Tag Archives: eyebrows

Frame The Face: MAC The Stylish Brow Collection Reviews, Photos, Swatches

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MAC Stylish Brow 1
A selection of products from MAC The Stylish Brow Collection

When I heard about MAC The Stylish Brow Collection, I just needed to try these new brow products. I, like some people, know the importance of Brows. Lashes. Lips. Frame the face. Not familiar with this mantra?

jeremy renner 5 minute makeup
Shameless repost from here. Because I love Jeremy, dammit!

There are some limited edition products launching in this collection, and each product comes in Blonde, Redhead and Brunette shades. I was sent the products made for brunettes. For reference, here’s how my naked brows look like: sparse and unpolished.

MAC Stylish Brow naked brows
Naked brows

The Brow Duo in Brunette ($33 CDN/$27.50 US) contains two permanent eyeshadows: Coquette (satin) and Brun (satin). I’ve already declared my love for Brun before, and Coquette is the perfect complement to Brun. This duo creates the most natural looking brows for deep brunettes. It fills in the brows softly without them looking drawn on. To use the duo, I like to start with Brun on the outer half of the brows to define the arch and extend the tails, and then I go in with Coquette to softly fill in sparse areas on the inner half of my brows.

MAC Stylish Brow Brow Duo in Brunette
MAC Brow Duo in Brunette

MAC Stylish Brow Brow Duo in Brunette swatch
Wearing MAC Brow Duo in Brunette

This girl loves her Fluidline, so I was most excited about Fluidline Brow Gelcreme in Deep Dark Brunette ($19 CDN/$16 US). It is described as a rich brunette, and it comes in the same glass pot as the Fluidline gel liner. This is essentially the same as a Fluidline gel liner, but maybe just a little waxier. A word of advice: go easy with this one. It is pigmented as heck, so I suggest lightly tapping the brush on the surface of the product, then dab on the back of your hand before applying on the brows. Performance wise, it lasts as long as my holy grail brow product, MUFE Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector (reviewed here). I’d say this one isn’t for brow newbies. Pro make-up artists will love it; you can create different brow looks with this, from natural to tattoo brows. If you’re heavy handed and looking for a daytime natural brow, skip this one. It is really easy to overdo. But as you can see with my swatches, it is workable.

MAC Stylish Brow Fluidline Brow Gelcreme in Deep Dark Brunette
MAC Fluidline Brow Gelcreme in Deep Dark Brunette

Keep reading to see more MAC The Studio Brow reviews and swatches.

Click here to see more!

OMG You Need This! MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector Review, Photos, Swatches

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Imagine you’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.  Zombies are trying to bash your front door in, but they haven’t discovered the back door (yet).  You need to think fast: grab your absolute essential makeup to take with you, so that your friends and family cannot mistake you for a zombie.  GO!

Concealer.

Lipstick.

Mascara.

Brow filler.

What’s that?  You never fill in your brows?  But why?  Former makeup artist Jeremy Renner (!!!) agrees with me.  This requires another (!!!).

source

Properly groomed and filled in brows polishes and completes a makeup look, however simple or dramatic it is.  I recently picked up MAKE UP FOR EVER Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 4 Dark Brown Black ($22) and damn!  This is powerful stuff.  I first read about and saw this product on gorgeous Jenny of My Funny Valentine. UPDATE: These are currently being phased out for the new Aqua Brows. It is the same formula with more shades. No. 4 Dark Brown Black is the same shade as Aqua Brow in #40 Brown Black.


MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40

The eyebrow corrector is a creamy liquid formula.  I put a very tiny dab of it on the back of my hand (you need less than you think), pick up the product with an angled liner/brow brush, then fill in my brows as usual.  Be careful about shading in your brows; try to “stay within the lines” because this is difficult to take off without a makeup remover.


MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40 Dark Brown Black

I usually fill in my brows with pencil and/or powder eyeshadow (click here to see my tutorial on how I fill in my eyebrows), but they no longer perform well for me when humidity and sweat is in the picture.  Hello, that’s Toronto summer for you.  I need my brow product to stay with me through my sweaty bike rides, and sometimes, rain.  Today was one of those days.  Insanely humid and I was a big ol’ sweat ball.  This did not move at all.  Perfect brows, baby!  All day long.


