If you’ve built your business around hair removal, then you’ve surely come across bad brows from time to time. As Shala Dveirin is quick to point out, there is a big difference between eyebrow design and eyebrow waxing (or tweezing, threading, sugaring, etc). “People assume that when they are getting an eyebrow wax, the person is designing the eyebrow and giving them the best shape for their face, but that is not necessarily true,” she says. “Waxing an eyebrow is the least of it—the hair removal is fairly simple.” Here are four basic steps to get you started:

1. structure

“You can’t have an eyebrow with a perfect arch without understanding the correct structure of the eyebrow,” says Dveirin. There are four points to know: the beginning point, which is where the brow begins on the face; the end point, which is where it ends; the high point, which is the highest point on the upper side of the brow; and the arch, which is the highest point on the underside.

2. placement

“To create the correct brow, you have to know where all those points should be on the face,” says Dveirin. “Depending on the facial features, those things can change a bit, and you should know which points should be changed slightly to suit each person and her facial features.” This affects where the eyebrow starts, how long it is and where the arch and high point are placed.

3. hair removal

Whether you wax, thread, sugar or tweeze, the next step is to remove the unwanted hair to unveil the brow shape you want.

4. fill it in

“Not everyone has the perfect eyebrow,” says Dveirin. Even the best eyebrow designer cannot create hair to fill in an empty spot. When clients don’t have the ideal beginning or ending point, or don’t have enough hair, Dveirin suggests teaching them how to use an eyebrow pencil. If someone wants perfectly symmetrical brows—and no one’s brows are exactly the same on each side—you can also show her how to use the pencil to make the brows appear that way.

To learn more about designing brows, you can also attend a class or pick up a book. Dveirin recommends a Milady textbook, Victoria Bush’s How to Design the Perfect Eyebrow, or visit www.perfectbrow.com for a class schedule.

how to find:

where the brow should begin. Place a pencil along the nose to the inner corner of the eye and up to the brow.
the arch’s highest point.  Align the pencil along the center of the pupil and up toward the brow.
where the brow should taper off. Align the pencil with the curve of the nostril, the external corner of the eye, and the forehead.

In each issue, hair removal expert Shala Dveirin offers tips, advice and techniques on everything related to waxing and hair removal. She’ll also be answering your questions in each edition of the monthly Renew Reports: Skin Care newsletter. To sign-up for the newsletter, click here. You can send your questions to renewprofessional@vancepublishing.com.