Instagram and Cara Delevigne have taught us, that when it comes to brows we can strive for as thick, dark and arched as possible, even at the risk of so many memes going around mocking “brows on fleek”

Well, fleek or not there’s no denying that brows add definition and frame your face unlike any other feature. As desis, we’ve grown up visitng the neighbourhood salon and getting ourselves “threaded”. It was such a delight at first, to watch all those ugly unibrows and caterpillar-like thickness fall away leaving us with clean, thin (sometimes too thin) lines and smooth skin. Well, not anymore.

2014 taught us that the power brow is here, and won’t go away anytime soon. And since we’re not all as hairy as we’d like to be in the brow area, the browsperts are here to rescue us with several products guaranteed to give your brows the makeover they need.

We’ve all seen it on Instagram tutorials – barely browed girls apply brow powders and such in clean, sharp strokes and voila – transformed.
In real life though, the pigments are either too dark, too thick or simply too unnatural once you use them.

We can’t really take the blame on ourselves because there are so many different brow products out there, and new ones on the way as well. So if you’re lost at sea, fret not.

Which brow product should you use ? A powder, brow gel, pomade, pencil or cream ?

First things first, you’ve got to take matters into your own hands. You’ll need a basic brow grooming kit comprising of

– a pair of sharp scissors
– a pair of tweezers
– a brow brush
Here’s the breakdown :

Brow Pencils –

Probably the most familiar brow product, pencils have been around long enough and at least someone we know has used them. We had this teacher in school who had no eyebrows and would draw two unnatural black arches with a dark brow pencil and walk in 🙂

Brow pencils are the easiest to use and come in a variety of colors.

If you have dark hair, choose a shade lighter than your brows.

If you have lighter hair, opt for a darker shade closest to your own shade, it needs to look as natural as possible.

What you must look for – The tip of your pencil must be smooth, yet not too creamy – you want neither tugging, nor overapplication of the product.

Brow powders –

While brow pencils are known for imparting definition to your brows, they might come off as too unreal or drawn, and many women often shy away from using them cause of this.

The good thing about brow powders is that they lend a soft, more diffused and natural finish.

You’ll need two shades if you decide to use a brow powder, a shade lighter than your brows and the actual shade.

The powder needs to be applied with an angled eyebrow brush which offers clean lines and a defined appearance.

The lighter shade needs to applied at the start of the brows, the darker shade can be applied towards the arch and onwards.

What you must look for – Always opt for a test run before purchasing a brow powder, some products have too much fall out or wear off too soon.

Make sure your skin is moisturized before using a brow powder, otherwise it might flake or settle in lines.

Brow pomades –

The newest kid on the block; brow pomades are now all the rage, a huge part of it owing to the runaway success of Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Dip Brow. But be forewarned that pomades are not for beginners.

While pomades impart the most color payoff and actually last throughout the day, they can be a little tough to work with and experts recommend using them only after you’ve had decent experience with pencils and powders.

The pomade should be applied mostly to the arch and onwards, to avoid looking drag queenish!
A spoolie brush must be used to brush off excess.
What you must look for – A little goes a longgggg way when it comes to pomades. Just remember that a little concealer at the base helps lift your brows and adds/fakes an arch !