MAKE UP FOR EVER Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40 swatch

I actually wanted to buy the shade No. 3 Dark Ash Brown, but it was sold out.  No. 4 Dark Brown Black is darker and cooler than No. 3.  I went back to make the exchange, but realized that No. 3 is too warm toned and light for me. I’m keeping this shade!


MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brows in 10, 20, 30, 40 swatches

I went to another Sephora today to swatch the rest of the shades to show you the other options.  No. 10 is a great shade for lightest blondes to light brunettes.  No. 20 will work with auburn hair.  Both No. 30 and No. 40 are great options for medium to dark brunettes.  Sorry guys, I swatched these the wrong way (too heavy), but this shows you the difference between the shades.

Although I have a lot of brow hair, they are an awful shade of grey that just doesn’t work for me.  A little bit of brow corrector and boom!  I look like a normal human being.


Before and After MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in #40 Dark Brown Black

This is a game changer, you guys.  I don’t say that often.  Waterproof, sweat-proof brows with zero crunchiness.  Hallelujah!

Now… say it with Jeremy! ;)

Brows. Lashes. Lips. Frame the face.
(Hi, muscles.)

Makeup Lesson: Filling in your Eyebrows.

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I’ve been experimenting for a while now on how to get my eyebrows to look tidy, and hallelujah! Finally I found a method that works every single time. Unfortunately, we weren’t spared from our share of bad brows in the past. Like for example: this atrocity on the left.

 

Bad Brows vs. Good Brows

What’s going on here? In the before photo, the brows were:

  1. unblended,
  2. way too dark (especially with the smokey eye), and
  3. too angled.

With a few adjustments in Photoshop, you can see how the right brow shape and makeup can balance out the face nicely.  By the way, I don’t know how that photo on the left actually made the cut to a post on the blog.  We must have been on medication of some sort that day. :P

Brow “Rules”

I write rules in quotes as they really should be taken loosely.  These are what I find work for me, and what I’ve noticed in many makeup photos in the past.  I don’t claim to be a brow expert.

  • Pair bold eyes with softer brows, and statement lips with strong brows.
  • Brows are the most flattering when they are sharpest at the tail and softest at the head.
  • Colours with cool undertones work better than warm shades.  Taupes generally work better than straight up browns.

What You’ll Need

  • A brow pencil (MAC Eye Brows in Spiked)
  • A brow powder or eyeshadow (MAC Eyeshadow in Coquette or Brun)
  • A clean mascara wand
  • An angled eyeliner brush
  • Q-tips
  • Optional: A champagne / light beige eyeshadow (MAC Eyeshadow in Arena)

Shaping Your Brows

As general guidelines — if your brow arch follows this shape — for how to shape your brows (and if you read a lot of beauty blogs, you probably already know these):

  1. The head of the brows should start aligned with the inner corner of the eyes or the edge of the nose.
  2. The highest part of the arch should be aligned along a diagonal with the middle or edge of your iris.
  3. The tail of the brows should end aligned along a diagonal with the outer corners of your eyes.
If you are too clumsy/scared to DIY, no worries!  Go to a professional to get the right shape for your face and maintain the shape for as long as you can.

Makeup Your Brows

Naked eyebrow

Starting at point (2) in the diagram, take your brow pencil to sketch out the shape, working your way to point (3).  Make sure the brows taper off at the tails.

After brow pencil on the tail

Dip an angled eyeliner brush in your brow powder, and starting at point (2) in the diagram, fill in the sparse areas of your brows working inwards to point (1).  This ensures that the most product goes in the top of the arch, and the left over product goes on the head of the brows to avoid that drawn in look.

MAC Coquette and MAC Brun Eyeshadows

After brow powder on the inner half

Brush out your brows with a clean mascara wand to soften the shading.  If you were heavy handed with the makeup, run a dry Q-tip through your brows to take away some of the product.

Optional: Highlight the brow bone with a champagne or light beige eyeshadow to make your brows stand out.  It also conceals any stray hairs that might have been left behind. ;)

MAC Arena Eyeshadow

Aaaand… you’re done!  Go forth and show off your improved brow arches.

Finished eyebrow

Before / After

Once you get the hang of it, the whole process only takes 2 minutes. The results are worth it, too. It makes you look more polished in almost no time at all.

How Do You Do Your Eyebrows?

Swap your best brow tips and tricks in the comments.  I’d love to read them. :)