Misadventures in Makeup: Eyebrows on Fleek

Before and after: just the brows

This was truly a misadventure.  I want to be on the same level as all these gorgeous girls I see in real life and anywhere else.  And that level requires your eyebrows to be on point (or on fleek, shaped to the gawds, filled to perfection).  I have not had mine properly shaped since May 2014.  I know, I know... I've had a case of the vocal lazies-- I'll look at a mirror, see the unruly bushiness of my brows, and say aloud "I have to do something!"  Then...you can guess the rest. 

During Thanksgiving I attended a Black Tie event and my friends did my makeup for me.  They tried to tame my brows, hiding the stray hairs with minimal tweezing and concealer.  Amazing trickery.  They made me look glamourous.  And I thought that if they could do it, I could do it for myself.  Still not making time to professionally tweeze, wax or thread my eyebrows, after my final exams I headed to Target for the e.l.f Eyebrow Kit and e.l.f concealer (both in medium).  I had researched online for affordable and effective products.  e.l.f seemed like a good choice.  I had also been watching several Youtube tutorials.  They all make it look so simple.  But this simplicity requires a bit of skill and for me, a lot of practice.  

The first photo above shows the before and after.  Not quite what I was going for but considering my circumstances, the after was definitely tamer and more defined than the before.  I mean, I actually used real makeup brushes to comb my brows and blend the concealer around the shape.  Once I finished doing the brows I thought "What the heck, let's makeup the whole face!"  The after after is right below.
So the concealer is too light and the foundation is a little too dark and the eyeshadow looks like I have two mismatched black eyes.  But I tried.  That's really all that matters.  And I didn't leave the house with this face.  I went straight to the kitchen to make pasta for dinner. 0.o

What's my final grade?
Happy Monday!

After after: foundation and more too

behind the scenes

behind the scenes: not so beautiful mess

oh.
(this is so large!)

Better Than Before

Before

Last week I specifically noticed my eyebrows in the mirror and thought "Oooh, gotta do something about this."  All these beauties on Instagram and YouTube have perfect eyebrows that often don't even look like they're made of hair.  Painted but not painted.  Filled in but not fake.  They also tend to wear flawless makeup...

At nearly twenty-four, proper application of makeup escapes me.  I see a value in it (enhancing your existing beauty) and a fault in it (time component, potential to rub off on things).  Eventually I will learn to highlight, conceal, enhance, define, color (all the makeup verbs).  Until then, I could at least clean up my eyebrows.

♥

Now, eyebrow shaping is like magic.  I already know this (and if you don't, I am now a temporary product of such magic).  The caterpillars above my eyes have been tweezed, threaded and waxed before...just not regularly.  But I should probably change that so last weekend I made an appointment with Anastasia Brow Studio at Nordstrom (referred to by my momma).  They use these stencils-- full arch, high arch, medium arch, etc--to mark the shape, then wax around and tweeze to finish.  I wanted to keep my fullness so the esthetician (nice word, eh?) used the full arch stencil.  

Did you know that eyebrows can have cowlicks too?  On my inner edges hairs lie straight up instead of curving nicely with the rest.  Apparently those hairs are a cowlick and I can train them to grow in a curved direction with a brow gel--tinted or clear.  Brush/flick up and then over to lay the hairs down.  Hmmm, okay...beauty lesson of the week. 

So there's the before above.  See the after.  I hope the magic can be seen well enough (used my iPhone for these and sometimes I take grainy photos--by accident--instead of clear/crisp photos).  If you can't see the magic, trust me, it has gotten better with each passing day lol.  I'll look in the mirror and be like "Whose pretty face is that?!"  It was pretty before, but now there's something extraordinary about it.

After

*Currently using Lancome Brow Experts Modele Sourcil in Naturel (some kind of clear gel, ya'll)

Alright, alright, alright. Until next time.