I’m well aware that this is a #FirstWorldProblems issue, but I’ve got to admit that I spend an alarming amount of my time worrying about my eyebrows.
Like most other girls of my age in the UK, in my teens I definitely followed the ‘less is more’ mantra for my eyebrows and so between the ages of about 13 to 18 – okay, 13 to 21 (embarrassing) – I barely had any eyebrow to speak of. Eventually, big eyebrows came into fashion and we all realised that we looked like chavvy gimps. The challenge then was how to go about growing out our eyebows and, even more problematically, what the hell we were supposed to do with them afterwards.
Eyebrow shaping is a tricky thing, no matter what magazines tell you about just ‘following the natural arch’. What the hell? I plucked away my natural arch years ago and it’s not showing much sign of coming back.
Many people therefore choose to leave eyebrow shaping to the professionals – but even that is a risky business. Once I spent months and months religiously growing out my eyebrows, only to go and have them threaded by a woman who – despite me saying over and over again “I just want them tidying up” – went on to completely rip out all of my hairs and leave me with baldy chicken skin. So, if we can’t trust the professionals to shape our eyebrows, what can we do? The answer is simple – eyebrow stencils.
What Are Eyebrow Stencils?
Eyebrow stencils are things I only learned about a few months ago. I think they’re mainly used for girls who draw on/fill in their eyebrows every day and want to achieve the same flawless shape each time, but they can also be used for initially shaping.
I bought a pack of stencils from eBay, which you can get for the tiny price of £1.29. This came with 4 stencils, all different shapes so you can choose the right one for you. Some were super thin, so I opt for C2 which is the thickest shape of the 4. If you’re not sure which stencil to use then you can always outline with each of them in turn to decide which one suits you best before plunging in with the plucking.
How to Use Eyebrow Stencils
Shaping your eyebrows with stencils is pretty straightforward. Use the stencils and make an outline of the shape on your eyebrows. You could do this with powder or pencil, but I prefer to use a liquid eyeliner pen – mainly because I think it looks really funny. Apologies I couldn’t get any photos of this actual step – I needed a third hand coming out of my arse to do so, and unfortunately humans haven’t evolved to have that yet.
Once you have your shape, start plucking away around the outline with gay abandon. However scary it might be, my top tip is to trust the stencil. Don’t get attached to where your eyebrow hairs used to be and feel like you’re plucking too much – you need to follow the stencil if you want to get the proper shape. Also, that old saying about never plucking above your eyebrow – I’d say just ignore it. The majority of the time when you get your brows done professionally they’ll go above the eyebrow, so I think it’s just one of those beauty myths.
Once you’ve finished plucking, wash off the outline and say hello to your new eyebrows. As well as getting rid of a lot of unneeded hair, I think the stencils are also brilliant for showing you the parts of your eyebrows that you need to grow back. Particularly when it comes to the middle part of my brows, I have a tendency to over-pluck, and carry on plucking whenever the strays grow back. The stencils should show you where your eyebrows should really start from, meaning that you know to grow these bits out (and can fill in with powder/pencil in the meantime).
Overall I think eyebrow stencils are a good DIY eyebrow shaping tool, and are perfect for those of us who are a bit scared of our own eyebrows. For such a cheap price they’re definitely worth giving a go.
What do you use to shape your eyebrows? Do you ever DIY or do you trust the professionals?
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Love this so much, I proper lolled at the third hand out your arse. I agree with you, I have to pluck above the eyebrow because I’d look like a yeti otherwise and have no shape whatsoever! Think I’ll give the stencils a try, great idea x
Claire | AgentSmyth
I completely agree, some people’s eyebrow hairs go quite high above their actual brow – so why would you leave that?! Hahaha so glad you liked the post (and crudeness) though, thank you! xx
This is such a good idea, I never even thought to use eyebrow stencils as an outline for plucking. I’m in the process of growing mine back in after a horrendous plucking job done by a professional… might have to give this a go myself at home when I have enough eyebrow to play with!
S xo.
blinkeredbarbie.blogspot.com
Aw poor you falling victim to the professional over-plucking too! Definitely recommend giving these a whirl once they’ve grown out, at least you have a lot more control 🙂 xx
I couldn’t not stencil my eyebrows – I NEED them in my life. My eyebrows are in good shape but they’re so fair, they’re practically invisible. I use the Christian Eyebrows stencil kit in Irid Brown. Semi-permanent awesomeness!!!
Ah, Lauren’s exactly the same with her very blonde eyebrows! I’ve never heard of that kit, will have to take a look 🙂 xx
I LOVE eyebrow stencils, I always use them when using the liner…usually fail proof I would say, but I will definitely take your gorgeous advice and try using them for tidying and plucking too.which I hadn’t actually thought of xxx
I hadn’t used them before because I thought they would be a bit fiddly, but they were surprisingly simple 🙂 Let me know how you find them if you use them for shaping lovely! xx