Beauty Talk: Eyebrows Tips

Now that you are aware of the importance of eyebrows (if not, see this post), let's discuss shape and color.

You probably have seen this kind of picture everywhere to explain how to achieve the perfect eyebrow (in this case on the lovely Marilyn Monroe).

pinkosmetics.blogspot.com

Looks easy, right? But based on my experience, if you're anything like me, before starting to pluck, here are some things you need to remind yourself about eyebrows.

Please note: This isn't a step by step guide on how to achieve perfect eyebrows. These are tips I learned over the years that I find useful and that I want to share with you. 

Eyebrows aren't twins... they are sisters. 

Megan Fox (labellase.com)

Staring with full eyebrows, I had the tendency to over pluck to try to achieve a perfect eyebrow shape. I remember in my late teens, I plucked one eyebrow, then the other would not be perfectly similar, so I plucked the other one, then the first one would not be similar, so I would pluck it again... to end up with almost no eyebrow at all. When I first heard that eyebrows aren't twins but sisters (unknown source), I had an epiphany. I often repeat it to myself, so instead of trying to make my eyebrows perfect, I focus on getting them similar overall, with little imperfections being alright, and maybe even cute!

Eyebrows need to look good... from the whole face perspective.

Jessica Alba (seeceeme.com)

This is a true story. Someone, aware of my obsession with eyebrows, once gave me a little magnifying mirror. Oh nothing too much, maybe like 10 times magnifying. Oops! it was not a good idea. As OCD as I am, I was using it daily it and I would pluck every little hair that was not fitting into the line. But when I would see myself back in the normal mirror, uh oh! I would have over plucked, again. One day a friend confiscated the dreaded mirror for my own good. Moral of this story: It's ok to use a magnifying mirror to help you do a more precise job, but don't forget to go back to the normal mirror while doing it, to see your whole face. Now I use a two times magnifying mirror for my eyebrows. Maximum. 

Eyebrows can grow back... but it takes patience.

Gwen Stefani in 2000 and 2007 (totalbeauty.com)

First things first: pluck with caution. If you are like me, wait before plucking, to see if the hair is still bothering you the next day. If so, then you can pluck it. But what if you over plucked? Eyebrows can definitely grow back, but 1) it can be very long and 2) it seems some spots just won't grow back. Aside from my scary almost-no-eyebrow experiences, my eyebrows have grown back. I'm actually in the process of making them grow back even more. How to do it without looking like you forgot to do your eyebrows? Let the hair grow back, do not pluck except for the places where the hair is really out of line. You can put a little beige or taupe powder eye shadow on the empty patches if it looks too awful. There might be some hair growing products to help you grow back your eyebrows, but since I do not use them, I won't talk about them. You might want to consult your cosmetician or doctor.

Eyebrows can be dyed... but it could make your eyes "die".

Hayley Williams from Paramore (living.msn.com)

If you ever read the warnings on a box of hair dye, you probably know this. Hair dye is really dangerous for eyes and should not be used to dye your eyebrows. You could go blind. Is that enough of a warning for you? Well, it wasn't enough of a warning for me. Remember my orange eyebrows? If not, read here. I also dyed my eyebrows using some facial hair bleach (like Jolen): I would put the mixture on my eyebrows for a minute or two and it would just slightly lighten them and the results were pretty good. If you do decide to dye your eyebrows, be aware that it is dangerous and that you need to be extra careful about your eyes. A cosmetician or a hairdresser is probably the best to do it. 

Eyebrows should match your hair... or get close to it.

Scarlett Johansson (disconaplondon.com)

This is something I personally have a hard time with. With my eyebrows naturally being slightly darker than my natural hair color, I thought they were too dark when I dyed my hair blonde. I then learned that eyebrows should match your hair color, with some exceptions. For example, it's ok for a blonde to have darker eyebrows than her hair. If your hair is dyed black, maybe you should consider brown eyebrows, not as harsh as black. But in the end, it all depends on what you like. To color your eyebrows without dyeing them, you can use pencil eyebrow liner, mascara-like eyebrow color, liquid eye shadow or my favorite, powder eye shadow. Remember to go lightly to keep eyebrows looking natural.

Eyebrows look probably best... au natural.

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (posh24.com)

Take this tip from the girl that once sported the uni brow, haha! But what I mean is that aside from major eyebrow imperfections, letting your eyebrows close to their natural shape and color might be the best and easiest thing to do. We have seen natural eyebrows coming back in trend and I believe this is a good thing. I am myself trying to grow my eyebrows to their natural shape (but not the uni brow!). It's really a work in progress. Even if there are trends in eyebrows shapes and colors, I think that natural but polished eyebrows will always be appropriate.

Do you have any other eyebrows tips to share?

Beauty Talk: Precious Eyebrows

buzzle.com

For most of my life now I have been obsessed by eyebrows (among other things like every OCD person out there).

It all started in 6th grade when I realized that I had somewhat of a... uni brow. My eyebrows were out of control and they, sigh! touched each other in the middle. (No, I won't show you a picture of that.) After the scary uni brow experience, I really became obsessed over the perfect eyebrow shape and even color. My eyebrows are naturally a little darker than my natural hair color and when I dyed my hair blonde, my eyebrows looked too dark (as least according to me at that time). I tried to put blonde dye on them... and they became orange. No kidding! (No picture of that either, but I clearly remember everyone laughing while trying to convince me it wasn't that worst.) For about a month, everyday I had to put foundation on my eyebrows and then some taupe liquid eye shadow to tone the orange down. It was horrible. And I'm only talking about color here...!

