Perfect Brows

As a natural blonde with almost invisible eyebrows, I hadn't given my brows much thought since I started plucking them in 1992. That was until I recently visited a beauty salon and the therapist asked me who had been touching them and whoever it was should stop! I knew they were on the thin side but she said 'makeover' and 'hideous' and, well you can imagine how I felt. Anyway, I stopped plucking immediately and googled eyebrows to find out all I could. I discovered that caster oil naturally promotes growth so started massaging this on to my brows each night before bed. The first 4-5 weeks were extremely difficult, but by week 7 they were looking much better, if not a little unkept.

At this point I needed a brow specialist to shape and tint them. So I visited the Brow Bar. I figured that a salon that only does brows would be best and I wasn't wrong - my fury brows were waxed, plucked, sculptured and tinted into perfection and have since become a bold new accessory!

I had underestimated how essential eyebrows are at framing your face. My tips for making the most of your brows:

1. Find your natural arch - it will instantly give your face a lift. If you've plucked your brows to buggery, I recommend not touching them for 8 weeks and visiting a professional to help reveal your natural arch.

2. Go thicker. Eyebrows become thinner as we age and thin brows can actually show our age (if you look at girls in their 20s, they don't have the 90s 'Sharpie' style brows that were popular at the time). Thick brows look more youthful and add definition to your face. Be patient, it will take 7-8 weeks before you can see a brow expert and up to 3 months before they're truly at their best.

3. Length. The beginning of your eyebrows should not extend past the indent above your nostril - too close together and you're verging on a monobrow and too far apart and your face will be off balance. Likewise you don't want your brows to stop too short either.

4. Tinting. If you're fair like me, it looks better when brows are a little darker and more defined. It's important the colour of your browns compliments your hair and skin colour so don't go more than one or two shades darker than your hair colour. If you're scared of tiring, fill them in with a light shadow or brow pencil - again a few shades lighter than your hair colour. Something with wax like Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil works really well as the wax helps keep them manicured and in place.

5. Clear mascara or eyebrow gel. Always brush hairs upward with clear mascara to hold and enhance shape.