FRAME YOUR EYES FOR A NEW YOU
Date of Article: 1/21/07

If your New Year's resolution is to update your look, your makeover could begin by getting your eyebrows in shape. Messy brows, unruly, too thin, too thick, or over plucked - undermine even the best beauty routine.

Your brow is the frame of your eyes. A trained expert will shape brows to fit your eyes perfectly. If you get them right, it can be like an instant facelift.

If your brows are in need of attention, try professional grooming to get your brows back on track. Even if you can't afford the regular splurge, a pro may help you understand how to improve your grooming habits.

Want to know where your brows should start? Take a cuticle stick, press it close to the base of your nose and bend it at the slightest angle up toward the inner corner of the lashes. If you start in too far, like many people do in an effort to create balance, you can throw off the overall symmetry of the face.

If you need to manage your brows on the cheap and pay for an inexpensive waxing at a walk-in salon, insist on demonstrating exactly what you want groomed before any tweezing or wax is applied. I would just have them clean up above and below the natural brow line and not let them alter the contour in anyway. It's the easiest way to keep problems from arising.

Invest in a tube of gel to set brows. Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in clear and Paula Dorf's brow gel are two of my favorites. Both set brows nicely.

Even sparse brows can use a cleanup above and below the natural brow line; you want to get rid of the fuzz to keep the overall look clean."

To help get your arches in order, here are some tips for the perfect frame.

• Tint brows (using a nontoxic, vegetable-based dye) at the rims to add fullness.
• Clean up strays above and below the brow line using lavender-based wax. Wax is just going to get you cleaned up where you've got strays
• Alter the brow line itself with tweezers. It's a precise art and it can't be accomplished with wax.
• In areas within the natural brow that were sparse, work in a neutral eye pencil using tiny strokes. Do not take the pencil to areas where there isn't brow growth. You don't want to draw brows on your face with pencil like it's a crayon. It should just be to enhance what's there.
• Brush the brows into place, set them with gel and apply a dab of concealer to areas made slightly red by the process.
• When in doubt "don't pluck it out, it is almost always better to under- rather than over-groom, the only exception being strays between the eyes."
• Be careful with magnifying mirrors, a lot of people use them to be more precise and then over-pluck.
• Tell your brow artist if you are taking any medication, or applying topicals such as Retin-A, alpha hydroxy or glycolic acids, which can make skim extremely sensitive and even rip when waxed.

The results will be amazing.

Article by: Belinda Ramirez