If eyes are the window to soul, then eyebrows are the frame of the face. There are few things that can have as dramatic an impact as a well-done brow. Whether you prefer a prim and polished arch or something fuller and more natural, eyebrows can transform a face far better than mastering a cat-eye flick. For Benefit it’s the Year of The Brow. After all but taking over the mascara market they’ve set their sights a little higher. Literally. After years of brow miss-steps including filling them in with eyeliner and shaving them (it’s okay guys, I’m cringing too) my eyebrows have all but become an obsession. Frankly, I go outside without foundation before going without brows. Without them my face feels a little, well, empty.
ka-BROW! eyebrow cream gel in 3
BROWVO! conditioning primer
High Brow Glow Brow Highlighter
Even though I’ve put my brows through the proverbial ringer over the years, I still have a fairly good shape which I tend to follow. Before you do anything (pluck, wax, draw them in) find where your natural brow sits. To find your natural brow shape all you need is an long eyeshadow brush and a mirror. First hold your brush parallel to your nose and look at where the brush meets your brow. THIS is where your natural brow begins (and should give you an idea of when things are starting to get unruly.) Next angle the brush from your nostril to the outer edge of your eye. Where the inside of your brush hits is where your natural brow ends. If like me and you have a natural arch, angle the brush parallel to your iris from your nose to find the highest natural part of your brow. Using that as a framework I’m able to neaten things up giving me a good solid base to work with. I am old school with tweezers and scissors for neatening up. From there, it’s all about the window dressing.
I favour a heavier brow so the BROWVO! primer is great for adding fullness. I find that it tidies my brows up a bit before applying any gel. It feels like a luxurious wee treat for my brows and while I might not apply it every day, I do find my sleeking it on in the evening before bed after my moisturiser. The real hero product for me however is the ka-BROW! eyebrow cream gel. I converted to gel a couple of years ago and never look back. It provides a great finish, it long lasting and I find more fool-proof than any pencil I used in the past. ka-BROW is a particular favourite thanks to the handy brow brush in the lid, great coverage and diverse colour range. I tend to skew a little darker with my brow shades and while I am naturally very fair, I love 3 for giving my brows that little sharper definition. All of this is finished off with one of the nicest pencil highlighters I’ve tried in years – the High Brow Glow Brow Highlighter. The cool pink is an utter dream, glides on easily and blends beautifully. I use this to sharpen up under my brows and generally anywhere else I feel I need a little more lift.
I’m a firm believer that a good brow can set the mood for the rest of your make-up and while I can get away without doing a full face every day, I can’t go brow bare. If you must invest in one new brow product this year, make it a Benefit one. My money is on ka-BROW.