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With a simple raise, a small furrow, or a quick lift and hover, eyebrows convey surprise, frustration, shock, and excitement more effectively (and less annoyingly) than an exclamation point. But sometimes, eyebrows can send unintended messages: Too much tweezing can lead to bewildered or timid and retreating arches.
So we asked top groomers how to reshape eyebrows and get the fullest, shapeliest, best results — minus all the growing pains. Said "best results" means different things to different people. Some of us love the bushiest brows possible, while others want a lean, super-clean shape to balance their facial features. But without diligent grooming, any brow shape can go astray.
Whatever your issue — whether you've over-tweezed them and want fuller brows back or you've let them grow out a little more than you'd like and lost your preferred shape — there are solutions. Some take a little patience, but ultimately, you're just a few easy steps away from getting your eyebrows back on track.
With the help of some of the top brow groomers and makeup artists, we'll teach you how to reclaim your ideal brows.
- Ramy Gafni, a brow groomer in New York City.
- Maribeth Madron, a makeup artist and eyebrow specialist in New York City.
- Kristie Streicher, a brow groomer in Beverly Hills.
- Joey Healy, a brow groomer and founder of Joey Healy Eyebrow Studio in New York City.
- Eliza Petrescu, a brow expert in New York City.
- Tonya Crooks, a brow expert and founder of The Brow Gal in West Hollywood.
How to Reshape Over-Tweezed Brows
Anyone with a magnifying mirror and tweezers can recklessly prune their brows, but patiently growing them back? That takes real pluck. Here's how to undo the damage.
It takes three to four months to see real change and up to a year for brows to grow back entirely. "The first week is the hardest. It feels like the hairs are mocking you," says Ramy Gafni, a New York City-based brow groomer. "But if you leave them alone, those random little hairs will eventually form a full brow."
If a stray is growing at an odd angle, don't bother tweezing — trim it instead. "You want to resist the urge to touch your brows," says makeup artist Maribeth Madron, even if that means hiding your tweezers from yourself. "If you can't get to the tweezers immediately, the feeling to pluck will pass."
There's one exception, however, to the no-tweezing policy: If you're prone to sprouting a few hairs between your brows, we're not going to tell you to walk around with a unibrow for months if that's not your style. To make sure you're not over-plucking, Madron recommends using your finger as a guide. Place your index finger between your brows and draw a line on either side of it with an eyeliner pencil. Remove your finger and only tweeze the hairs in between those two lines.
"You don't want to remove too much hair from the inner corners," says Madron. "It's very hard to get the hair to grow back in those spots, so I always err on the side of caution."
Even though you can't pick up your tweezers, you can still pick up your makeup. There's no avoiding it: Your brows will go through an awkward phase during the grow-out process, and makeup is going to come in handy.
"This is where brow fillers, pencils, waxes, and putties come in handy," says Madron. "If your brows are a good shape, but you're filling in holes, pencils and powders are best." Madron recommends the Maybelline New York Brow Define + Fill Duo, which is a dual-ended stick with a pencil on one end and a powder on the other.
If you're growing out more than just a few sparse patches, a pencil won't cut it. "What you want to do is paint on the brow shape you're desiring," Madron explains, "covering up all the patchy, new growth inside the lines with a wax/powder combination or a putty-like product, both of which are more forgiving, allow for less precision, and tame stubborn hairs." We're fans of the Maybelline New York Tattoo Studio Brow Lift Stick and the Merit Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade.
As far as color is concerned, go one to two shades lighter on your brows if you're a brunette, or try taupe if you're blonde. Gafni's advice? Use short strokes angled in the direction of hair growth to beef up bald spots, but stay within your natural brow line. "Never create an arch with makeup," says Gafni. "Even the right shade can look obvious. Your bone structure should create the arch for you."
A brow conditioner will help speed the growth process along. Madron's favorite is RevitaBrow, a peptide- and vitamin-rich serum that she recommends to many of her clients to help encourage hair strength and prevent breakage and loss. But one conditioner doesn't necessarily fit all. "You may need to try different products with different active ingredients," says Madron.
Talika Eyebrow Lipocils Expert is quite good — it promises to stimulate growth and even intensify color — but you may also want to try talking to your dermatologist about prescription-strength options.
How to Define Fuller Eyebrows
If you prefer thinner, more arched brows, you can make that happen,too. "Strong brows need to have shape and separation," says Beverly Hills-based eyebrow groomer Kristie Streicher. "Otherwise, they'll overwhelm your face."
Unibrows can look fabulous, but if it's not your personal style, you'll need to grab the tweezers to create separation. (We love the classic Tweezerman Slant Tweezers.) Hold a pencil vertically from the outer edge of your nostril to your eyebrows to determine where each brow should start.
