Eyebrows can be a lovely frame for the eyes and face. Unfortunately, many women don’t know how to maximize the beauty of their eyebrows. Attending to your eyebrows is the easiest way to enhance your eyes, the most expressive features of the face.  You cannot change the bone structure of the eyes (nor should you really want to do so)  but there are times when you may want to create better balance and more attractive proportion.

Delicately arched, gently shaped eyebrows form a perfect frame for the eyes, opening them up and lending harmony and definition to the rest of the face. Straggly, misshapen eyebrows, on the other hand, not only draw attention away from the eye, but they also give even the most carefully made-up face an unbalanced appearance. Ideally, the brows should be so perfect in shape and color that they are hardly noticed except as a part of the over-all harmonious composition of the face. Of course, the shape of the eyebrows should fit the architecture of the face. With a few, simple tools and a little skill, you can add definition and character to your face by reshaping your brows. Here are some tips to improve your eyebrows:

Stop overplucking. This is one of the biggest mistakes women make when it comes to eyebrows. Most women become overly aggressive when it comes to plucking their brows and end up with thin or almost nonexistent brow hairs. Unfortunately, eyebrow hairs can take months to grow back and, in some cases, plucked eyebrow hairs may not grow back at all, particularly after years of over plucking. Stop plucking and give your eyebrows a chance to grow back to their natural state.

In the meantime, you can use a soft eye pencil or brow powder in a color one shade lighter than your natural brow color to fill in any obvious gaps or bare spots. Thick eyebrows can be quite beautiful and are more the style right now than their over plucked counterparts.

Avoid bleaching your eyebrows. If you’ve lightened your hair a few shades, it may be tempting to attempt to lighten your eyebrows using bleach. Unfortunately, many women who use this technique end up with brows that are too light or are an undesirable color. If you use bleach to lighten very dark eyebrows, you can end up with orange or brassy tones, which can be very unflattering. Eyebrows should be at least one shade lighter than your hair color (for dark-colored hair). Making it too light will give your face less definition and create a washed-out appearance.

Learn to pluck your eyebrows properly. Plucking should be kept to a minimum if at all possible, although most people do need some shaping. Your best bet is to visit a salon and have them show you step by step how to tweeze your brows to add shape while removing minimal brow hairs. You can then do touch-ups at home as the new hairs grow back in.

Learn to fill in sparse eyebrows skillfully. Nothing looks more contrived than eyebrows that have been drawn on the face. If your eyebrows are sparse, you may need to fill them in but it should look natural. To do this, comb your brows to reveal any areas that are sparser than they should be. Use a soft pencil in a shade lighter than your natural brows to fill in the gaps with very light, wavy strokes in the direction in which the hair grows. Avoid drawing a harsh line. Repeat this for any sparse areas or gaps you encounter on both eyebrows. Follow up by lightly applying a brow powder in a shade similar to your natural brow color. Be sure to apply this sparingly with an angled brush to achieve a natural look.

Your eyebrows should provide a flattering frame for your eyes and face. Make sure you’re doing the right things to make them work for you.

Grooming the eyebrows

1. Brush brows into a smooth line with a stiff eyebrow brush. Then use a cotton ball dipped in alcohol or other astringent to dab the brow area to clean and gently soothe skin before shaping the brow.

2. Using the base of the nose and a thin pencil, measure the brow for proportionate balance. Hold the pencil straight up from outer edge of the nasal flange to the inner corner of the eye (over the tear duct). Where the point of the pencil falls, will be about the ideal place for the brow to begin. You may dot this with a pencil. Move the pencil from the vertical position or from a diagonal line between the base of the nose and the outer rim of the rim of the iris (the colored portion of the eye). Place a dot where the pencil crosses the brow. This will mark the height of the arch. To find the brow’s appropriate end point, slide the pencil to the end of the brow bone. Place a dot where the length should be. The brow can be longer than this point, but never shorter. Be sure to measure both brows. Remove any stray hair over the bridge of the nose.

3. Use a sterile (and well-balanced) tweezer to gently pluck out any stray hairs under the brows and beyond either end of the brow to get a clean shape. To minimize discomfort, hold the skin taut and pull hairs only in the direction they grow, outward and upward. Don’t pluck brows above the browline unless it is necessary to remove a few, long, unruly hairs. In most cases the upper brows can be brushed into shape.