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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Eyebrow Problems

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Eyebrow Problems

Eyebrow Problems

Tricks for More Flattering Brows

Whether you want Madonna's strong, defined brows or Drew Barrymore's pencil-thin curves, great eyebrows can be as flattering as a great manicure. The trick is knowing where to begin, what to do--and when to stop.

"All you generally need to do is remove a few strays or add a line here and there," says Natasha Salman, a face treatment and waxing specialist at Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Salon in New York City.

TAMING TOO-FURRY BROWS

If your problem is too many hairs, here's the easy way to remove them.

Give them ten days. If your eyebrows seem too furry, and you're not satisfied with the results of your current plucking strategy, let them grow in for at least ten days before you try to shape them, says Salman. That way, you'll make sure that you have enough hair in the right places before you try to artfully shape them.

Tweeze with the grain. Unless you have your brows waxed at a salon, tweezing is the most practical way to shape your brows. For best results Salman says that you should tweeze in the same direction as hair growth. To better enable your tweezers to grip brow hairs (which can be slippery because of natural hair and skin oil), apply powder lightly before tweezing.

Shape naturally, with finesse. When shaping your brows, the arch of each brow should peak over the outer edge of your pupil, says Marcia Turnier, a makeup artist and eyebrow specialist at Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Salon. If your face is very long, flatten the arch by taking a little off the top. If your face is too round, tweeze from below to accentuate the arch. If your eyes seem as though they're too close, shape the brows to widen the distance between them.

Dull the pain. Some women let their brows grow au naturel because they hate the pain of tweezing. To relieve pain, apply pressure with your fingers to the eyebrow area for 10 to 15 seconds after each hair is removed, says Salman. Then, if the area still feels a little tingly, apply a cold compress for 5 minutes to soothe the area.

OVERTWEEZED OR SPARSE BROWS

If you've overtweezed your brows, the only real solution is to let them grow in for four to five weeks. If your natural brow line is sparse, experts offer these tips for making your brows look fuller.

Pick up a pencil. If your brows are permanently or temporarily sparse and need further help, fill in the "missing" hairs with a sharp eyebrow pencil that's a shade darker than your eyebrow, suggests Turnier. If your eyebrows are black, use black. To further keep the pencil's work from becoming too obvious, use short, feathery strokes and brush with an eyebrow brush. Extend-a-brow. If your eyes are wide-set, use an eyebrow pencil to extend your eyebrow closer to the bridge of your nose, says Turnier. If your brows stop short of the line above the outer corner of your eyes, extend them outward.

Take control. If individual hairs tend to stray out of place during the day, trim the long unruly ones with a cuticle scissor and brush them down with an old toothbrush coated lightly with hair spray, says Turnier.

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