Before going further on eyebrows, I wanted to make sure that you are fully aware of the importance of eyebrows. Are you? I know bleached eyebrows are a big runway trend (key word: runway, not real life), but to prove my point, let's see how some of our favorite stars would look sans eyebrows.

I warn you: this isn't pretty. Ready?



Anne Hathaway

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Jessica Alba

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Natalie Portman

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Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen

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Catherine Zeta-Jones

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Convinced? Do you cherish your eyebrows now?



To be continued, stay tuned. In the meanwhile, do you have any eyebrows horror stories to share?

Beauty Talk: Makeup and Acne

Based on the 3 million views of this video by DiamondsAndHeels14 on YouTube, you have probably already seen it, but I had to share it with you. 

This girl is truly amazing (and very talented in makeup application). It must take a lot of courage to do a video like that. Honestly, I would not be able to do it. As an acne sufferer myself, I rarely never go out without any makeup on (except maybe on days when I'm sick and I have to get to the hospital). 

I really wanted to share this video with you is because it shows how makeup can do miracles for your self-esteem. We always hear about those "makeup free" days and how we must accept ourselves for what we are and bla bla blah. But let me tell you: makeup can act like a pair of bright red pumps or sexy skinny jeans. Of course, too much makeup doesn't look good, as too much cleavage or too tight clothes won't look good. But makeup should not be considered as bad per se. I guess this is my point. Don't judge the girl with makeup. If you happen to have pretty skin, good for you. But for some girls, especially those with acne or other skin problems, makeup, more than an accessory (because I do think makeup can be a very cool accessory, as a necklace or a scarf), can actually be empowering.

Beauty Talk: Live Clean Products

Source: live-clean.com

As promised last week, this week I share the hair products I use for my low-poo, no-cone hair routine.

What: Live Clean

Why: These products are sulfate and silicone free. The shampoos contain palm and coconut derived surfactant.

Where: In Québec, these products are available in drugstores. Pharmaprix has a great selection. Everywhere else in Canada, click here.

How much: Between 6 and 12 CA$.

Love: Exotic Nectar Argan Oil Collection

Source: live-clean.com

These products contain argan oil, like the well-known Moroccanoil line. But the difference is that Morrocanoil contains silicone and the oil treatment is about 40-50 CA$, compared to 12 CA$ for the Live Clean argan oil treatment... the choice is yours! I absolutely love the Exotic Argan Oil Collection, it smells so good!

I use:

• the restorative shampoo;
• the conditioning mask (as a conditionner);
• the leave in spray (after washing my hair, on damp hair);
• the oil treatment (same thing);
• the smooth and shine cream (on dry hair).

In fact, I love them so much I even switched to the argan oil body wash!

Did you ever try Live Clean products?

Please note: This post is not sponsored. The author bought the product herself and the review presented here reflects the author's opinion.

Beauty Talk: Low-Poo, No-Cone Hair Routine

Source: health-tricks.com

As a naturally curly girl, as long as I can remember, I struggled with my hair: Hard to manage, frizzy and damaged.

I always had to put some sort of hair product to make my hair look good. If I let it air dry without any product, the result was horrifying.

But then I discovered about the no-poo, no-cone hair routine for curly hair on some blogs and websites. Basically, this hair routine eliminates shampoo and silicone. Washing the hair is done with conditionner (without silicone). I tried it, but I believe it works better for curly people with coarse hair. Mine is fine (I just happen to have a lot of it haha!). So I tried another version of it: the low-poo, no-cone hair routine.

What is the low-poo, no-cone hair routine?

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Low-poo:

Poo means shampoo. The "bad" ingredient in shampoo is sulfate. You can often find it under "Sodium Laureth Sulfate". Sulfate strips off all the natural oils of the hair, causing hair to respond by producing more oil. The No-poo routine eliminates sulfate completely by washing the hair with conditionner: For curly people, this is often enough to eliminate dirt. But for people with fine hair, sometimes a little poo is better. For example, "Sodium Methyl-2 Sulfolaurate" is a form of low-poo.

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No-cone:

Cone means silicone. Silicone is often used in conditionners and most hair products meant to add shine and to have sleek hair. The problem with silicone is that it doesn't dissolve in water, so it justs build up on the hair, damaging it with time. Silicone makes the hair look healthy, but really is just damaging it. You can find silicone under most names that finishes with "-cone", like "Dimethicone".

Some products contains a form of silicone that is (partially or entirely) soluble in water, which is less damaging. You can find this form of silicone under "PEG-" before the name with the "-cone". Personnally, I prefer to have no cone at all in my hair.

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I've been doing the low-poo, no-cone routine for now over a year, and honestly, my hair never looked that good, never was that healthy and has never been this easy to take care and and to style. It's a revelation to me! That's why I wanted to share it with you.

But beware! If you decide to switch to this hair routine, you must know:

• This routine might not be suitable for you, especially if you have fine and straight hair.
• At first, your hair might look a little more greasy which can sometimes be embarrassing. But keep going, in a couple of weeks you will be able to wash your hair 2 or max 3 times a week.
• You hair might also look more damaged at first. This is because of the silicone. You might want to get a little trim.
  
• You will have to become familiar with complicated chemical names and you will have to read the list of ingredients of hair products as carefully as if you had an allergy.
• You might become frustrated on how many products contain sulfate or silicone, even salon or high brand products. It's unbelievable!

Are you doing the low-poo, no-cone hair routine? What do you think of it?

Next Beauty Talk post: my favorite products for my low-poo, no-cone hair routine.