Removing bulk from your brows doesn't always mean pruning them. Nine times out of 10, a trim is all you need. Comb your brows straight up with a spooley eyebrow brush like Tarte's Fill Service Brow Brush and Spoolie, then use eyebrow scissors — we love the Arches & Halos Surgical Stainless Steel Brow Scissors — to trim only the longest hairs, staggering the length as you go. "Cut one hair a little longer and one a little shorter, so your eyebrows don't get a crew cut," says Streicher. Follow up with a brow gel like the Allure Best of Beauty-winning Benefit Gimme Brow + Volumizing Eyebrow Gel to keep hairs in place.
Define the arch (the brow's highest point, just beyond the iris as you look ahead) by yanking a few hairs beneath it. "The most common mistake I see is people taking too much off the ends," says Streicher. Eyebrows that fall short look tadpole-y, and they age our faces, since the ends thin as we get older, she says.
"It's a sin to shorten beautiful, long eyebrows," says New York City brow groomer Joey Healy. Unless the tails of your eyebrows dip too far below where the heads begin (which can result in a dragging effect), leave the length alone. Make sure to taper the ends to a clean point for a sharp finish.
How to Reshape Eyebrows that Look Like Commas
What's a comma brow? It's basically a brow that has been plucked within an inch of its life, but only under the arches and at the ends, creating a comma-like effect. But you can achieve balance by filling in the eyebrow tail.
"Taking weight from the front will actually make the ends appear thicker," says New York City-based brow expert Eliza Petrescu. "Your brows will be instantly more natural-looking." Lightly fill in with a brow pencil, concentrating color on the sparser tails.
How to Calm Down Angry Brows
"Angry brows" look like an upside-down V. This shape can make you seem perpetually mad, says Gafni.
For a friendlier effect, remove a few hairs from the top of the arch. "Forget the old rule that says you should never tweeze above the brow," says Tonya Crooks, founder of The Brow Gal in West Hollywood. "If a few hairs are interfering with an ideal shape, they need to go, period." You can also lightly fill in the area directly beneath the point to soften its angularity.
Using a spooley brush, comb up the inner half of your brows and trim any hairs that extend far past the top. (Those hairs in front can get really long and make your eyebrows appear way thicker than they will after a small trim.)
When All Else Fails…
If you find yourself waiting (impatiently) for your eyebrows to grow out and the steps above aren't enough, Madron has a couple more out-of-the-box ideas to help you love your look in the interim.
Keep the attention as far from your brows as possible. "Wear bangs, a statement lip, whatever you have to keep people from focusing on your brows," says Madron. And avoid cat eyes and winged liner. "Wearing liquid liner with strong edges during the growth phase isn't a good idea: The sharp lines direct eyes straight to your brows, where they will be able to see every hole and gap," says Madron. That said, if you love yourself in liner, go right ahead — whatever looks best to you is the way to go.
"Brow tinting is life-changing. It's helped me so much when growing out my brows because it bulks up all those baby-fine hairs," says Madron. Your best bet is to go to a professional rather than trying it at home. "The other benefit of seeing a professional is they can paint on the tint in your desired brow shape."
Now That Your Eyebrows Have Grown Back…
If you've waited out the four months it took to reshape your eyebrows after one too many plucks, it's time to carefully craft the shape you actually want.
We recommend leaving it to an eyebrow waxing or threading professional, but if you prefer to tackle them at home, Madron stresses the importance of good lighting. "You want to be in front of direct natural light if possible. Overhead lighting creates shadows, which obscure your view."
To determine your perfect brow shape, look at pictures of yourself before you started plucking them and assess your face shape. "It's all about balance," says Madron. "If you have small, petite features, like Kirsten Dunst, Winona Ryder, or Halle Berry, for example, your brows shouldn't be too large; and if you have big features like Keira Knightley or Sofia Vergara, your brows can also be bigger."
Eyebrow shaping can really change the look of your face. If you have a long or rectangular face, you can make your face appear shorter or more proportional with a straighter, flatter eyebrow. If you have a heart-shaped face, thick eyebrows can throw your face off balance. Similarly, thick eyebrows can overwhelm a tiny face. These types of faces look great with well-groomed brows that are neither too thick nor too thin.
On the other hand, if you have a square jaw, a thick, heavy brow can balance the top half of your face by making it match the bottom. If you have a diamond face shape, curved eyebrows can lessen the angularity of your face. Still in doubt? Try for soft, angled eyebrows — they look lovely across the board.
Once you've determined your perfect shape, it's time to carefully clean up errant hairs with tweezers. But before you start plucking, break out a black or bright-colored eyeliner pencil and outline the shape you want. Get really close to your mirror and, using slanted tweezers, only remove what is outside the pencil lines. Then wash off the pencil to see the results.
Now that you're equipped with the knowledge, you know you've nothing to fear when you're growing out your brows. Remember: patience, a few grooming tricks, and backing (far) away from the tweezers are total musts. In a few months, your brows should be transformed if you apply these tips.
All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
More on eyebrow grooming:
- Everything to Know Before (and After) Waxing Your Brows
- All Your Eyebrow Tinting Questions, Answered
- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Eyebrow Threading
Now check out 100 years of brows:
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