Happy New Year to all of you out there! I usually don’t make resolutions because I hate the disappointment in myself when I inevitably wane in enthusiasm for whatever I’ve decided to start/stop doing.  HOWEVER (yes, I’m yelling that), this blog was a new year’s resolution of sorts and I’m proud to still have it as an outlet for beauty/hair/food/random information that I want to subject you to share with you. Even more, you all warm the cockles of my heart when you sent me messages about how useful you find this blog. Thank you. This year’s sole resolution is to write down or take advantage of more of my ideas and impulses. Remember, it’s not the people who have the ideas that succeed, it’s the people who act on them. Deee dee dee dee.

On to the brow definition tutorial. Last week, I posted an introduction about the Back to Basics . I am starting with the two most important things on any woman’s (and men for that matter) face: eyebrows

. If eyes are considered the windows to the soul, the eyebrows are the window treatments. They frame, direct attention to, and compliment they eyes…and the whole face really. If not properly shaped or defined, they end up being a huge distraction from all the wonderful things about your face. But, you know, crazy eyebrows can come in handy if you want to deflect from a horrible scar on your face. *shrug*.

So here is my step-by-step pictorial on how to define your eyebrows.  Please see the corresponding explanation to go with the pictures below. If you’ve missed the series on shaping the eyebrows, see here and here.

Top Row (L to R):

WARNING: I am not into that somebody-just-snatched-me-by-my-ponytail eyebrow look, nor the I-want-to-be-Norma-Desmond drag-queen eyebrow look. I try to keep some sense of balance in this tutorial. So if you are looking for any of the aforementioned brow looks, this site might not be helpful for you. 

1) Naked brow.

2) If you have sparse patches of hair in your eyebrows, using a brow pencil first can be a good way of outlining and filling in those bald spots. I prefer MAC’s precision, self-sharpening brow pencil. I am using the colour “Stud” (blackened brown).  I run a soft, but precise line underneath my natural eyebrow to outline the bottom portion of my brows. You can use a coloured brow gel with a slanted brow brush as an alternative.

3). I outline the upper portion of my eyebrows. I do this for precision and also to put my brows on the same horizontal plane. Let me explain. I tend to involuntarily quirk my right eyebrow, so it sometimes appears that one eyebrow is higher than the other (see “before” photo in first collage of this post). This bugs me. To combat that a little bit, I draw a line underneath  (and on top of) my right eyebrow to be slightly lower than the lines of the left brow. This way, when I quirk my right brow, I don’t look so off-kilter. Anal, I know.

4) Use a stiff, slanted eyebrow brush to comb through your brows. This both grooms the hair and softens the outlines you’ve drawn.

Bottom Row (L to R):

5) Using the stiff, slanted eyebrow bush, take a brow powder or eye shadow (in similar colour to the pencil or brow gel you just used). This powder should be matte. Please do not use anything shimmery, as it will produce “hot mess” eyebrows. I use MAC’s “Cross Cultural” eye shadow, which is a neutral deep brown. Be light on the powder, as you can always keep going back in to add more. Start running the brush through your brows, starting about 1/3 of the way from the inner brow (part closest to centre of the forehead). Any left-over shadow can be run through the hair closest to the centre of the forehead. If your brows are naturally thinner toward the inner part of your brows, please lighten up the colour in that area.  Too much unnaturally heavy colour in that area tends to make your eyes look too close together.

6) OPTIONAL: Use a clear brow gel, wax or clear mascara to set the brow hairs in place. If your hairs are short, or you are sometimes lazy like me, this is an unnecessary step.

7) OPTIONAL:  To bring greater definition and clarity to the brow area, use a creamy concealer (one shade lighter than your foundation) and concealer brush to highlight right underneath the brow. You can do something similar along the upper edge of your eyebrow, but use your foundation or a concealer similar in tone to your foundation. I hate seeing light patches above a woman’s eyebrows that are obviously contrasting with the colour of her foundation.

8) Voila! Finished brows. This is a lot of explanation for something that essentially takes two-three minutes once you get used to it.

I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you have suggestions or even your own tips, please feel to leave them in the comment section or send me personal feedback .