How to Shape Your Eyebrows

When it comes to grooming eyebrows, women seem to fall into three categories. The first group ignores eyebrows, preferring a totally natural look. The second group is the total opposite: they groom, pluck, and wax until the original brow shape is completely lost, and may end up having to draw their eyebrows onto bare skin. The third group fits comfortably into the middle, with neatly groomed brows that suit their faces. If you'd like to join that third group, read on.

What Shape is Your Face?
The perfect brow shape for you depends on the shape of your face. Most beauty experts agree that there are 5 basic face shapes: oval, round, long, square, and heart-shaped. Some add diamond-shaped, but that's a very rare type. Look in a mirror and you can probably tell what shape your face is. Oval? Your forehead is wider than your chin, your cheekbones are clearly defined, and your face gradually diminishes in width to the chin. Round? Your face is widest through the cheeks, and is nearly as wide as it is long, with a curved chin line. Long? Your face is practically the same width from forehead to chin, and it just looks long! Square? As with the round face, this shape has about the same width as length, but the main feature is a square chin. Heart-shaped? Your face is similar to the oval face but you have a narrower chin.

What Shape Eyebrows are Right for You?
Once you've determined your face shape, you can find the brow shape that suits you best. If your face is oval, heart-shaped, or the rare diamond-shape, a gently curved brow without a pronounced arch is perfect for you. If your face is round or square, avoid this look! Instead, go for an angled brow. A high arch will help your round face look longer. (A curve will keep a round face looking round, so avoid it.) A subtle angle can also suit a heart-shaped face with wide cheekbones. Straight brows are best for long faces, making them look shorter and more rounded. The epitome of female brow shapes is the soft-angled brow. It should have a well-defined arch, but the top should be soft and curved. This shape can go with any face shape; you just need to adjust the thickness of the brow and the height of the arch to suit your unique face.

How Do I Shape My Eyebrows?
Good question. Before you start the shaping process, you need to figure out where your brows should begin and end. Take a pencil (an eyeliner or lipliner is perfect!), and place one end at the outside of your right nostril, and angle it so it just passes the inner corner of your eye. Where the pencil hits your browbone marks the beginning of your brow. (Repeat on the left side!). Next, angle the pencil from the outside of the nostril past the outer corner of your eye on both sides, and where it touches the brow bone marks the ends of your brows. Be sure to actually mark them (an eyeliner pencil in a bright color works well for this), and feel free to pluck any stray brow hairs from between the inner marks. The unibrow is not a good look for any woman. To find the right spot for the arch or top of the curve, hold a pencil vertically, next to the outer edge of your iris on each side.

For the actual brow shape, well, if you're a rank beginner, look for stencils. The best-known brand, and the most highly-rated by beauty experts and regular women alike, is Anastasia. Their set has five stencils to suit each face type. If you feel confident, just draw on the shape you want by hand, and tweeze, but do it slowly and carefully, and stop and look closely after each plucked hair. You may have heard that you should never tweeze or wax above your brows, but that's not entirely true. If there are stray hairs, or your brows are exceptionally thick, you can carefully tweeze the top line to make it smooth.

And the next step is to color (optional) and groom them (essential).

(Sources: http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/article/how-to-shape-your-brows, http://www.eyebrowz.com/shaping.htm, http://www.eyebrowz.com/faceshape.htm, http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P69600&categoryId=B70, http://beauty.about.com/od/allaboutyoureyes/ht/groombrows.htm )