Great eyebrows can make an individual’s confidence soar. While a handful of clients walk through a spa’s doors with a clear idea of how they want their eyebrows to look, most clients are expecting the professional to provide direction on shape and shade, which makes perfect sense if you think about it. After all, we’re the experts, right? But, what if eyebrows are an add-on to the services you offer and not your primary focus? It can be intimidating to know clients are literally placing their eyebrows in your hands. 

With the following three-step best eyebrows blueprint, allow me to make the process of selecting the perfect shape and shade for your clients infinitely easier. 

DETERMINE THE CLIENT’S FACE SHAPE

This is the first step in landing on a great eyebrow look, so take your time with this. There are five core face shapes, each with their own characteristics:

• Heart: The chin is pointed and the forehead is the widest part of the face.
• Oval: The face is balanced, with very little width difference between the forehead and chin.
• Rectangle or Oblong: The face is longer than it is wide.
• Square: The face is basically as wide as it is long and the jaw is slightly angled.
• Round: The cheekbones are the widest part of the face and the chin is curved.

WORK TOGETHER TO SELECT THE IDEAL EYEBROW LOOK

While this is not written in stone, you and your client may want to tweak and customize based on how lush or sparse their existing eyebrows are and the image they want to project. These are what I generally consider to be the most flattering eyebrow shapes for each type of face:

• Heart: A slightly rounded arch. A low arch will create a more natural look and a higher arch will elongate a shorter face.
• Oval: A soft, angled arch that shoots straight up at 45 degrees, then gently curves down.
• Rectangle or Oblong: A soft arch, with a wide distance between the eyebrows. Ideally, eyebrows will not exceed the inner corner of the eye.
• Angular, with a lifted arch and lengthened tail, which will help balance the face.

Go with more of an arched look, rather than rounded. Adding a defined arch instantly gives a lifted, more elongated look, which can be really beautiful.

DEFINE AND BEAUTIFY WITH COLOR

Subtle shading enhances every eyebrow, even the most full and lush. But, since it isn’t always easy to know which eyebrow color will be the most flattering for a client, I’ll share this incredibly easy insider tip: match it to the client’s hair roots. This will all but guarantee a flattering effect, lending just the right amount of definition and polish. Another insider tip is to shade with a dark brown and not a black pencil if the client’s eyebrows are black. The black on black will most likely be too dark. If a client is blonde, however, you’ll most likely want to go a shade darker than their roots. This will avoid the washed-out effect that no client wants and add some visual pop and impact. This is, however, the preference of the client, so it’s important to ask.

See how easy it is to select the right shape and shade for your clients? Now get out there and create some serious eyebrow magic.

Umbreen Sheikh, founder and CEO, Wink Brow Bar, is on a mission to “embrower” every woman she comes in contact with. A second-generation cosmetologist, Sheikh learned the ancient technique of threading from her mother, a salon owner. After obtaining a degree in biomedical sciences from University at King’s College London, Sheikh relocated to New York City, New York with her husband and embarked on entrepreneurship. She now owns multiple Wink Brow Bar locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and London and is rapidly expanding her Wink-branded product range. winkbrowbar.com