I have never, ever, ever tweezed my brows at home. I’ve heard (and, well, seen) so many horror stories of tadpole brows that I quickly found myself in a committed relationship with my brow shaper. It just wasn’t worth the risk—that was, until appointments became off-limits with shelter in place.
I decided to phone a friend and the owner and founder of Joey Healy Brow Studio, celebrity brow expert Joey Healy.
So my brow boyfriend, who has worked with Vanessa Hudgens, Bethenny Frankel, and ELLE’s very own print beauty director Katie Becker (I mean, look at those brows!), took me on the ultimate Zoom date where I learned to groom my brows all on my own.
“It seems really elementary, but your brow should be right on your brow bone,” says Healy. “Roll up your sleeves and feel your face. It’ll be obvious what needs to go—the hair between your brows, on the temples, forehead, and close to the lids.”
And while I’ll be heading right back to Healy’s chair the first chance I can get, for now, I know I can at least keep my brows in check while at home. Below, everything I learned from Healy on how to craft the most perfect brows.
THE TOOLS
Perfect brows will require more than just your mom’s tweezers from the ’90s. Healy’s kit is a great place to start: it comes with a dual-ended spoolie and powder brush, surgical grade stainless steel tweezers, and a pair of pressure scissors that you can easily use with your non-dominant hand (genius).
Joey Healy Essentials Tool Kit, $55; joeyhealy.com
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M.A.C Disposable Mascara Wands, $10; maccosmetics.com
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Joey Healy Grooming Dermablade Trio, $18; joeyhealy.com
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THE PRODUCTS
“I also suggest having your favorite powder or pencil on hand, because our last step is going to be filling them in to easily identify any strays,” Healy says.
These are some of the favorites of ELLE editors:
Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, $22; sephora.com
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Luv + Co. Natural Brow Pomade, $27; luvandcompany.com
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Iman Cosmetics Perfect Eyebrow Pencil, $10; amazon.com
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STEP 1: BRUSH THEM UP
First thing’s first: You need to figure out what you’re working with. Run the spoolie through clean, dry brows, brushing the hairs up. “This will show you if there are any super-long hairs or if there are any holes that maybe brow hairs are covering up when in place,” Healy says.
STEP 2: A LITTLE TRIM
I was scared, too. Until Healy shared his fool proof technique. “Only trim the front area of the brow, and want to trim one hair at a time at a downward angle,” he shares. “The downward angle is important, because you want your brows to be fringy, not in a straight line.”
Hold the spoolie brush in one hand, and the scissors in the other. When you push the spoolie through the brows it drags hairs up—that way you can see which are too long and easily cut them without risking over-snipping. “Remember, length isn’t bad,” Healy says. “Actually, it’s necessary sometimes to help get the perfect brow shape. You will probably only trim a few hairs, only the ones that are not cooperating.”
Pro tip: If you’re nervous, run a little bit of gel through your hair and form the shape you want. This is an easy way to identify exactly what to trim. Then wipe it off again for the next step.
STEP 3: CHECK YOUR ALIGNMENT AND TWEEZE AWAY STRAYS
It’s anatomy time. All you need to figure out where the brow should start, arch, and end is your tweezers. “They are your guide,” Healy says. “Pinch your tweezers together and it makes a straight line that will help you know the perimeter of your brows.” Once you’ve used them identify, it’s time to remove the hair that’s out of place.
IMPORTANT: NO MAGNIFYING MIRRORS!
Your brows are a total Monet. If you’re tweezing brows from super up-close, you won’t be able to see the bigger picture—and something that maybe looks wrong in a magnifying mirror is necessary for the structure of the brow.
First, hold it flush against the bridge of your nose. The vertical line shows where the head of your brow should start. “This doesn’t mean get rid of any sprouts that hang over the other side of the line,” Healy cautions. “This might be the time to get those scissors out again and use them to do a little bit more trimming.”
Next, you’re going to use your tweezers to make sure the top and bottom of the front of your brows align. “The front of your brows is more important than it seems, it really makes an impression,” Healy says. “People are really focused on the arch, but how the brow starts really visually indicates how your brow looks—if they are little wonky in the front it looks strange.”
Place one end of your tweezers at the tip of your nose, slanting them diagonally to meet the corner of your eye. This line will show you where the tail of your brow should end. “You want to avoid having brow on the temple because it will drag your eye down,” Healy says. For many, this is the area to always tweeze with caution—remove too many hairs and the ends of your brows might disappear.
“A big mistake people typically make is tweezing an arch at the center of your brow,” Healy warns. “You want your arch 2/3 of the through your brow, but it’s an eyeballing sort of situation.” And the arch isn’t just about the shape underneath the brow—you also want the arch to line up with the highest point of the top of your brow.
Start with the brow that has a less pronounced arch and work toward having it mirror the other brow. “Hold the skin taut, and slowly start to remove hairs,” Healy says. “The arch is where you want to selectively reveal a part of the brow bone.”
Finally, take a step back and look at your brows. If there’s anything that seems way out of place, remove.
STEP 4: A QUICK SHAVE
Whip up that dermaplaner, hold the skin taut, and work the blade across the temple, forehead, and anywhere use where you want to remove vellus (aka blonde, fine) hair. It’s also great for upper lip, you know, while you have it out. “Getting rid of this peach fuzz really helps your brows pop,” Healy says.
STEP 5: FILL ER UP
Pull out your favorite brow enhancing products and fill in your brows in the exact shape that you want them. “Placing the color intentionally will show you if you missed any stray hairs,” Healy shares. “Remove those hairs, and you finally have the full picture.”
And that’s it. “If you didn’t fuck your brows up, then it’s really a success!” Healy says. “That’s how I feel about virtual appointments.”
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