Dream Weaver in the Woods: face

DO YOUR BROWS || Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Caramel

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Hi everyone! Brows are an essential part of everyday makeup as they create the frame for your face. You don't want to put beautiful artwork in a janky frame, right? No! So do your brows!!

There are multiple ways to go about it, there are tinted and not-tinted gels, powders and pencils which you can use to define the edges of your brows as well as fill in any sparse areas. In my case, I have very light coloured, thin and sparse eyebrows with patchy areas. If I don't fill them in, in most photos it can appear like I don't have any brows at all and especially in photos that used flash (not good)! Some girls are gifted with full, coloured brows and only need to worry about maintenance, but for me, any more than tweezing on or two hairs might do more harm then good.

For the sake of this post I'm going to present to you one kind of product from the brand Anastasia, which is well-known for their eyebrow powders.

In general, the packaging reminds me of some Korean brands with the elegant and feminine brand logo and sleek packaging. Very chic and pretty.

In colour Caramel

With this particular powder line you get two shades in one. This is really nice as it gives you more choice and range to create a more natural brow look. You can use one, the other or a mixture of both to make your brows look less one-dimensional. In my case, I use the left shade for the inside of my brow and the right (darker) side for the tail in order to give it a really clean definition. With Anastasia's powder duo you also get the bonus of a mini-mirror just so you don't need to be squinting in your bathroom one (or wherever you put on your face in the morning). Pigmentation is also good.

If you don't want to spend money on a separate eyebrow product, feel free to experiment with eyeshadows you have! Try finding a neutral that's close to your eyebrow colour. Obviously stick to matte shades and try to avoid anything with shimmers or glitters. You don't want your eyebrows looking like a disco ball!

Anastasia's doubled-ended no. 7 brush with angled and spooly ends

If you decide to go the powder route you're gonna want to pick up a couple of useful tools (pictured above). The first is an angled brush of some kind. There are dedicated eyebrow brushes that are smaller than your regular brush so that it can really get in there for the fine details. An angled eyeliner brush could also do the trick. You use this in applying the powder to the brows, especially for filling in any sparse areas or defining the tail.

Next is a spooly brush. This is gonna help blend in the pigments as well as groom any unruly hairs. This should probably be one of your last steps in doing your brows since some hairs can be looking a little spunky after having brushed through them with powder. To set brows you can use a gel formula, but if your brows are pretty tame a good comb-through with a spooly is usually enough.

For travel, I recommend a dual-ended brush to save on space. The spooly end might also help to identify what is your eyebrow tool and what is your eyeliner tool at first glance. (No thanks, I would not like to have black eyeliner on my eyebrows please!)

There are many different ways to fill in your brows for different effects and there are tons of photo guides online as well as stencils you can purchase if you're still unsure. The best thing is practice though, so don't feel discouraged if you end up giving yourself giant rectangles the first time!