They say eyes are the gateway to your soul. Likely true. I think you can read a person entirely by what they do with their eyes. I'm actually quite talented at this. The problem is that I don't listen to that little voice inside my head and get myself into a heap of trouble.
Well if your eyes are the gateway to your soul you brows must be the canopies or at the very least very pretty frames. If you were to ask me what is the one thing a woman can do to make herself look put together, I would say make sure your brows look good. For those of you who care, I would say #2 is just a sheer lip gloss or one with a slight tint.
Anyway back to brows. How important are they? Consider Angelina Jolie. Considered by some to be one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Although she has other features which people think characterize her more, her brows are what kind of bring her whole face together. I mean, imagine her without them. You don't have to. Here it is.
Even the biggest supermodels ever have very prominent or shaped brows. Think Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields and most recently Cara Delevigne.
So what would FauxPrah recommend to those not in the brow realm as of yet? Go look around. Look at magazines for ideas and face shapes that are similar to you and make sure to make a decision with someone who licensed to do this work.
Some people thread, some people wax other's tweeze. I prefer waxing and Benefit does an amazing job. Their services for waxing and tinting run about $20-$23 per service and you can get it done at most places that have a Benefit Counter (Macy's, Ulta, Etc...).
It really does make a difference. Look at this before and after brow. Now granted she has lashes in the after, but wait til you see my results below. I have more make up on in the before picture and the after looks way better.
Tinting you say? Yes. Probably the best thing I do to my brows is to tint them. I find the longer the brow grows out the lighter the tips are. Tinting makes them appear more full and since as a child I have scar tissue in one of them after being roped around the head with a lariat rope by my brother... it is a little sparse.
SHAPE
So... here is my tip. I am not good at waxing. I can't do it myself and I think there is something important about a professional doing this service. They can balance your brows and see them in a way that you can't. Think about it... artists paint on canvas and not themselves. The closest thing I can think of an, "artist," doing this was Farrah Fawcett's "Naked Art," and that I'm pretty sure is so she could pose in Playboy. Artist? Probably not. Don't ask me why this reference came to mind and God Bless her beautiful soul.
Anyway... I have the attention span of a drunk cat. Where was I? Oh. This is $20ish dollars well spent in my opinion. There is actually a science to it however if you decide to do it yourself. See below how you are to determine your arch and length of brow as well as the best brow for your face shape. See... Let a professional do this. Trust. I do extend the length of time of the wax by maintenance, but once they grow out a bit, always do a professional.
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| Brow Formula |
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| Brow Type For Face Shape |
TINTING
So... if you want to save some money, this is where you do it. I have found that is is quite easy to tint your own eyebrows. FauxPrah is a do it yourself kind of gal and lived with a drag queen who was a hairdresser in college so I know there are ways out of most predicaments if you screw up.
The last time I had my brows tinted at Benefit I paid close attention to what the girl was using and how she mixed it. Below is the formula and where to get it. Refectocil Eyebrow Tint less than $13 per tube at Amazon.com.
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| Larger picture of the color chart at the end of the blog. It can also be found by Googleing "eyebrow tint" and looking under images |
The only thing is that you cannot forget the developer or it will not work. It is RefectoCil Oxidant, less than $9 at Amazon. Go HERE for RefectoCil's Official Website. Now you have just spent $20ish (which is the approximate cost of a brow tint) and you can tint your brows as many times as you like. This is the straight, "T." Those little tubes and bottle of Oxidant will outlive their own life. You will get your return in the first tinting and likely save as much as 1000% or more
They also have other products that permit you to tint your eyelashes, but that isn't my bag as well as accessories. I have found as long as you have the following you don't need to order anything else. Small glass bowl (a shot glass works great), angled eyebrow brush or old mascara wand (washed), and some vaseline and Q-Tips and you are ready to go.
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| Clockwise from top: 1. Q-tips & Vaseline, 2. Shot glass, 3. RefectoCil and Oxidant, 4. Angled eyebrow brush or mascara wand. |
So basically if you can color within the lines and have patience, you have just saved yourself a load of cash. Dolla, Dolla Bills Ya'll!!! The Vaseline however is to apply around your brow to make clean up easier. The tinniest bit though. Skin warm. Vaseline melts. You don't wanting it melting into your brows. Vaseline on the outside. Tint on the inside. Vaseline on skin. Tint on brows. Wax on. Wax off. NO DON'T WAX!!! THAT WAS A JOKE.
Anyway to mix I do so in equal parts. 1 part Oxidant to 1 part dye. Here is the thing though. I don't have black brows and I don't have their version of natural brown so I mix the two equal parts to create an ebony brown that is more like my hair color. I put in a tiny bit of each and then add the oxidant to be one part to the two combined dye parts. Let me know if that doesn't make sense. Clean your brows thoroughly and paint within the lines. Wait 10 minutes and voila! It's that easy. I do find that I have to go back and add a tad more on my sparse brow from time to time. I generally do so and wait about 5 more minutes. Guess what? So do the ladies at Benefit.
Now I do recommend following RefectoCil's instructions and at your own risk. This is just what I do based on what I have seen the ladies at Benefit do. Also I'm pretty comfortable at color mixing and pretty un-phased by mistakes so play on playa! FauxPrah worked in a paint shop painting backdrops in college. She go pretty good at the colors. Still if you can't figure it out, just go to Benefit once and pay close attention to the colors they are using. Buy those! If you want it darker or lighter, buy a step up or down and mix. That is what I did. They always used black and I walked out of there looking like Groucho Marx.
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| Oh Dear God! What have they done? I didn't ask for a mustache tint. |
Also when they do it, note that the color does dye your skin a bit. You can look a little crazy, but that tends to die down after a shower. Here are my results today. Before on Top. After On Bottom. The redness is the result of the wax. This was taken about an hour after my wax. About 3 hours later and it was gone. Note it doesn't show up as much in the before pic because the brow artist dabbed some concealer on it.
Again, brows are my favorite part of my face and they do so much to frame all faces. I'm very pleased with my results. I have been to spas, benefit, salons, etc... and they have pretty much, from what I have seen, all use RefectoCil.
Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional just a maniac. Please use at your own risk. I feel if it is for sale on Amazon what harm can it do, however again proceed at your own risk.
Tune back in tomorrow when I discuss more brow maintenance and different make up fillers and control products. Ciao!
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Your brows always look FABULOUS!
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