My Eyebrow Obsession

For a really long time I went without filling in my eyebrows.  Up until October of last year I would do a complete face of makeup and not fill in my brows because I could never get them "right".  It wasn't until I started taking makeup and how it makes me feel serious.  I wear makeup because it makes me feel good and my thin eyebrows are something I saw as a flaw.  I believed that filling them in made them look fake and drew more attention to the fact that I had no hair there.  My makeup instructor would joke and say that I couldn't be walking around with her without eyebrows.  It was her way of encouraging me to practice finding ways to fill them in, but also to say holding on to that insecurity and mindset was not okay.  I realized from our discussions that I was avoiding touching my eyebrows because I was afraid of drawing attention to my flaws.  My obsession with eyebrows stems from it once being an insecurity, but overcoming that has changed my perception on how I look.  I have a different attitude about how I look because I understand that I can create ways to feel more comfortable with my appearance.  This came in the form of education.  I found out that other people were dealing with thin eyebrows because of Lupus or other medical conditions that prevented them from growing their eyebrows out.  This really humbled me because the one person I knew at the time with Lupus had no eyebrows at all.  Her skin is so sensitive she can't wear makeup and I often see her with bandages on her face.  When I see this person she never complains about how the illness affects her physical appearance and her spirit is what is so attractive about her.  Reflecting on this, I figured I better start learning to work with what I've got.

Shaped eyebrows, but not filled in

I read books, watched makeup tutorials, practiced on myself and other people (bless those brave souls... lol).  I did all this for months until I became better at it.  I read in Sephora:The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin, and Hair from the Beauty Authority that no two eyebrows are exactly alike.  They are more like cousins, rather than twins.  After I learned to accept that concept, I was able to accept me and feel comfortable with the new ways I was wearing my eyebrows.  It's funny because now the number one question I get about my makeup, is always about how I do my eyebrows.  You can imagine just how good that makes me feel inside to know that I turned something I saw as a flaw into a desirable look. Now if I don't do anything else, I at least fill my eyebrows in and that makes me feel like I look good.
 
Lessons learned: 
1. Don't be afraid to look different. You never know, you might like it.
2. Take the time to teach yourself something new.
3. Find a way to make yourself fill good about your imperfections.

See the confidence doing my eyebrows brought me?

My eyebrow tools:
MAC eyebrow pencil in Spiked
a brown powder 1 shade lighter than my brow pencil
tweezers
brow brush or mascara wand
cuticle/eyebrow scissors
concealer

My technique constantly changes depending on the shape and color I want for the eyebrow.  I used to get my eyebrows threaded or shaped with a razor blade, but I've found it easier to maintain them with a tweezer.  I don't have to worry about jacking my eyebrows up because I can just follow my natural arch.  I brush them with a mascara wand or brow brush and for long curled ends I clip them with cuticle/eyebrow scissors.  As far as filling them in, I always start with a sharp outline on the bottom of the brow with a pencil.  I have never used a stencil but I do own them (Sephora brand).  I then pull small strokes from my outline up and out to the top of my brows. I then set that with a powder and outline the brow with concealer to give it a clean look.

Here are a few of my favorite filled in Celebrity eyebrows.

I haven't made an eyebrow tutorial yet, but you should definitely watch a recent eyebrow video of one of my favorite makeup gurus BisaNation.