Simple Everyday Brows...

There are two types of people in this world...those who "brow" and those who don't...I love love love doing eyebrows and I'm a great believer in brows framing and therefore shaping your face. Some are blessed with amazing brows and really don't need to do much to them but for most of us mere mortals, they need a bit of help; a bit of taming or filling in.

It's important to have your eyebrows shaped occasionally by a professional as it's incredibly easy to get tweezer happy over time and lose the natural shape. Everyone's eyebrows are different shapes and sizes and quite often need filling in due to the thin eyebrow fashion of the 90's meaning that they just haven't recovered and regrown. Threading is the kindest option (it hurts...a lot yes) as it doesn't affect the skin unlike waxing which can leave the skin sore.

If you've got a good shape, you may just need to fill in the brow but if you need to draw a shape, this guide will hopefully help a little but it does take practice and time to work out what you feel comfortable with.
-The eyebrow should start in line with the inner corner of your eye, hold up a makeup brush or pencil to find this point.
-To find where the eyebrow should end, hold up a makeup brush (or pencil again) and line it up from the corner of your nose to the outer corner of your eye and keep this imaginary line going; that's where your eyebrow should end. It's the most flattering angle and draws the eyes upwards and helps open the face and create feminine and large looking eyes.
-Finding where the arch of the eyebrow should be is the hardest part and you do learn overtime. Again, using the makeup brush trick and looking in the mirror directly ahead of you; line up the makeup brush from the corner of the nose up through the pupil of the eye and up to the brow.

Now time to fill in the shape....as with all makeup there's no right or wrong but just make the best of what you have; start out with less and you can always add more.
There are some great starter kits Benefit Brow Zing, Sleek or HD Eye & Brow Palette.
I keep it simple and just use a brown eyeshadow and a small angled brush, I don't actually like the waxy look that some of the kits give and prefer the brows to look as natural in texture as possible.

You can use a makeup wipe or cotton bud to run around the edges of the brow to tidy them up afterwards. I then use a highlighter beneath to help them look sharp and clean (only if I have time of course!) please please please pick something that doesn't have shimmer in it...unless you're going to an 80's party....then shimmer is fine...
When I'm doing eyebrows professionally and for weddings, there's a little more TLC that goes into this process but for a quick everyday look, I use a quick swipe of YSL Touch Eclat. It's not good in photography but for everyday use, it's precise and and easy to use:

Finishing touches are then completely up to you; I like my brows clean and sharp but I think it's important that they look soft at the start as they would naturally would be. You can keep the brows sharp and precise or really just use a light dusting of powder just to add a bit of colour and definition which may be a good option if your natural hair colour is very fair and you're still getting used to the process.

Again, please don't think that I'm saying it's wrong if you do your makeup another way, there's no right or wrong but this is just the easiest way I've found to do quick and easy everyday eyebrows.

Hope you find it useful! Xx

Vicky Brown Hair and Makeup

www.vicky-brown.co.uk

Vicky Brown Hair and Makeup Artist - My Background

It was so lovely to be asked by student Kathryn if I could be interviewed for her Final Major Project for which she is creating a Beauty Feature...so this is how I became Vicky Brown, Hair and Makeup Artist!

Vicky Brown, Age 24, Hair and Makeup Artist from Hertfordshire

www.vicky-brown.co.uk

I’ve always been creative and this has massively helped when it came to hair and makeup. It was never about buying every new makeup product that came into the shops but more about trying to be a little different and making the best of what you had. Back when hair straighteners weren’t the norm, it was imperative to find ways to tame my long frizzy hair! Whether this was with clips, plaits, hairspray or just cutting it short (that didn’t work either!) you name it, I tried it!

When I was 16, I debated whether to go study beauty therapy or to stay on at sixth form to do my A-Levels. I’m still not completely convinced that further education was the right decision but there was such a lot of pressure to stay on at school and go to university…going to college or doing vocational studies was a bit frowned upon and still is unfortunately. I stayed on at school, didn’t do so great in my studies and decided that university wasn’t for me; I fell into office work and realised quickly that this really wasn’t what I had in mind! By this point, I was working in advertising in London and the thought of going back to being a student and having no money, was a little scary so I looked into part time courses available.

So began my sordid affair with the beauty industry! After finishing work at the office in Oxford Circus, I would quite literally run to Saks in Covent Garden with a huge bag of hairdressing equipment or “overnight clothes/stuff for the charity shop/my friends books,” or whatever excuse I could think of for what I was carting around that particular day!

Either way, I was hooked and soon began juggling multiple part time courses all funded by my full time job; Makeup at London College of Fashion, Professional Makeup at Illamasqua and multiple colour and hair courses at L’Oreal. This continued for two and a half years and was not only exhausting but quite frankly left me broken at times but I knew that if I worked hard, it would pay off eventually…it had to right?!

In the final 18 months in London, I dropped down to working part time in the office and worked as a hair and makeup artist in all my other “free” time. After all this hard work though, I’m now running my own business and completely self employed, hurrah!

Likes

Making people feel good about themselves! You really do become a bit of a therapist and learn how to coach people through their concerns and insecurities. 90% of my work is weddings and what a wonderful day to be part of, it really is a fun atmosphere to be around and you know you have been a major part of making that person feel good. Every day is different and although you do get the occasional celebrity encounter and photo-shoot, generally you’re in different locations with different people every day.

Dislikes

The hours are long and anti-social! I got engaged last year and there really are times that my fiancé and I are passing like ships in the night. Will works Monday to Friday in London as a graphic designer and I work a lot of evenings and weekends to fit around other peoples working hours. I really am looking forward to finding a bit of time to plan my own wedding!

Advice

Work hard and it will pay off! You don’t need to spend a fortune on courses to “learn” how to do hair and makeup, practise, practise, watch some youtube tutorials and practise some more! Invest in some good brushes and products and have a bit of confidence in yourself; when you’re starting out you really do have to blag it a bit. Get some work experience if possible as it really gives you an idea of what you will be letting yourself in for. There are always lots of hair and makeup artists around who will be grateful for the extra pair of hands, just be aware that as with most industries, work experience isn’t always paid.

Diary

It’s Sunday, the day of rest supposedly! I got up at 5am ready to leave the house at 5.45am and although I have a horrible cold and it’s -4C outside, I still have to make myself look presentable with a full face of makeup and my hair done! I arrive at the house at 6.15am to start wedding preparation, it’s going to be an incredibly busy morning as the bride has bought the times forward to account for the snow outside and ordered a hummer limo just to make sure they get to the venue safely!

This morning I have the hair and makeup to do for the bride, her sister, her mum and mother-in-law, all over from Australia for the wedding. Armed with a strong coffee and cold and flu remedy, let the work commence!

Wedding mornings can consist of blow-dry’s, intricate up-do’s, curling tongs, rollers and straighteners all followed by makeup application and before you know it, you’ve been on your feet for 6 hours with no breakfast! I always plan the morning down to the smallest timings, with flowers arriving and unexpected phone calls for the bride, time always runs away with you and the bridal party are always surprised at how manic things can get; I see it every weekend so am quite un-phased by it all now!

By lunchtime, I’m done and I get 10 minutes to relax in the car with a bottle of water, some more cold and flu remedy and something to eat! Today I have 2 consultations to go to; weddings can book up to 12 months in advance so I always like to get an opportunity to meet clients beforehand to introduce myself and also chat about their ideas for the day. Some days I will have hair and makeup trials in the afternoon which can mean another 4 hours on my feet before I get a chance to head home and relax.

The evenings I usually catch-up with admin and email enquiries before I head to bed to recover from a busy day!