Like many people, there are a lot of things I haven’t done since my pre-pandemic days. For example, I haven’t been to a concert, flown on a plane, or even left the state. (I’m dying for a vacation.) But when it comes to my beauty rituals, they’ve pretty much gone back to normal. I get my currently bleach-blonde hair regularly touched up, I’m back to my intricate nail art and gel extensions, I’ve gotten tons of facials, and I’ve even tried new treatments, including Botox and fillers. There’s one thing, however, that I still haven’t done: my brows.
Back in 2020, Who What Wear senior beauty editor Erin Jahns asked me which beauty treatment I realized I didn’t really need. "It’s not fancy, per se, but not getting my brows done hasn’t bothered me the least, so maybe I’ve gotten used to letting these hairy caterpillars grow,” I told her. Famous last words! Save for a mild pluck here and there, these eyebrows had remained untouched since the "before times.” (Though, I did come close to getting them microbladed but decided I wasn’t ready to take the plunge just yet.) While my unruly brows didn’t bother me too much, I recently decided it was time to finally get these babies taken care of after three years of negligence. So I put my brows in the hands of the experts and paid a visit to the good ol’ folks at Anastasia Beverly Hills.
Because I’m currently blonde (and usually have pink hair), I wondered if I should be changing my brow shade at all. "You’ll actually want to base your brow-product shade on the color of your brows rather than the color of the hair on your head,” says Anastasia Soare, the brand's CEO and founder. "If you have dark brows, choose a product one shade lighter than your natural brow color. If you have lighter brows, choose a product one to two shades darker.” She also says to pay attention to correctly matching your hair’s warm or cool undertone. Over at ABH, brow artist Jasmine Kidd brought my brows back to life, cleaning them up with a wax and tweeze before showing me how the Golden Ratio Eyebrow Shaping Method would work on my face.
The first thing Kidd did was swipe highlighter underneath the lowest part of my brow to create a sort of stencil that I could follow to shape my brow. (I never use brow highlighter, so I appreciated this tip.)
Then, picking up brow powder with a brush, Kidd began mapping out my golden ratio by drawing lines, which she says I shouldn’t worry about because they can be erased later.
She then began gently applying powder with the angled brush to the bottom edge of my brow, using the remaining brow hairs as a guide. Next up was a brow pen, which she used to draw random lines over my hairs. Finally, she took a spoolie and combed the hairs, blending the pen into my brows. Perfection.
Even though I wasn’t a newbie to doing my brows, I learned a lot during this session. Aside from the highlighter, I realized I had been using brow pens incorrectly this whole time. Oops! It’ll take some practice to perfect the Golden Ratio technique myself, but thanks to Anastasia and Kidd, I have a whole new outlook on how I do my brows.
All of the Brow Products You Need to Master the Golden Ratio
The first step to doing your brows, this highlighting pencil is dual ended to create the foundation you need. The matte end will help you draw that base or "stencil,” and the shimmery end can actually help soften it. It also contains vitamin E, so it feels great against your skin.
This must-have brow powder provides sheer to medium coverage and comes with two shades per compact.
Use this ultrafine pencil to fill in any spots where you overplucked your brows in the 2000s. The tip perfectly creates fine, hairlike strokes with a formula that won’t smudge no matter what.
This waterproof brow pen will help your eyebrows appear fuller with just a few strokes and a spoolie to blend it in. It’s easier to use than you think!
Keep this brush on hand to apply brow powder, brush unruly brows, and blend in your brow pen.
The final touch for your brows, this gel will keep your hairs in place so you won’t mess up all that hard work you just did.
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