Brow Design

Last week, I took an assignment in Morningside Heights that led to an extra-long daily commute. In an effort to break up the trip, each day I would give myself a little after-work detour. One stop was my tried-and-true brow destination, Shobha Threading in New York City.

As my threading specialist studied my face, she came to an alarming conclusion. “Dear, are you aware your brows are not even???”

What? Not even? How could that be?

Apparently, during my effort to test out all the best of the tweezers, threaders, and waxers in the beautysphere (for YOUR benefit!), I had been misdirected at some point. The result? A thin left, a thicker right. I am, it appears, lopsided.

Eyebrows help to emphasize facial expression, enhance the eyes and act as the frame - brows that are either too thick, too thin, too uneven, too sparse, or too light are in effect a broken frame.

A ruined canvas.

Disaster.

Thankfully, I was dealing with a calm and cool professional, and was assured the situation could easily be remedied. Twenty minutes later, I left with thinner (but even) brows. The frame has been repaired. (For now.)

Friends, I tell you this story so you will be forewarned in your own brow maintenance. While it is true that just about any corner salon can wax a brow, don’t be so sure they can shape it. A bargain today can lead to weeks, months, or possible - a lifetime - of regret. I maintain, if you spend $5 on a quad-venti-latte, you can invest a little extra in hair removal. Honestly.

If, however, you have already entered on the path to regret, do not feel ashamed. I spent years getting $5 wax-jobs and too did not see the error of my ways until the damage was already done. Be patient, though, with your voyage to symmetry - I was lucky, it seems, but often if you have brows that are uneven or over tweezed, is that it may take a few visits to totally restructure the brow while the hair grows back.

Scary story: Be aware that in some cases the hair never grows back; my grandmother tweezed her brows in her younger years and as she grew older, she had NO EYEBROWS. No frame is even scarier than broken frame. Thank god for brow makeup. It just may eventually save us all.