshow All-in-Brow 3D, $102, or Mac Cosmetics’ Brow Duo, $41. You can even opt for a dual-ended pencil like Make Up For Ever’s Pro Sculpting Brow, $40, which also comes complete with a nifty nylon fibre brush at one end for tidying up stray strands. In any case, always choose powder products as I find them to be more convincing in simulating the look of real hairs as opposed to messier cream concoctions.
Mac Cosmetics Brow Duo, $41
Step 1. What you do is to fill in the darker hue starting from the centre of your brow, using fleeting flicks to feather it outwards for depth and dimension. The stronger shades from the Mac Cosmetics and Make Up For Ever palettes are superb for building body where you need it most, so apply with a stronger hand at the inner corners and gently peter it out to the ends. Never draw a thick broad band across the entire brow, as this can come off as severe and strangely stilted.
Dior Diorshow All-in-Brow 3D, $102
Step 2. Laid down your base? Good. Now switch to the lighter hue in your palette and use short, swift strokes to etch in the inner and outer contours of your brow, where the “baby” hairs are softer and more faint.
Buff and blend this lighter hue into the darker body of the brow so there’s no discernable demarcation between the two. Finish with a smidgen of sealing shine-boosting wax from Dior’s Diorshow All-In-One Brow 3D palette to “freeze” the follicles in place. And you’re done!
This subtle interplay between light and dark makes for a multidimensional, infinitely more natural-looking brow, while retaining the thickness that’s a hallmark of Korean-style eyebrows. Makes sense, right? Oh, and don’t be too precious about getting your brows to square up just so, too; there’s a lot to be said about finding beauty in the perfect little imperfections.
So, quick recap: To bring your brows to life, keep the centre darker and the edges lighter, then blend until virtually undetectable. I hope this mini makeup lesson will get you out of a hairy situation!
