4 Rules for Grooming—Not Over Grooming—Your Eyebrows

The 2010s will go down as a decade dedicated to full brows, a punctuation mark for the face in an age of emojis. But once arches have regrown to optimal density, how to avoid untamed chaos? Though maximalism is the goal when it comes to the look, in terms of getting there, the experts know that the principle of less-is-more still applies. If anything, going big and staying big requires discipline, from steering clear of wax in favor of tweezing, to supplements, to cautious trimming.

The Laws of Trimming
New York City–based brow whisperer Jimena Garcia mainly relies on trimming and tweezing to tame brows into shape at Tenoverten. Likening the practice to trimming a bonsai tree, she’s found that big brow growth, similarly, is largely about the finer detail. “It’s the length that looks messy, not the sprouting,” she says of clients’ worries about large eyebrows getting overgrown between appointments—and emphasizes that haphazardly cutting straight across long hairs is a big no. She makes her cut slightly uneven, with hairs of slightly varying length, to get a natural, feathered look that never reads stenciled.

Steering Clear of Wax
Garcia also often skips wax for those wanting to achieve bigger brows since the effect can end up looking slightly, well, waxen. Without the light-reflecting fuzz on the upper lid that wax strips away, the contrast between where skin and hair meet can be too stark. She also notes that when it comes to skin, the explosion of at-home exfoliating and microdermabrasion treatments doesn’t mix well with wax.

Why—And How—To Avoid Tweezing
And as hard as it is to stick with, not tweezing between appointments is a big plus for making sure the shape doesn’t get off track. Garcia recommends her clients pull focus away from new, possibly chaotic growth by experimenting with makeup—red lips, cat-eyes—while keeping things in check with brow gel. By the same logic, leaving brows thick can actually have an anti-aging effect on the face: Though not a scientifically proven correlation, brows pull attention away from other areas. “The more texture you have on the face, the more youthful it looks,” she notes.

Find a Supplement and a Specialist
And for those who need help with getting more growth, Garcia recommends castor oil and Browfood, a topical eyebrow enhancer. Mainly, the look is about sticking to a routine: Paradoxically, full brows require some restraint. “A big brow is great, but it’s all about structure and form,” she says. “If you buy a piece of art, you’re not going to frame it yourself. So these generalizations about big brows are tricky. Like with art, you’re going to go to a specialist who can tell you what kind of frame you need.”

 

 

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