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The expert’s guide to celebrity eyebrows

main post image, eyebrows, by healthista

Discover your perfect eyebrows with this complete guide, put together with the help of Karen Betts, Britain’s biggest eyebrow guru and some celebrity inspiration

Eyebrows are literally everything and leaving the house without filling them in is simply a no-go. Whether they’re fat, thick, thin, bold, straight, arched or non-existent, eyebrows can drastically change how we look.

We’ve spent  years threading, plucking, shaping, waxing, colouring and filling, in fact we’ve probably had so much practice we could do our eyebrows in the dark. But having said that, have you really found your perfect brow?

With the help of Karen Betts, one of the UK’s best permanent cosmetic artists who shapes high-profile brows for a living using semi-permanent make-up, and some celebrity inspiration, we unravel the hottest brow trends and the secret ways to finding your perfect brow.

eyebrows
Eyebrows are a major facial feature and can change the way you look

Step 1: Face shape matters

First things first, before you lay a finger on an eyebrow pencil, look at the basics.

‘Face shape is the first thing everybody should look at, even make up artists that are drawing their own eyebrows on at home’, Betts said.

By simply choosing the right shape, arch and curvature, you are able to knock a few years off your age, as your best features open up, leaving your eyes and face to become more enhanced.

‘If you’ve got a long face, you’d want to widen it so we make the eyebrows wider. If somebody’s got a rounder a face, we don’t want to have wide eyebrows because it will make it look even wider, we want to bring them in closer.

With every face shape we look to create that perfect symmetrical face

‘What we aim to do with face shape is create the ideal face shape, which is oval. So with every face shape we look to create that perfect symmetrical face,’ Betts explains.

With this in mind, we’ve put together the ultimate face shape guide which will help you to figure out your perfect eyebrow match.

The square face

‘A clean, sharp style balances out the hard lines that frame a square,’ says Betts.

Square Face Collage
Olivia Wilde, Natalie Portman and Angelina Jolie

Square  jawlines,  as  seen  on  Natalie  Portman,  Olivia  Wilde  and Angelina  Jolie, define  the  angularity  of  the  face,  so your  brows  really  need  to  compliment  this.  Soft, curved  and rounded  brows or  arched  brows are  the  way to go as they help to define the cheekbones and temple area – just be careful not to go to high with the arches.

The rounded face

‘Avoid accentuating the width of the face by keeping brows slightly shorter – this will give the illusion of a longer shape.’

Rounded Face Collage
Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence, Selena Gomez

If your face is round like Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence or Selena Gomez, you want to make sure you keep your brows shorter and very angular with a high arch. The angular shape gives shape and length to your face, making  a ‘false’ bone structure which isn’t usually present in round faces. The high arch will also frame your face and widen your eyes.

if your face is round like Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence or Selena Gomez, you want to make sure you keep your brows shorter and very angular with a high arch

The long face

‘It’s really important to add extended length to the tails of your brows – this will add width to a long face’.

The Long Face Collage
Sarah Jessica Parker, Alessandra Ambrosio and Liv Tyler

Straight brows with extended length helps soften facial features and add width to your natural face shape. However, make sure that the eyebrow isn’t too long as the eye can then be made to appear droopy – keep the tails just longer than the corner of the eye and stick with styles sported by Sarah Jessica Parker, Alessandra Ambrosio and Liv Tyler.

The oval face

‘Oval faces are well proportioned allowing them to be the perfect shape for any brow shape, but I’d recommend sticking to a classic, bold brow,’ said Betts.

The Oval Face Collage
Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Alexa Chung

Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Alexa Chung are all blessed with an oval face and are able to rock any type of brow, whether it be arched, wide, long or short. If like them you have an oval face shape, stick to a bold and beautiful brow to keep your look classic and sophisticated.

Step 2: Getting the look

So, we’ve figured out which eyebrow goes with which face shape. Now it’s time to get the celebrity look.

If you want to keep things looking au natural, where you feel like your eyebrows are, indeed, your own eyebrows, then Betts has a few ideas.

Betts says ‘ombré’ eyebrows are the newest way to achieve a natural effect, because of the use of different colours where it goes from darker to lighter or lighter to darker.

Unlike the ombré hair trend, ombré eyebrows are much more subtle. The colour transition can add depth to thinner eyebrows, or give you a bolder look as the arch can be made to look darker.

You can give ombré brows a go with an eyebrow tint, pencil or, as Betts suggests, with the machine method.

Ombre eyebrows are a great way to achieve a natural look Right: fruitypebblesaesthetics Left: Alin Pescina Makeup
Ombre eyebrows are a great way to achieve a natural look
Right: fruitypebblesaesthetics Left: Alin Pescina Makeup

 

The new microblading

If you’re still after the natural look but wanting it to be more permanent, Betts suggests trying microblading – a new and alternative method for those who are worried about having permanent tattooed eyebrows.

Microblading is one of the more recent revelations for eyebrows, as it’s manual method is more semi-permanent compared to traditional hairstrokes.

‘It looks like a pen, you put different sized cartridge needles in there, and it’s all in the skill of your hand and the free flow of your hand being able to create detailed hairstrokes, says Betts.

‘You lay a pigment on the surface of your skin, leave it to soak in and then it absorbs and takes on the fine strokes from the needles – it channels what you’ve done with the needles.’

The microblade creates stunning, fine, detailed strokes, which is great for a subtle natural look or alternatively, a bolder, more smokey effect, depending on how you like it.

The treatment usually lasts around six to nine months, after that the colour fades, leaving your eyebrows how they originally were – unless, of course, you go back and get more colour added.

‘Because the strokes are finer, that fine detail can exfoliate quicker than shaded or a thicker hair stroked eyebrow, as the fine detail fades quicker,’ Betts said.

before and after, by healthista
A before and after of the KB microblading treatment on blogger, Laura Zito

 

If none of these styles or methods tickle your fancy, of course you can always stick to your eyebrow pencils, powders, gels and tints.

And there’s just one more crucial thing that Betts would want us to remember in the guide to getting your perfect celebrity brow – ‘if you have good eyebrows, people don’t even realise you’ve had them done.’

The KB Pro treatment uses both the machine (for softer shading, like the ombré) and microblading (for more detailed strokes). Microblading treatments cost £895 and include full treatments by Karen Betts.

karen betts, eyebrow
Karen Betts

 

Karen Betts is one of the UK’s leading authorities in permanent make up and medical tattooing, with over 20 years experience.

She also runs the successful Nouveau Beauty Group of companies, which includes the well known HD Brows, Nouveau Lashes and Nouveau Contour brands.

 

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