All of us know how important it is to maintain our eyebrows. While it is best to leave most beauty treatments to professionals, you may need to maintain your brows between waxing and threading appointments. Trimming your eyebrows can prolong the look of your face and keep stubborn hair under control.
Trimming your eyebrows can be intimidating, but it is actually easier than you think. We asked celebrity brow stylists Joey Healy Anastasia Soare and Tonya Crooks to show us how to maintain your arches to look neat and refined all year round.
How often to trim your eyebrows
You may need to trim your eyebrows more or less frequently depending on the rate at which they grow. Healy suggests that you trim your eyebrows no more than once per week as a general rule. He says that some people may be able to get away with trimming their eyebrows less often, especially if you’re going for thicker eyebrows.
If you want to know if your eyebrows need a trim, look for hairs that are longer and outside your desired shape. Brush your eyebrows up using a spoolie for a more attractive look.
How To Trim Your Eyebrows
Cleanse your skin. Healy says this may seem out of place but it will remove product build-up such as sunscreen or brow gel that can cause brow hairs to become weighed down. Washing your skin also gets rid of excess oil that could make it difficult to get a precise haircut.
Choose the right tools. Grab a spoolie, and a pair of brow-trimming scissors. Soare explains that you need sharp, high-quality scissors to ensure a good trim. Even a millimeter difference can make a difference. We recommend the Joey Healy Precision Brow Trimmer ($28), which features an ergonomic grip that allows for complete control, as well as ABH Brow Trimming Scissors ($23).
Brush your brows to the side and up. Crooks notes that many people mistakenly brush their eyebrow hairs upwards, but this can lead to unexpected dips or sparse spots when they are combed in their natural direction. Brush the areas closest to your center up and then brush the rest in an upward angle, toward the outer side of your face.
Trim each hair downwards. Healy says to avoid giving your eyebrows a crew-cut or trimming them in a straight line. Instead, trim one hair at a downward angle. The edges will look more natural and fluffy.
Remove any stray hairs. To achieve a perfect finish, use your tweezer to remove hairs that are outside your desired shape. You may want to use a gel or comb to set the hairs, depending on your desired look.
Common Mistakes
Soare says that people often over-groom eyebrows when trimming them, and then shape the arches into a form that doesn’t fit their face. She says that the most flattering eyebrows are tailored to each individual’s unique bone structure.
The ABH Golden Ratio Shape Technique is the key to unlocking the perfect brow for you. It relies on 3 measurements: the eyebrows should start directly above your nostrils and end where the corner connects the nostril with the outer corner. And the highest point should connect the middle tip of your nose with the center of your iris.
Use an eyebrow pencil to draw in the shape of your brows before trimming any hairs.
Healy says the people who use magnifying glasses to trim their eyebrows are some of those making the most common mistakes. He explains that sometimes you can overwork them and they become really short. If you use a regular mirror in normal lighting you will be able to see where you are going when you cut them.
