Best brows

Discovering the power of groomed brows is a defining beauty moment. For the uninitiated, it’s a simple way to hit refresh.

Iwas unaware of my brows – and their power – until my first photo shoot at age 19. I’d scored an editorial job at Cleo magazine and agreed (for the sake of my first byline) to model runway fashion. To be clear, this was not because I had a swan-like physique or jaw-dropping looks. My editor wanted to highlight how ridiculous runway fashion looked on the average person.

I still remember the make-up artist’s horror:

“Oh, doll, look at those caterpillars. Have they ever been touched?” It took me a second to realise what he was talking about. “My brows?” I asked.

I focused in on them. They did look quite full and dark. And I guess there were several hairs sprouting between the arches, creating what could only be referred to as a monobrow. But it never occurred to me that I should shape them. The Zeitgeist was overflowing with bushy-browed stars, like Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields (left) and Ali MacGraw.

I then experienced the eye-watering pain of a virgin brow pluck. I gritted my teeth against every rubber-band flick to my face. “We will find your arch!” he said gleefully. Once finished, I had to admit the result was impressive. I looked groomed. “Even slightly more grown-up,” I thought to myself.

A few years later, when I moved to New York, a brow groomer would come to the Condé Nast offices once a month so that each editor could have her brows perfected. As her expert tweezers hovered over us, she’d growl, “Do not touch them between visits.” We understood. Waiting for brow hairs to grow back is an agonisingly slow process that can throw your shape off for months.

If you’ve never had your brows shaped or filled, I highly recommend starting. By far the simplest thing you can do is fill your brows. Brush them up with a spoolie so they appear thicker, use a fine-tip brow pencil to fill in sparse spots or sweep on a brown powder for softer definition.

You’ll soon discover that brows are the makeover you never knew was right, well, above your nose.