*Makeup 101 Series : The Ombre Brow

Ok, I'm coming clean... I have an obsession... with EYEBROWS! I mean, honestly, I could write probably 20 pages about them! I'm absolutely in love with brows, all different types too. I can't exactly pin-point when my addiction began, but I find myself complementing my friends every time I've noticed they've gotten their brows done. LOL! And they always respond with, "Wow, Candice you always notice!" However, one of my biggest pet peeves has been when I see ladies who don't groom their brows at all. Or even ladies who have plucked their eyebrows to death! I always think to myself, if only you knew what a well manicured brow does for your face. *Shakes Fist* IF ONLY YOU KNEEEEEEW HONEY! LOL! I mean let's face it, I know in the grand scheme of life a well groomed brow isn't going to save lives, climb Mt. Everest, or cure cancer or anything, BUT! And that's a BIG BUTT! (he he he *whispers* I said big butt!) It does dramatically change your face when you do. Check out these before and afters below!

If you compare the befores with the afters, you'll notice that the groomed brow gives a very different look to the eye, as well as the other facial features. It completely compliments, frames, and opens up the eye to look bigger and more inviting. A well manicured brow has the ability to make you look soft, feminine, and well put together. It can be a little tricky to determine just how and where to start when it comes to properly shaping your brows, but if you follow a few simple measuring tips and guidelines, you should be able to pin point it.

Brows come in a HUGE variety of shapes sizes lengths and widths, it's important to pay attention to what your brow naturally looks like. If you're born with a wider brow or a thinner brow that just might be the right look for your face. So, the best option is to try and stick with what you were born with. How do I get my desired brow shape? I use parts of my eyes and nose to determine the proper placement for my brows as you can see in the pictures below.

Measuring a straight line, (with a makeup brush or pencil) from the outside corner of my nose, through the inside corner of my eye, and straight up is about the place where my brow should begin.

Again, measuring with a straight line, from the outside corner of my nose, to outside corner of my pupil (some say the iris) and straight up. This is where the arch should be.

And lastly, measuring again, from the nose, to the outside corner of the eye and up is where the brow should end.

For spacing I use the two finger rule, brows should roughly be 2 fingers apart.

It's always best if you're not comfortable with grooming your brows, to simply go to a professional. It's easy to over groom your brows and waiting for them to grow back is a pain. It's inexpensive to go to a professional and you can always touch up as needed after the shape of your brow is determined.

Over groomed brows

Now when it comes to coloring, I feel that a lot of women pay attention to the color of their hair, but not the color of their brows. If you dye your hair you may want to think of dying your brows as well. See in the picture below.

This is a very old picture, I changed my hair to a fiery red. Then I filled in my brows with a burgundy colored pencil.

Filling in the brows is not necessary for everyone, but I feel a lot of women can benefit from filling in their brows, because most of us, even the ones with very full brows have bald spots. It makes for a more polished look. The rule of thumb I go by for choosing the right color to fill in brows is most ladies should use a color that is about one shade lighter then their brow color and blonde's should try a color that's one to two shades darker then their brow color. The only thing I think ladies should be careful of, is filling in brows with black. Some people think if they have dark skin or black hair they should use a black color to fill in. I feel that when your eyebrows are black, all anyone can see are these really, dark, harsh, brows. It draws attention to ONLy the dark brow and takes away from the rest of your facial features. Even the most beautiful women look angry or mean and it looks unnatural. I'd suggest using a dark brown instead of black.

Black Brows

One thing that really erks me is sometimes I look at my brows and I think they look different from each other. But then I remind the perfectionist in me, that they're actually not supposed to be identical, nor will they ever be. Although I do want them to be somewhat equally proportioned, they're always going to be slightly different and that's ok. As the saying goes, "Your brows are supposed to be sisters not twins."

Here's a quick, Pictorial of how I achieve my Ombre style brows

1. The before
2. Start with the bottom outline
3. Then the top outline
4. Fill in
5. Tweeze around the drawn in brow
6. Apply concealer underneath brow
7. Apply concealer above brow
8. Blend
9. Brush front of brow for fade effect
10. Done

For a more detail tutorial check the video!