Bushy Eyebrows: 3 Steps to Style Them

Long gone are the days of the super thin eyebrows we saw in the 90s (whoop whoop!), thanks to likes of Cara Delevingne, Lily Collins and Dua Lipa sporting a bushier look. Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipantel has even been raising eyebrows by going one step further sporting a monobrow.

But if your natural brows are on the over-bushy side (mine are *enormous*), how do you tame them?

Put the tweezers down and read our 3 super speedy steps to taming your bushy brows (oh, and if coarse brow hairs are your problem, we’ve got you covered in our guide here)

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1. Stick to your natural shape (seriously)

Let’s face it, not every eyebrow shape is going to suit everyone (if they did, we’d all have Cara Delevingne’s).  So first up is working out your face shape so that you can pick the most flattering brow shape for you.

You’ll want to stick with the natural shape, avoid overgrooming, and just tidy them up with some styling and products. I cannot stress enough how important it is to work with your natural shape!

There are a total of 6 main face shapes- round, oval, square, long, heart or diamond (there’ a great guide here to help you work out which shape yours is if you’ve never taken a good look before).

Once you’ve done this, you can start mapping out the shape of your brows ready for some grooming (remember, less is more).  Take a look at how to shape your eyebrows for your face.

 

Round face

Go for brows with a high arch

Face Shape: Facial width and length are roughly the same size
The aim: To lengthen your face
Celeb brows: Mila Kunis, Cameron Diaz

High-arched brows will work best for you because they give a vertical point, giving the appearance of a thinner face.

How to:

1. To extend your face, begin by filling in your brows at the arch, making them somewhat darker here to emphasise the curve.
2. Brushing your brows upwards will also help elevate your face.
3. To make your brows stand out even more, apply a little highlighter to the brow bone.

 

Oval Face

Go for brows with a soft angle

Face Shape: High cheekbones, forehead slightly wider than chin
The aim: To balance out your features
Celeb brows: Beyoncé, Kerry Washington

Consider yourself lucky if you have an oval shape like these ladies since you can rock practically any brow shape (excluding the heavily plucked 90s look, which didn’t actually work for anyone).

How to:

1. A softly angled brow with a modest arch (as seen on Kerry Washinton) will lend dimension to your face without being too harsh.

 

Heart-Shaped Face

Go for rounded brows

Face Shape: Forehead wider than sharp chin
The aim: To soften the shape of your face
Celeb brows: Naomi Campbell, Halle Berry

A rounder brow shape works best for all you heart-shaped beauties, as it will help soften the more angular features of your face.

How to:

1. Avoid a high arch in favour of a low arch, unless you have a shorter face, in which case additional depth can look excellent.
2. Maintain a well-groomed brow to assist balance your facial harmony.

 

Square-Shaped Face

Go for thick brows with a slight arch

Face Shape: Forehead, jawline, and cheekbones are the same width
The aim: To draw out your eyes and brows
Celeb brows: Olivia Wilde, Angelina Jolie

If you have a square facial shape, like the stunning Olivia Wilde, go for a very slight brow arch.

How to:

1. Choose slightly angled brows to soften the angles and provide depth.
2.  Make sure you avoid a severe arch or a circular shape.

 

Diamond-Shaped Face

Go for curved brows

Face Shape: Narrow chin and forehead with wide cheeks
The aim: To shorten and soften your face
Celeb brows: Shakira, Serena Williams

If you have a diamond-shaped face, your primary goal is to shorten it.

How to:

1. The easiest approach to achieve this is to form a curved brow, which will raise your face upwards and make it appear rounder.
2. Don’t be scared to extend your brows to balance off a sharper jawline.

 

Long-Shaped Face

Go for long brows

Face Shape: Chin, cheekbones and forehead are similar width
The aim: To add width to your face
Celeb brows: Lucy Liu, Gisele Bundchen

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Tip 2: Shape and trim your brows

Shape brows

When shaping your brows, you need to recognise where the brows begin and end, where the arch is, and how high the arch reaches. Using these focal points, your brows will be framed perfectly around your eyes.

There are lots of beauty companies like Eyelure that sell ready-made stencils to suit all face shapes and even filters on apps like TikTok that map out the best brow shape for your face.

Once you’ve got your shape mapped out, mark it out with eyeliner so you know where you’re aiming for with tweezers.

Next, carefully begin removing hairs from outside of this marked shape, only removing one or two at a time.

Make sure to keep looking at both brows together in the mirror to make sure they broadly match as you go.

 

Trim brows

Most often than not though, it’s the length of the hairs that are the issue.  Trimming overly long brows can help give them a neat, groomed look even without waxing or tweezing.

Trimming can be difficult to get the hang of. We suggest using a spoolie or eyebrow brush to lay them in the natural direction and trim VERY sparingly to avoid creating bald patches.

The trick is definitely to go slow and remember – you can’t put those hairs back once they’re gone!

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Tip 3: Fix in place

If you’re prone to your recently waxed brows immediately going awry the second you step out of the salon, then I feel your pain.

Luckily, there are a huge amount of lotions, potions and products to keep your eyebrows fixed in a neat shape.

Here are a pick of my favourites:

1. Brow Soap

Whether you go for the OG West Barn Co Soap Brow or the Pears soap alternative, a transparent soap and a spoolie making getting steak brows *seriously* easy- and they last all day.  Just wet your spoolie and rub it onto the soap before sweeping through brows in an upwards and outwards motion for a natural and groomed look.

 

2. Wax

Similar to brow soap, a clear wax with a spoolie will hold brows in place.  The added benefit here though is that the wax will give brows a slight shine- making them look a little healthier.  A beauty win-win, I’d say.

 

3. Brow gel

If the thought of involving both a spoolie and a product is just too much hassle- or particularly for travel/handbags etc- a brow gel with a built-in spoolie comes in exceptionally handy.

Generally shaped liked a slightly shorter mascara, brow gels come in a variety of colours from clear to blonde, red and light to very dark brown.

Personally I like a clear gel for a really natural look, but tinted versions also save time if you’re used to filling your brows.

 

4. Brow lamination

This one involves more of a financial outlay initially but then basically keeps your eyebrows completely fuss-free for 6 to 8 weeks.

Brow lamination essentially uses perm solution (with the active ingredient Ammonium Thioglycolate) to lift and straighten brows.  I’m personally a fan just for sheer ease of brow maintenance for weeks afterwards, but as with all things beauty related check out reputable salons first and never go for a deal just because it’s the cheapest.

One tip though; I’ve always found my brow hairs are a little dry after being laminated so after 24 hours (for the first day you can’t get brows wet, as with a perm), I like to drench mine with pretty much any natural oil or serum to get them moisturised and healthy looking again.

 

5. Brow serums

This one isn’t the quickest solution, but to tackle bushy brows over time a brow serum (designed both for growth and for hair health) does help to make hairs stronger and more moisturised, resulting in a slightly less bushy look overall.  just be aware that you’ll need to trim more often if the serum makes hairs grow quicker!

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The takeaway

Eyebrows are undeniably a secret (or not-so-secret) weapon for shaping and framing the face, but bushy brows can sometimes be a bit *too much*.

Our tips will help to tame your bushy eyebrows, getting them looking groomed and neat in no time.