I'm A Brow Specialist & This Is The One Thing I'd Never Do To My Brows
In beauty, brows are baseline. Consider them right up there with tending to your skin, smile, and hair. "If you care and focus on those foundations, if you embrace the things that are working for you, then you can build out from there in any direction you want. But first you need to pay attention to the basics to build a strong foundation," says brow specialist Joey Healy, owner of his namesake brow salon and brand.
In this week's episode of Clean Beauty School, I chatted with Healy about the fundamentals of brow care. While brows take up a relatively small amount of real estate on your face, they have a big impact—so there was a lot to talk about. We share the opinion that it's worth consulting with a brow specialist if you can: They are trained professionals, after all.
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However, that's not always accessible to everyone. And the good news is that there is plenty you can do at home! We talk at length about the basics of brow care in the episode, so it's worth a listen to get the full intel on how to best shape and style any brow shape. But for a sneak peek, here's a tip from Healy on the correct way to trim your brows.
The one move you need to quit doing when trimming brows at home.
It's always the simplest stuff that causes the most confusion. "People think that trimming is a slam dunk and so easy. Like, What could go wrong? Everything," jokes Healy.
The biggest mistake he sees is the angle at which people trim. "I find that people cut straight across, almost like a crew cut. But brow hairs would never grow like that," he says. Instead, you should be much more exacting in your method. "I brush the hairs up, take hairs one at a time and on an angle, so you're holding the scissors almost at a downward angle," he says.
Think of the form similar to a hairstylist. Unless the desired effect is a blunt chop, stylists hold the scissors at various degrees and trim the hair in small, individual sections. This gives the hair natural-looking movement and flow.
It can also help you better identify gaps in the brow and be strategic about placement. "The length of your individual brow hairs can be so helpful because they can blanket each other and cover up potential gaps," he says. "If you're cutting them too short, you can reveal small dashes because you're not getting that overlap."
If this was a revelation to you, as it was me, I think you're in for a treat in this episode. We go quite a bit deeper in the show, including must-have brow products, what to do when you've tweezed too much at home, and the benefits of tinting.
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Alexandra Engler is the beauty director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she's held beauty roles at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com. In her current role, she covers all the latest trends in the clean and natural beauty space, as well as lifestyle topics, such as travel. She received her journalism degree from Marquette University, graduating first in the department. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.