It's the little things

I'm not a fan of anything extreme in makeup, crazy eyebrows included. But you can't deny that darker, more defined eyebrows are an important trend this season and there are ways to do it right without becoming unrecognizable to anyone but our mothers, like Gwyneth Paltrow (from a photo spread for W magazine). Or clownish, like Sienna Miller.

My eyebrows are very very dark brown, but not black, which is why I'd avoid using black for eyebrows, unless this is really your natural color. Instead, I discovered that Bobbi Brown Espresso eye shadow is an excellent choice. It's darker than my actual color and makes them stand out just enough to get the elegant and polished look, without channeling Dita von Teese just before a show where she's about to take most of her clothes off.

The secret to keeping the well-defined eyebrows to stay put all day is to use the miraculous Paula Dorf Transformer. Just like you would use it for turning an eye shadow into a long-lasting eye liner: Put a tiny drop on the plastic lid, dip the brush in it and swipe it over the the edge of the shadow pan (don't let the transformer all over the compact) to collect a little color, then paint your eye brow in small, feathery strokes.




The right brush for this endeavour is an angled eye brow brush. Bobbi has one as do many other brands. I had good results with a small angled one from the Sonia Kashuk line for Target. Don't use an eyeliner brush (too thin, requires too many strokes) or a straight, flat brush (the kind you'd use for applying contouring eye shadow to the lash line (too wide strokes, harder to get a natural look).