Thanks to style icons like Drake, Lebron James, and Chris Evans, beard shaping has become an integral part of male grooming rituals, but a definitive facial feature that seems oft-neglected by even the most well-preserved men is their eyebrows. Ignoring them is a mistake. As Tom Ford once said, it’s just about the only thing on your face (beside your beard) that can be reshaped without cosmetic surgery. Even more, they only need a little maintenance — once a month at most — to yield swoon-worthy results. Just take a look at Jon Hamm in Mad Men, or Zachary Quinto in American Horror Story. Part of their leading-man allure was their well-threaded, moisturized brows.
Whether you’re a guy who frequents an eyebrow expert, or are just looking to shape your own brows for the first time, you’re likely at a loss of what to do as we navigate grooming during these uncertain times. After all, some of us have already been experimenting with our hair; dyeing it, bleaching it, or even buzzing your hair off. But when it comes to our brows, we should take a little more precaution, as one mistake can leave long-term effects since they grow much more slowly than our manes.
While estheticians make eyebrow shaping look easy, it’s actually quite difficult if you haven’t done it on your own before. It’s easy to over-do them with trimmers, or let them pass the “shabby-chic” stage i.e., caterpillar brows. With the help of Chanel brow expert Jimena Garcia, here are a few must-know products and tips in order to keep your brows natural looking.
Exfoliate and Moisturize
Before you get into actually shaping your brows, it’s important that you’re giving them the proper care they deserve. Men tend to have more ingrown hairs than women, so going through your brows with a face exfoliant helps hair grow faster. You can easily make a natural exfoliant yourself with a salt and olive oil mixture.
You should also moisturize your eyebrows with castor oil or argan oil (applying it with a soft-haired brush) at least once a week to leave your brows softer, nourished, and easier to shape.
How to Shape Your Eyebrows
Trimming
For a more natural look, try trimming them with a pair of eyebrow scissors. To achieve this, use a soft-haired brush and comb upward on the brow so you can easily notice stray and excess hair. Then, using your scissors, begin snipping away around the arch of your brow line. Don’t trim in a straight line — snip hair by hair to create a bit of unevenness so that they don’t look too manicured.
Make sure to not trim the tail of your brows, as doing so will make them appear shorter than they should be. You should also be cautious around the unibrow area. A steadfast rule is to always leave a little more than what you think would be appropriate.
Tweezers
Plucking is the most precise way to groom your eyebrows, and Garcia recommends opting for an angled tweezer, which allows for an easy grip (straight tweezers are for ingrown hairs). For best results, tweeze after a hot shower, as the steam helps loosen sebum and debris under the skin so plucking your hair won’t hurt as much.
Precision Razor
Men have a tendency to have more fuzz surrounding their brows, which can look messy and untamed. If you want to go for a more tailored look, a brow razor can be a lifesaver during quarantine. Similar to using a straight razor, simply glide it around the shape of your eyebrow to remove excess hair. Unlike a tweezer, a precision razor shaves fuzz without removing the actual follicle, which means it will grow back faster (great news if you make a shaping mistake).
The Best Products for Your Eyebrows
Chanel Hydra Beauty Essence Mist
A luxurious way to prepare your face for brow shaping, thanks to hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and vitamin C, combined with a proprietary formula that helps boost skin radiance. Plus, it smells amazing.
Chanel Longwear Eyebrow Gel
Using a transparent brow gel is a great tool for controlling bushy eyebrows. It works just like putting gel or pomade on your mane. Chanel’s gel is easy to apply and gives your brows a medium hold with a low shine for a natural look. Even better, its tinted formula helps your brows look even fuller.
Saie Brow Butter
An oil-based pomade with a buttery texture that provides lasting hold.
Egyptian Magic Skin Cream
Use this healing balm made from natural ingredients (olive oil, honey, bees wax, and more) after you’ve shaped your brows to prevent ingrown hairs and skin irritation.
Tweezerman Ultra Precision Mini Slant Tweezer
An extremely durable tweezer that lives up to its name.
Merchant and Mills Fine Work Gold Scissors
A gold snip that’s as beautiful as it is effective.
Beauty 360 Precision Razors
This easily sculpts your brows without uprooting your hair follicles so you won’t have to deal with pesky ingrown hair.
