makeup

OWN IT!

photos: emma tempest + max abadian/post design: eunice chun

All my life I’ve tried to reshape my naturally straight brows to create the illusion of an arch. I know I’m not alone on this one! But just like learning to love short lashes, I’ve not only made peace with my arch-less brows, I’ve found the beauty in them. Most of the time, what we’re born with is how we look the prettiest (ok, I’m drawing the line at unibrows except Frida Kahlo could make a lovely argument on the contrary!). But sometimes we get influenced by what society deems is beautiful and we try to transform our unique features into theirs. So I’m taking this beautiful Day 2 in 2012 to encourage all of us to embrace what we have, starting with our brows. If you were born with a naturally high arch, love it and groom it like Lauren demonstrated in our Brow 101 tutorial. If you were born with straight brows, own them too. Here are six of the countless options you can do with straight brows (and since I’m sharing my favorite tools, all brow shapes can benefit!):

Draw individual hairs with a super fine pencil. I love the Diorshow Brow Styler. $28

For a heavily-shaded look, use a felt-tip brow pen like this one: Anastasia Brow Pen. $21

To pencil them in and tint them, I love Revlon Brow Fantasy Pencil + Gel. $7.39

To tame them, try Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara. $4.63

To give them a quick groom while leaving them au natural, use a wand like this e.l.f. Eyebrow + Lash Wand; I prefer wands over combs or brushes. $1.49

Or for those of us obsessed with brows and well-thought-out inventions, Tom Ford’s Brow Scupltor is genius. $42. Pricey but you can use the edge of the pencil to shade, the point of it to draw individual hairs, the hidden wand to groom and there’s a built-in sharpener that you strike it against to create the slanted edge. Very impressive, Mr. Ford!

Remember that our brows really frame the eyes, so love what you’ve got and kindly don’t neglect them!