PLUCKING your eyebrows is one of the fastest and least expensive ways to look better right away. Though it seems insignificant to some persons, having a well-groomed brow will bring attention to your eyes, and serve as a frame for the entire face.

So, it goes without saying that even if you’re not big on makeup, maintaining your brows is essential. Ungroomed brows are untidy, and because they frame the face, you simply won’t look as polished. Ungroomed brows can leave their owners looking as if they don’t care about how they look, or have just given up on looking properly groomed. A thick bushy brow that’s left in its natural state may make a feminine face look masculine, and a uni-brow (brows meeting over nose) just leaves the wearer looking hideous.
Did you know that, for the most part, the distinguishing feature that differentiates people from one another is their eyes?  A good example is those anonymous pictures of people in public with a black bar across their eyes. The bar doesn’t cover their noses or mouths, so we can conclude that eyes are the most identifying facial feature that makes them look like you.
If this still seems much ado about nothing, consider this: – eyebrows that match a person’s facial features do look insignificant, but imagine if they took the lead. Remember Anne Hathaway’s character in ‘The Princess Diaries’? She was a nerdy girl who, like every teenage girl’s fantasy, turned out to be a fabulously wealthy princess of a foreign land. The first thing they did for her princess makeover was tame those bushy, bushy brows. So they definitely play a “supporting” role in the appearance of your face. The problem is when they look like they play the “lead.”
Also, did you know that the shape of your eyebrows might be sending a false message about yourself? In one study, researchers digitally altered a photo of a woman’s face to create different eyebrow shapes, and showed the pictures to 20 people, asking them to what degree the various photos conveyed emotions like fatigue, surprise, anger, sadness, or fear. Not surprisingly, variations in the brows made for different interpretations of emotion.

Steps to shaping your eyebrow
1. Find natural brow shape
Brow shapes now fall somewhere in between the pencil thin brow and the one nature gave you. If you follow your natural arch instead of carving out a whole new one, it will also frame your face the best; because the arch you were born with is right and will define your features best. Brush up your brows with a toothbrush or other small stiff brush to see your natural brow shape

2. Locate eyebrow-shaping starting points
Your eyebrows should begin on a line perpendicular to the inner eye corner. To do this, draw imaginary parallel lines on the other side of your eyebrows, running from the top of your nose balls to your eyebrows. Mark the point where the imaginary lines cross your eyebrows. This should be the inner starting point for shaping your eyebrows. If you have a tweezer, place it vertically upside down on the outer edge of your nose-ball and make a mark where it meets the eyebrows. You can use a soft eyebrow pencil while marking the inner starting points.
Your aim is to have your upper nose-bridge aligned with the starting point of your eyebrows. However, depending on the type of eyes you have, you can slightly deviate from this rule of eyebrow shaping.  People who have close set eyes should start their eyebrows from where their eyes will look further away, while those who have far apart eyes could do the vice versa. Also, look at the shape of your forehead and facial shape. Some people have narrow faces or smaller facial features.

3.  Locate eyebrow arch
If you opt for angled eyebrow shapes, you need to locate your eyebrow arch. To do this, you need to put a ruler on the tip of your nose and let it pass over your eye pupil. Where it meets the eyebrow, mark it. That should be the peak of your eyebrow arch.

4. Fill eyebrows
During eyebrow shaping, it is very important to fill your eyebrows before you begin plucking them. This will ensure you easily get the shape you want and you avoid over plucking your eyebrows. Get a soft pencil and fill your eyebrows in the direction of their growth. Usually, you will start from the inner eye corners and move outwards. You should also ensure you have brushed your eyebrows well, to make outlining much easier and clearer.

5. Outline eyebrow shape you want
The next step in eyebrow shaping is outlining the shape of the eyebrow you want. You already decided on which shape you want, depending on your eyebrow shape, face shape and style you want. You can use a soft, black eyebrow pencil to do this. Having a good eyebrow stencil and correctly positioning it on your eyes can help you with eyebrow shaping. Some of the important things you have to decide in the thickness of eyebrows you need, shape and arch looks.

6. Pluck eyebrows
With a clear outline of how you want your eyebrows to look, you can go to the last step of eyebrow shaping, where you will pluck the unwanted eyebrows. There are various techniques to so do.
While shaping your eyebrows, remember that removing unwanted hair from the area between the eyes will give the illusion of your eyes being wide-set, while if they are longer they bring your eyes closer together.
To lengthen your brows, add colour in with feathery strokes using a HARD eyebrow pencil. Soft pencils tend to put on too much colour and you’ll end up with a fierce, operatic look. Or if available, there are now eyebrow shadows on the market. A wonderful product my sister introduced me to.

Maintaining your brows
Though I  and  most people I know would go to a barbershop or salon and shave away their brows, tweezing is easy to learn at home, and would be a good option if you can’t get to a beauty shop.  It’s not as uncomfortable as it sounds, just make sure you tweeze in the direction in which the hair is growing. If you have coarse, hard to tweeze brows, apply a warm, moistened washcloth to the brow area.
Applying an ice cube immediately after will take away some of the sting and redness, but don’t apply the ice before tweezing, though, as the ‘coldness’ will make it harder to get the hair out.
The good news is that your brows don’t have to be too thin, as the thin overly-arched brow of the past few years can make a woman look outdated and washed out, especially if her brows are light coloured.  She is required to wear makeup because the look is quite severe and will age the wearer, as people’s brows naturally thin as they get older.