Find Your Best Brow Shape Using These Key Tips

You’ve probably come across the saying “the eyebrows are the frames of the face” more than once — and the phrase is definitely true. Over the past few years, there seems to have been an uptick in eyebrow-related beauty content and product releases as more people acknowledge the power of perfectly groomed arches. On TikTok, there was the trending soap brow and feather brow. Plus, more recent viral launches like the REFY Beauty Brow Sculpt and NYX’s The Brow Glue. With the influx of aesthetics and styling methods, you might be overwhelmed. So you’re probably wondering: What’s the best brow shape for you and how can you do them yourself?

To help you answer these questions, TZR spoke with creator of the Nurtured Eyebrow, founder of KS&CO, and co-owner of LA beauty studio STRIIIKE, Kristie Streicher as well as celebrity brow artist Giselle Soto to offer a step-by-step guide on how to shape your own eyebrows. Ahead, you’ll find out how to analyze your face, clean up your brows, and get a breakdown of all the best products.

How To Figure Out The Best Brow Shape For You

According to Soto, start by assessing your face shape, addressing the size of your brow, and using your natural eyebrow form as a guide.

Streicher adds that from here, you can determine how and where they might need to cleaned up or shaded in. “Whether you were born with full, thick brows or thin, delicate brows, I believe that everyone looks best with what they’re born with, and sometimes that requires regrowing or filling in areas that are missing or sparse,” she says.

To begin crafting the shape, you need to take a closer look at where your brows start, where they arch, and where they end. Note the below diagram if you’re having some trouble. Streicher also says to take stock of the parallel lid line and arch angle line. “They are essential to finding the most flattering shape for your eyes and face,” she explains.

The parallel lid line is an invisible horizontal line that stretches from under the start of the brow, expands across the lid, and ends at the tail of the brow. Streicher says that it’s crucial to make sure that the start of the brow doesn’t get too close to the bridge of the nose. If you find that stray hairs are creeping into this area, then you’ll want to tweeze them to avoid giving a scowling appearance to the eye.

The invisible arch angle line, Streicher says, comes from the start of the eyebrow to the arch. She stresses that it’s important to make sure this line defines the part of the brow that leads up to the arch. Your eyebrow shouldn’t curve or have holes above this line. If this is the case, fill in sparse areas with a brow pen.

If you’re still confused, “I always recommend consulting with a professional to help achieve the best brow shape for your features,” says Soto.

What Products & Tools Should You Have On Deck?

If you intend to shape your brows yourself, Streicher recommends the KS&CO Essential Eyebrow Grooming Kit. This set contains gold slanted tweezers for plucking hairs out of place, gold curved-blade scissors for trimming hairs, and a spoolie brush that is the perfect balance between soft and hard for brushing the brows. An alternative to the kit, Soto keeps the Brow Code Slanted Tweezers and the Tweezerman Cuticle Scissors in her personal makeup bag.

Streicher also adds that it’s helpful to use hair clips so that your strands aren’t crowding your face while trying to assess the eyebrows. The Emi Jay Popstar Clips are the tool for the job. In addition, Streicher applies the KS&CO Aforé Oil to prepare and soothe the skin before tweezing and the KS&CO Après Calming Cream to help minimize any redness or irritation from plucking.

To fill in the brows, Streicher uses the KS&CO Microfeathering Brow Pen. This pen allows for thin, feathery strokes that provide a more natural look as it actually replicates natural brow hairs. “This is my all time favorite product to use to create fullness and definition in the brow, you just add hair where you need it,” says Streicher. A tip for usage, she says, is to wipe down the brow before applications, so you aren’t applying to skin that is oily or has makeup on it. “If this is your first time using a brow pen, start by creating a few strokes in an area of your brow with plenty of hair until you’re comfortable with the light touch that’s needed,” says Streicher. You should always use the product going in the direction of growth.

The final step of doing your brows is a laying on a gel to keep the hairs in place. If you like a tinted gel, Streicher recommends the KS&CO Sheer Tinted Brow Gel because of the easy glide and flexible hold. For stubborn brows, a clear stronghold brow gel works best at making sure the hairs don’t budge. Soto says she uses the Kosas Air Brow Gel Clear & Tinted.

What Steps Should You Follow To Shape Your Own Brows?

Now that you’ve found your ideal shape and gathered your tools, it’s time to get to business. To start, Streicher says natural light during the daytime is always best. “Hot tip: After the shower or bath when skin is soft and supple is a great time to tweeze.” In addition, she suggests using a non-magnified mirror because if you’re too zoomed in, you would “see a version of your brows that is hypercritical.” She says that it’s important to see the whole face and not just your eyebrows.

You also shouldn’t go into shaping without a plan and known end goal, Streicher says. “If you are just cleaning up your brows and allowing some areas to grow in, I always recommend filling in your brow to your desired shape first, then tweezing any hairs that fall outside that shape.”

Once you have mapped out and assessed your needs, prepare the skin for tweezing by applying your oil. Streicher says that this is important for lubricating the follicles and softening the skin to create an easier and less painful experience with the hair removal.

Then it’s time to go in for plucking. Before using the tweezers, pull your brow taut in the direction of hair growth and then grab each hair close to the root.

“Step back from the mirror periodically to gain perspective and prevent over tweezing,” says Streicher. “If there are any hairs that are in question, instead of tweezing them try filling in any sparse areas to create a more even-looking brow as perhaps those hairs will fill in in the next cycle [of growth].”

The next step is trimming, but Streicher says to not get scissor happy. “The only thing worse than an over-tweezed eyebrow is an over-trimmed eyebrow, in my opinion,” she says. “Over-cutting the brow can take away the most beautiful part of the brow, the natural character.”

To trim, brush your brows up using the spoolie, and only cut the longer hairs that go past the top brow line. For a natural look, she suggests cutting the hairs one at a time, so you can stagger length. She adds that she only trims, on herself and clients, when the length of the hairs have beyond exceeded the brow line.

“If hairs are cut too short, this can leave holes and reveal sparse areas,” says Streicher. “If too many hairs are cut all at once, you end up with what I call a “crew cut” brow which can look harsh and take away the soft feathered nature of the brow.”

The final step is adding a pea size amount of calming cream on the brow bone and temples. You can then fill in holes with a brow pen or pencil and slick down using your favorite brow products. After that simply, “Enjoy your beautiful face,” says Streicher.

Once you’ve mastered shaping your brows and figured out what works best for you, you shouldn’t have much trouble keeping up with the look. “I suggest tweezing your new hair growth as it grows in maybe every two to three days,” says Soto.

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