All About Eyebrows: Part 2 - Maintenance

Continuing with my All About Eyebrows series, I wanted to talk more in-depth about how I maintain my eyebrows.

I feel like maintenance is the most important thing for caring for your brows because it helps keep your eyebrows clean and crisp looking.

I used to be one of those girls who would go and get my eyebrows done, wait two weeks for them to get unruly and go and get them done again - no plucking or maintenance in between visits. But since I've started doing my eyebrows myself, I've started to get into plucking/threading my eyebrows daily, if not every 2-3 days.

Brow Hair:
I have two types of hair around my brows, thick hair and very fine hair.

For me, my brow shape can get messed up quite easily because of the little fine hairs, these can be hard to pluck and usually get picked out when I thread. If I don't frequently clean up my brows and these fine hairs, it can contribute to the shape of my brows becoming unruly and less crisp (if that makes sense, I hope I'm not losing you here, but more on this a bit later!)

In the photo below (click to view it full size) you can see what I'm talking about when I mention those fine hairs:


How Do I Maintain My Brows?
I posted earlier about how I was all about threading my eyebrows. Since I can't really thread my eyebrows 100% myself, I've started plucking hairs under my brow, and threading the fine hairs above my brow.

I can only thread the top of my brows because it doesn't require me to stretch the skin taut, where as if I were to thread below my brows, I can't do it myself because I would need to stretch the skin (which I can't do it I'm using both hands to thread).

I use regular thread and make a loop and thread (you can check Pursebuzz's video here to get an idea on how to thread your eyebrows yourself).

For thicker hairs, I like to use tweezers:


I usually use the pointed tweezers picture on the bottom, but I find that I mostly end up breaking the hair and causing kind of "ingrown" hairs. This is because I try to pluck too soon and can't grip the hair well enough to pull it out, and I end up breaking the hair. So I recently went out and invested in a set of Tweezerman tweezers - these ones here - I've used them a bit so far, and to be honest I don't notice a HUGE difference, but we'll see how they work out in the long run.

How I Do My Eyebrows:
I cannot stress the importance of doing your eyebrows during the day by a window and with a hand held mirror. I find it's a lot easier to get every-single-hair including those fine pesky ones as well. Before I do my make-up (while I'm waiting for my moisturizer to sink in) I usually check for any stray hairs that need to be plucked, and that is when I take the time to do it. It usually doesn't take longer than 5 minutes if I'm plucking daily.

Every now and then I'll get my eyebrows threaded just to clean things up precisely again (I usually go once every 2-3 months), but mostly I focus on doing my eyebrows myself. If you're unfamiliar with threading, check my post here on that talks about it in more detail. Below is a photo of my eyebrows right after I've had them threaded:


Since my brow hairs can get pretty long, I usually trim them once a week using a tiny pair of brow scissors as shown below. I use a spoolie (a cleaned out mascara wand) to comb my brows so they're all going in the same direction.


How Do I Shape My Brows?
To be honest, that's something I haven't really done myself. Over time and having my eyebrows threaded by someone else, I've gotten it to the shape that I have today, which follows the whole "perfect brow" form:


If you have been following my blog for a while, you would of noticed how my brows thickness can fluctuate. As shown in the photos below:

^ Thicker brows (my brows are filled in here).


^ Thicker brows (my brows are filled in here).


^ Thinner brows (my brows are filled in here).

This is due to the fact that on my brows, on the underside of the inner part of my brows, I have to pay extra attention to a line of fine hairs to pluck, because if I don't pluck them, they can make my brows thicker.

And that's basically it as far as maintaining my brows. I hope I covered everything and didn't leave anything out. If you guys have any questions or anything, leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

In my last and final installment in my "All About Eyebrows" series, I'll cover finally how I fill in my brows. (:

Threading! & I Need Your Opinion On HAIR!

I just wanted to do a quick post all about threading eyebrows. Hopefully this will give some of you insight on what it exactly is, how it works, the results, and all that jazz. (:

First of all, I may be a bit bias because threading is the only thing that I've done to my eyebrows ever since I started getting them done. Here's two of the main reasons as of why:

1) It's CHEAP!
The most I've paid for getting my eyebrows threaded is $2-$4. On average, usually where I go it's $3. Not that bad right? Especially if you're going every week or every 2 weeks, depending on what your up keep is.

2) It's PRECISE.
I have a lot of tiny, fine hair around my eyebrows, and threading get's all of them, so that I'm left with a very clean eyebrow. More on this later.

First, what is threading? Threading is a Asian/South Asian method of hair removal. It's done by using a cotton thread, made into a loop and twisted to remove hair at the root by twisting it out.
There's a good video by Pursebuzz on how it works exactly.

Does it hurt?
Honestly, the best way I can describe threading is that it's 'high-speed plucking.' If you have troubles with plucking, you'll have problems with threading!

Also, if you thread/wax/pluck your eyebrows the week before your period, your skin is a lot more sensitive, so it'll hurt more. So I'd advice you girls to go the week after your period, cause it'll hurt a lot less.

How Long Does It Last?
Threading lasts depending on how your hair grows, I get regrowth a couple of days after, and I usually wait and get my eyebrows done every 1-2 weeks, depending when I'm not feeling lazy.

Over time, Does The Hair Come Back Finer?
I've been threading my eyebrows for about 3 years now, and I haven't noticed my hair coming back less or finer, so I can't vouch for that.

Negatives Of Threading:

There are a couple of times when the lady doing my eyebrows has scabbed my skin. This is because she went over the same spot over and over again repeatedly to get out an ingrown hair or something. It hasn't left any scars or anything, but there are small scabs that last a couple of days.

You should probably exfoliate your skin a day or so before you go to get your eyebrows threaded, because motion can 'scrape' off the top dead layer of skin on the area and make you look flaky.

Most of the time, the ladies that thread my eyebrows don't know much about eyebrow shape or what would be the perfect shape with your face. So, I would recommend threading to someone who want's to just upkeep their brows. But, if you're looking to get them shaped, I would suggest going to a salon and then threading your eyebrows to maintain the shape.

Now, here are some pictures so you can get an idea of how it looks like:

Before:

After:

No close ups unfortunately, but you can clearly see the difference. If you guys haven't tried threading, I would highly recommend it!

In that look I used:
UDPP (as a primer)
MAC Woodwinked e/s (all over the lid and a bit into the crease)
MAC Mulch e/s (in the other third of the lid)
MAC Espresso e/s (lightly in the crease)
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara
Bonnie Bell Eye Definer e/l in Glow

I have this kick to get my hair cut, and I really like the new fall trend, "the lob." It's basically a long version of the bob. I would probably have to straighten my hair to keep it looking sleek, but I don't mind so much because I'd have a lot less hair. What do you guys think? Could I pull it off?

The look on the right, ovbiously, lol.

Let's leave off making fun of Kanye West:

"I hope Kanye doesn't show up to Patrick Swayze's funeral. "I'll let you get back to your funeral in a minute... but Michael Jackson had the best death of the year. Just sayinnn."

From Texts From Last Night

Till laterrrr! (: