There’s no doubt about it, well-groomed brows can transform your look. They frame your face, giving it structure, and enhance your peepers too. And with a bit of gentle shaping they can even act as an instant eye-lift, giving you a perfectly polished appearance.
Thanks to eyebrow icons, such as Cara Delevingne, Emilia Clarke and even Kate Middleton, the industry is now booming. The average woman is said to spend over £200 a year in her quest for faultless brows, and tinting, threading and waxing have become commonplace. With the rise of microblading, tattooing and even extensions too, we can safely say we’re in the grip of something of an obsession.
But getting the perfect pair of arches doesn’t need to involve a costly trip to a salon. Thanks to a host of fantastic products, it’s now easier than ever to shape, colour and set your brows at home. From stencils, to tweezers, powder kits and gel, there’s a multitude of products to suit every brow – and budget.
To get your brows into tiptop condition, we’d recommend kicking things off with a shaping session. If you don’t feel confident wielding a pair of tweezers, then stencils can provide a great guide. Just remember the golden rule – don’t go overboard, because over-plucked brows take their time to grow back. Once you’ve refined your arches, it’s time to gently fill in any gaps using a pencil or powder kit. Then the final step is to set your brows with a gel, which will tame any unruly hairs and ensure your product stays put while you party.
Read on to find everything you need to get gorgeous brows…
This handy collection of five stencils ranges in shape from petite, to a slim high arch and right through to fuller brows (Cara Delevingne eat your heart out). Created by cult brow brand Anastasia Beverly Hills, they come with excellent credentials – Anastasia herself is none other than Kim Kardashian’s brow guru. She also counts Michelle Obama amongst her clients, and has worked with the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Faye Dunaway.
Made from transparent, pliable plastic that hugs the brow bone, these stencils are designed to make light work of creating even, perfectly-proportioned brows.
These miniature Tweezerman tweezers are the perfect size to chuck in your handbag. Not only is the rose gold finish very easy-on-the-eye, but the set is super practical too. It contains miniature versions of both the brand’s Slant and Point tweezers, ensuring you’ll always have faultless brows, wherever you are.
Use the slant tweezer to gently tease out unruly hairs above and below the brow, and the point tweezers for shifting fine or ingrown hairs. While tweezing it always pays to be mindful of your technique – pluck in the direction of hair growth to ensure you’re removing unwanted hairs right from the root.
This crafty mirrored kit contains all the weapons a girl needs to create fabulously face-flattering arches. Inside you’ll find five stencils, ranging from a delicate arch right through to a thicker brow, as well as a handy shaping guide. Simply choose the stencil that best suits your brows, then fill in the shape using the enclosed powders. You’ll find six shades to choose from, including taupe, auburn, soft blonde and dark brunette, which can be blended together to create your ideal colour.
Next, grab the tweezers and remove any unwanted hairs, before setting your brows with the wax. Finally, give your brows an instant lift by adding a touch of the highlighter underneath.
A creamy pomade that’s designed to glide onto your brows, giving them an instant colour boost – what’s not to like? Created in a range of neutral shades, this is buildable formula, which makes it ideal for giving beautifully defined, yet oh-so natural-looking arches. Use it with Maybelline’s clever dual-ended applicator, which has both an angled sculpting brush, as well as a spiral-bristle brush.
First up, put the angled end to work, shaping, filling and shading your brows. Next, flick the applicator around and use its spiral-bristle end to blend like a pro. When choosing a colour for your brows, we’d recommend staying no more than one shade lighter or darker than your hair.
If you’re fed up of thin, sparse-looking brows, this nifty product could prove the answer. Whether you’ve (dare we say it) overplucked or just aren’t blessed with luscious arches, Benefit Gimme Brow is designed to add natural-looking volume and definition.
The clever formula – which is one of the UK’s bestselling brow products – contains minuscule microfibres, which work by attaching to the skin and hairs, creating fullness. Best of all, the gel simultaneously tints and tames brows, meaning it’s possible to just apply and go. There are eight shades to choose from, ranging from light to deep in colour.
