Bad eyebrows can be the ruin of a gorgeous face. Sadly, this memo seems to have missed a few ladies of colour. So they trim their eyebrows within an inch of their life, some even let them grow wild in abundance. The unlucky eyebrows get fully removed, leaving no strand behind. Like most ladies, I have experimented with different shapes. Hence I do try not to be too judgmental when I see bad eyebrows. I can even confess to going pluck mad more times than I care to recall. I had to seek professional intervention. It was a low place to be in. My vanity is yet to recover.

Get in shape:

Our eyebrow shapes are uniquely suited to our faces. Stencils can only offer generic brow shapes that may not suit everyone. This why I would rather have my eyebrows threaded, waxed or tweezed by a professional the first time I try a new eyebrow shape perfect for my face. I have seen a trend in some black beauty salons where they use blades to shape the eyebrows. I am wary of this practice for health and maintenance reasons. Shaving means within two days I will have stubble and I don’t have time for that. In my books shaving is up there with using hair removing creams to shape the eyebrows. I’ve been there, done that and got burned. Whatever professional brow shaping option you opt for, your new lovely shape can easily be maintained by a pair of good quality tweezers.

Shaving shame:

Never go eyebrow-less, even for a golden circle ticket to a Maxwell’s concert. You need eyebrows for the definition of the face and the framing of the eyes. Having only drawn on eyebrows on one’s face is rather unsettling to look at. I should know. One of my wacky cousins decided to throw a grand rebellion by removing all her eyebrows with a Gillette Minora blade. To this day I cannot recall why the eyebrows had to be a sacrifice at the altar of teen spirit. Needless to say, she had to rock the drawn eyebrow look for two weeks with hilarious results. Her eyebrow pencils occasionally went missing and sometimes she came home with one eyebrow missing. This was long before we knew of long lasting tinted brow liquids.

Fill in or dye:

Dark eyebrow with light coloured hair can look a bit harsh. Powders, gels and pencils are wonderful fillers that can also tone down the dark colour of sparse eyebrows. Trick with using fillers is keeping the strokes light and short to mimic the natural hair growth. Solid lines look unnatural.

For the ladies blessed with thick eyebrows, only an eyebrow tint can lighten the eyebrows to compliment the hair. The rule of thumbs is to keep the eyebrows a shade or two lighter than your hair. Then again rules are made to be broken, dark eyebrows with lighter hair is not such a beauty faux pas for black women, thanks to our skin tones.

Invest in quality:

The beauty market is busting at the seams with brow grooming products. Beauty salons can even recommend and/ or sell products best suited to your need. Eyebrow grooming tools product reviews and recommendations help to narrow down the field but hands on testing is supreme. You can also try out eyebrow growing products to help thicken thin eyebrows.

My favourites:

• Empro Triangular Eyebrow Pencil – R199 (Placecol Fresh Beauty)
• SheerPrecision Tinted Liquid Brow Enhancer – R135 (Justine)
• Threading – R80 (Eyecandy – Woolworths)
• Eyebrow wax – R50 (Dischem Beauty Clinic) & R60 (Placecol)

With the right tools and technique you’ll come to love and accept your eyebrows with their primped natural shape. Thanks to vintage Generations, they proved that TV and magazine beauty fads are not always meant for real life. Allow me to blink my imaginary diamante studded butterfly sized fake eyelashes while I feel smart and wise.

Article by Meka Mpofu