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I've had quite a few reader requests for a tutorial on how I achieve my brow look. Tutorials take me forever, so this post has been in the works for ages. :) Sorry for the delay!
Many Goths choose to shave their brows completely, which I love because the possibilities then become endless. However, it's not something that would be practical for me, so instead I go with a somewhat dramatic plucked shape, adding intense color to suit my look.
There are two phases to how I perfected my brows: Shaping and Coloring (with make-up, not with hair dye!).
SHAPING:
I can’t really show you a current “before” picture for the shaping phase, since mine are already shaped. To get an idea of the “before” check out
this photo from my Vampire Valentine’s Day post. :)
Create a template:
Cut a rectangle of tracing paper or vellum (I used vellum because I had some handy in my craft room, and because it was heavier in weight). Whatever you use, it needs to be somewhat translucent so you can trace through it.
Hold the rectangle over your eyebrow and trace your existing eyebrow shape. This will show you exactly what you have to work with.
Draw in your desired eyebrow shape within the tracing of your existing brow. You probably won't want to go outside of the existing shape, because then you'll have to draw the missing part in every day. I created my new shape fully inside me existing brow so I could just pluck away the unwanted parts.
Take a small pair of scissors or an Xacto knife to cut out a template of the new shape.
You can also buy pre-made templates in brow kits from stores such as Sephora, but I preferred to make my own so I knew exactly the original brow shape I had to work with.
Create Your New Brows:
Hold the vellum up, lined up with your existing brow, and draw in the new shape from your template. Don't use a Sharpie, even though that is how I did it. ;)
After you've drawn in the new shape, pluck away any hairs that don't fall within that outline. Work gradually, checking in the mirror periodically to see how you like the evolving new shape. Don't be in a rush, because it's easier to take more off later than wait for things to grow back if you take off too much at once.
Maintenance:
I never wax my brows, as my hair is dark I can't stand letting them grow in enough for the wax to do its job. It's just too obvious, on my pale skin, that my brows are growing in. Plus, no spa lady will ever be as much of a perfectionist with my brows as I am. Instead, I pluck mine daily as needed. It takes about 10 seconds a day to remove the few new hairs that appear and keep my shape perfect.
COLORING:
Once you have plucked your brows into your perfect new shape, you'll probably want to bump up the impact for your makeup looks by coloring them in. As you can see, my brows are dark but they look very faint compared to a dramatic makeup look.
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| before blackening |
I color mine using Ben Nye pressed eyeshadow in black and a soft angled brush. A firm angled eyebrow brush is also a good choice. I dampen the brush slightly and press it into the eyeshadow. I tap the brush to remove any excess so it doesn't destroy my eyeshadow with little flecks of black. Then I carefully draw in on top of my eyebrows.
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| after blackening |
You can do this with whatever color suits you. If you are lucky enough to have blonde eyebrows, you can have a lot of fun with purple, pinks and red! For dark brows, I've found I have to stick with dark colors as the hairs give brighter colors a muddy look.
How do you style and maintain your eyebrows?
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