Let's make-up with Bina Khan: Arch rivals

You can have the most brilliant eye make-up and the most beautiful eyes but an incorrect brow can ruin everything. Very few of us are born with naturally beautiful brows so you need to sculpt the best brow you can from what you have been given.

There are actually a few simple rules and tips to help you on the path to beautiful brow land and if you follow them you will get some pretty cool results.

You need to get “the imperfect brow” to resemble “the perfect brow”. How, you ask?

1. If you remember the “eye line” concept that we introduced many, many columns ago (that is, the imaginary measuring rod drawn out from your kajal line), the best brow will be parallel to it, the beginning 2/3rds of the way. If this beginning 2/3rd of the brow is not aligned to the eye line, you will look permanently surprised.

2. Getting a sexy arch, then, means dropping your inner brow till it lines up with the eye line. Many threading ladies take off too much from underneath the beginning of the brow, pushing the brow upwards. Do not let them clean too much up from underneath.

3. The second big mistake is that threading ladies do not trim the brow from on top. The idea is to trim this beginning 2/3rds in to a shape that is parallel to the eye line. This is the area where you can cheat the most. Dropping this line is easy, because you just give yourself a little haircut. Nothing god-given about this maneuver.

4. Only once the inside is pushed down will your arch end up being higher … it stands to reason. If you pull up your inner brow, your arch will inevitably be below it, creating a droopy look. But drop the inside as far as you can and inevitably you will have an arch that is high, as compared to the beginning of your brow.

5. Often the scoop of the arch underneath comes too early, creating a short looking brow. Try to scoop out the arch underneath as late as possible. This will create length.

6. Some helpful tips when you go to get your brows done.

a) Hold your brows in the shape you would like them to end up. If you pull your skin tight to allow for threading but in so doing you create a droopy, horrid shape for your brow technician that is what she will end up following. Practice in front of the mirror; hold your skin tight in a manner that creates a sexy, arched brow. Now you have presented someone with a stencil that they can follow, one that shows them the hidden potential in your face.

b) Ask for a hand mirror and weigh in on the proceedings at the salon. “Hey, do you think we should remove this one hair? Or will that get too thin?” Politeness, as always, is key. Apart from human decency, a nervous, frazzled salon girl wielding scissors and hair removal implements is not a good thing. For you.

7. And last but MOST IMPORTANTLY. If in doubt about whether to remove or not to remove…let it be. There is no question, my friend Hamlet. You can always remove more the next time round. Over confidence can leave you looking like twiggy. In this case, more is more.

Good luck!

Bina Khan is a make-up artist, photographer, skin technician and writer who owns a salon and photography studio in Karachi. All images and content are the property of Bina Khan. Any unauthorised use of the same is illegal and liable for prosecution.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2013.

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