I am all about being kind to ourselves, but like most of us, there are parts of myself that I can put under the microscope and worry about. Do they look ok? How can I make mine look like hers? Do mine even look normal?
For me, it’s my brows. I lament that they’re not thick enough in this era of full arches. Mine also don’t give natural fluffiness to match up with the current thick and bushy ideals.
Some of this is possibly my own doing. Having lived through the thin brow era of Kate Moss back in the 90s, teeny brows were hot and tweezing to distraction was as normal a beauty habit as applying mascara. We plucked.
Thankfully, early in my career, one kind brow professional told me that brows should look like sisters not twins, and I will never get complete symmetry. It was the advice I needed to step away from the mirror and put down the tweezers for good. There is little more satisfying than tweezing out brow hairs, but in my case, I honestly just can’t be trusted. Once I start, it’s hard to stop myself so I handed over the keys to my brows to the professionals. It’s easily been over 10 years since I last tweezed my own brows. I’ve also used many brow serums to try and get them back to their former fullness.
That said, I don’t always get to the professionals in a timely manner – so I have had to learn how to literally put my best brows forward with clever brow trickery. When it comes to brow products, I am all in. Whether it’s brow pomades, brow gels, brow laminators, brow thickeners, brow pencils, powders or mascaras, hand them over, I’ll give them a go..
So when I was told that Anastasia Soare, founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, and queen of brows for countless A-listers (Oprah, Kris Jenner, Cindy Crawford and Kim Kardashian are all personal friends of Soare) I am keen to meet and, yes, glean her for any brow intel I haven’t picked up as a beauty journalist over the years.
We meet at the Park Hyatt in Sydney and Soare – who is equal parts fabulous, fun and beauty boss – answered all my burning brow questions. In short: Yes “thick and fluffy brows that look natural” are what we’re all still after. The thick solid brows of five years ago are dead. We should leave our brow maintenance to the professionals. And many of us are guilty of over-tweezing. “Majority of women over-tweeze their eyebrows,” says Soare. “Many are guilty of that.” Not just me then.
Anastasia also did my brows in a way that no one has ever done them before.
Proving her brow chops, after my session with Soare using her cult-status Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products, my brows were noticeably thick, fluffy and even. They literally changed the shape of my face and I looked younger instantly.
“What I like about your eyebrows is that you still have a beautiful arch,” Soare tells me as she worked away at building fullness. It’s a comment that made me look at my brows with new appreciation – perhaps they’re not that bad after all. It also dawned on me that the way we perceive ourselves can be quite different to how others do. Clearly, many lessons learnt. (And for any gaps, there is always a few well-placed flicks of a brow pencil to even things up.)
How To Shape Your Brows, According To Anastasia Beverly Soare
If you have thin brows. “You definitely need some Brow Wiz, which is a brow pencil to create hair-like strokes. BrowFreeze Gel or our Brow Wax are also great for defining and thickening brows.”
When you don’t have time. “If you are the type of person that doesn’t have much time in the morning, I suggest the Brow Definer. It’s a three in one and it’s very easy to use to get full brows fast.”
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Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer
from $44 at Adore Beauty
If you have thick brows: “If you have fuller eyebrows, you need a highlighter and a clear brow gel just to hold them and keep them together.”
Enlist a brush (and know how to use it): “Brow brushes are so important, that’s why whenever I bring out a product, I design a brush to go with it. For the Dip Brow pomade, use the spatula end of the brow brush and take very little bit into the lid, then don’t put it directly onto your brows, instead brush it into your brows using the brush. You want to create little hairs to fill the brow and create the arch.”
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Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade
from $35 at Adore Beauty
Find out what works for you: “Less is better and it’s all about placement. You want it to look natural so don’t try it for the first time right before you go out. Practice first.”
Trim but only when required: “I trim but only one [hair], not the rest.”
Highlighter is your best brow friend: “You don’t need to worry if you haven’t created a straight line [of baby hairs using your pencil], because then we go with the highlighter and clean it all up.”
The new Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Studio is located at David Jones, 310 Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC.
