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4 Tips To Master The Art Of At-Home Brow Touch-Ups, From The Pros

Hannah Frye
Author:
March 06, 2024
Hannah Frye
Assistant Beauty & Health Editor
By Hannah Frye
Assistant Beauty & Health Editor

Hannah Frye is the Assistant Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.S. in journalism and a minor in women’s, gender, and queer studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Hannah has written across lifestyle sections including health, wellness, sustainability, personal development, and more.

woman applying makeup to her eyebrows
Image by Oleksii Syrotkin / Stocksy
March 06, 2024
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I used to think I was born with subpar eyebrows that were too patchy and uneven to be remedied. However, upon moving to New York City and meeting with celebrity brow experts like Sania Vucetaj and Joey Healy, I realized it's not about the luck of the brow draw; it's all about the right shaping technique.

After two years of being tweezed and trimmed by the city's finest arch experts, I've finally learned how to upkeep my brows on my own, requiring only the occasional consult. To come, the five best tips I learned along the way:

1.

Always pluck from the bottom, not the top of the brow

Now, unless you have a random brow hair that's completely isolated from the brow area, you should only be tweezing from below the arch. This helps to naturally keep the brows lifted and raised so you don't accidentally drag down your face. 

If the hairs at the top look out of hand, rely on trimming and brushing them rather than yanking them out entirely. Otherwise, you may be left missing lost hairs that were integral to your brow structure.

2.

Fill in your brows pre-pluck

When I first visited Vucetaj, she filled my brows before shaping them, which I now realize is a brilliant move. This helps ensure you only pluck excess hair and trim as needed. 

If you shape and pluck without your usual brow products on, it can be difficult to predict what the finished product will actually look like too.

Even though I don't personally use tons of brow-filling products (I rely on fine-tip pencils like the Kosas Brow Pop Nano), keeping those gaps filled while I tweeze ensures I never make sparse areas worse by overdoing it. 

3.

Use a makeup brush to identify your big 3 

One of the hardest parts of brow shaping is knowing where the brows should start, arch, and end. One trick that can make this a whole lot easier calls for one thing: a thin-handled makeup brush or even a regular writing pencil. 

Once you have it, you'll place one end of the brush on the side of your nose, by the crease of the nostril, and point the brush toward your temple to identify the tail, toward the arch of the brow to spot the peak, and then straight up to identify the front. 

This isn't an exact science by any means, but it can be a useful guide to keep the brows as close to symmetrical as possible while still taking your unique features into account. 

5.

The more often you touch up, the lower your risk of a botched brow

While these tips above have helped me become a more skilled brow tweezer, nothing can truly replace time with an expert boasting 20+ years of experience ahead of your appointment. So, as my final tip, I'd suggest you invest time with an expert for at least one session to really identify and perfect your brow shape. 

After that initial consultation, you can follow up with your own at-home touch-ups, but keep a regular cadence so you can hold on to the base brow shape they crafted for you. If you let them fully grow out in between, it may be harder to get back to that optimized shape without professional guidance. 

A final reminder

When you do book a session with a brow expert, don't be afraid to ask them for advice on how to touch up your brows at home. Most of the time, their goal is to help you achieve your dream brow look, not gatekeep their secrets. 

The takeaway

After years of visiting professional brow experts, I've gathered a handful of tips to perfect an at-home touch-up. Start by filling your brows so you're working with the finished product. Identify your brow's big three points, then go in with tweezers and focus on plucking the bottom, not the top, of the brow. Finally, consider visiting an expert for a brow overhaul and touching up their work often to easily emulate it. Craving more brow care? Here, find even more brow-shaping tips

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