Can We Call Time On The Heavy Brows?

Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows have a lot to answer for, and I’m sure you know what I mean. A well-groomed brow is a thing of beauty – they open and add focus to the eyes, and can also be a hugely anti-aging trick as they lift and enlarge the look of the entire eye area.

But can we please agree on something? It’s time to let the heavy brows go. At least for one season.

It’s summer; we’re striving to look light, bright and sparkly-eyed, and the problem with the dark, heavy brows are that they make the wearer look so stern. Not light, bright and sparkly-eyed at all.

I know there are some fantastic brow artists out there who pluck, primp and perfect brows beyond belief – their greatest asset being their light touch, but for each of those, there are a lot of people loading on what looks like black kohl pencil on to their brows in an attempt to look like a HD brow. High definition is right – you can see these brows from space – this is not a good thing.

The very best brows are full (ie, not plucked to oblivion) tidied a tad- but as close to their natural shape as they can be. In terms of colour, they should match your hair. If your hair is highlighted, you need to match your brows to the mid tone you can see there. If you are very blonde and your brows are very dark, you could lighten them slightly with Jolen bleach – this is what makeup artists would do for a shoot – it’s not too intense, designed for facial hair/skin and is not as scary as attempting to brush through the strands with Domestos!

When it comes to filling and grooming your arches, keep a light touch with your product. I love both the MAC suite of brow pencils (Fling, is an excellent shade for mid to fair hair) and at the higher end of the scale, the Tom Ford Brow Sculptor is a slanted, waxy pencil that combines colour and tool -it’s pricey but worth it.

When shaping the brow, it’s best to gently sketch the colour through the hairs – don’t apply pressure with the pencil as if you were writing on paper – you are ‘feathering’ the colour through the brow rather than laying down a layer of pigment.

A clear brow gel is a good finishing product and shaping tool. When brushed lightly through the hairs, it adds a soft sheen, which can help to lift any heavy-handed colour intensity.

So please, by all means channel your brow hero, Cara D, but in a manner that suits your actual face, as there’s only one of ?her, but a lot of her wannabe brows walking around.