If youre not sure or comfortable in fixing your own eyebrows, I highly recommend getting an expert to shape them for you first. So what are the biggest bloopers that most women make in trying to get their eyebrows perfect? These are the most common mistakes I see when working and shaping a clients eyebrows.



First off, the round eyebrow. Or I call this, the happy eyebrow. It borders on an almost 1/2 circle shape. This happens when the tweezer keeps trying to create more of an arch, but is not sure where it is. So they keep tweezing from underneath the eyebrow in the wrong place, creating a 1/2 circle. The most extreme version is when the owner looks like theyre always raising their eyebrows, hence, the happy face. More subtle is where its not so high, but the line of the eyebrow is still a semi circle.

Fix: Straighten the eyebrow line from the beginning to the arch, so the line is more of a straight line. This takes away from the semi circle.

The second mistake? Arch in the wrong place. Or, in most cases, the arch is too far out. This happens when the arch is created by a pencil lining up to the side of the nose, up to the outside iris of the eye. Nope. Thats not the right placement. What happens is that the eyes actually end up looking crossed eyed (especially in photos), and does not make the eyes look wide set, like they wish it does.

Fix: Tweeze a few more hairs so the arch moves in closer to the middle of the eye.

The straight eyebrow. Yes, this is a mistake. I love Jennifer Aniston, truly, but her eyebrows just get me. Why? They have become a straight line. Or at least theyre on their way there. A straight eyebrow is when the arch of the eyebrow either never existed (rare) or tweezing happened too much on top, which takes away the arch and straightens the eyebrow.

Fix: This is the hardest eyebrow to fix. Based on whats on the eyebrow in the front and the end, sometimes more of an arch can be created, but the only way to fix is to hold off tweezing for a while and see what grows back to try to recreate more of an arch the next time around.

Another eyebrow mistake, is using stencils to create your eyebrow shape. Nothing gets me more than seeing a stenciled on eyebrow. You know, the super dark, thick, harshly drawn on eye shadow that looks just too fake. The good part of stencils? Everyone thinks they can draw their eyebrows on easy. The bad part? It doesnt look like YOUR eyebrows.

You really cant do a cookie cutter approach to shaping and drawing on eyebrows. Why? Because everyones bone structure and eye shape is different, and your eyebrow shape really has to do with the bone thats underneath the brow. That determines the eyebrow hairs and shape that are uniquely yours.

Fix: Draw on eye shadow with a super thin, soft, small angle brush. Not the thick, black hard angle brush. Thats too hard and rough. The softer the brush, the softer the look. You want people to look at your eyes, not your eyebrows. Take a eye shadow color thats 1-2 shades lighter than your hair color. Draw on in the middle of the eyebrow, and then blend out to the bottom of the eyebrow line. Take a soft baby toothbrush, or a clean mascara wand applicator, and brush the shadow through. Viola. Soft eyebrows that look real.

The last, and yes, the worse mistake in trying to create the perfect eyebrow, is cut or trimmed eyebrows.

Well, this I base on a per client basis. Some clients need their eyebrows trimmed (if not, theyd look like Grampa) while others just dont and they do it anyway. What happens? The super cut eyebrow that looks good for one day and then as it grows in, looks horrible. What happens next? They cut them again only to repeat the vicious cycle. Whats wrong? The eyebrows are cut way too short and are often trimmed in the wrong way.

Fix: What do do? If your eyebrows are in a super cut cycle, let them grow in a few days (I know, hard, but worth it) and then recut them the right way. Whats the right way? Use small manicure scissors, NOT regular scissors. Then trim in the direction of the inner eyebrow to the outside. Make sure you trim a good 1/4-1/2 above the eyebrow, not right on top of the eyebrow. Why? When you brush your eyebrows, you need the length to fill in the eyebrow and create the shape. If theyre too short, you end up with choppy, harsh eyebrows that only look for 1-2 days.