Mastering the Perfect Brow

Eyebrow shaping tips from brow expert and celebrity makeup artist Robert Bolanos.

Beautifully sculpted brows are a passion of highly sought eyebrow and makeup artist Robert Bolanos. Robert works with a high-profile clientele that includes Jessica Alba and Queen Latifah at the super fabulous Lukaro Salon in Beverly Hills.

His take on beauty is to enhance one’s best features, focusing on brows to frame the face and create a fresh palette for makeup. He tailors his approach to each client, which likely explains why he is quickly becoming the male authority on eyebrows. Robert took some time out of his hectic schedule to share his tips for perfecting your brows.

Precision Plucking

His first nugget of advice is to steer clear of the magnifying mirror when tweezing at home. “You’ll always over-tweeze,” he says. “Only take out strays from the bottom of the eyebrow.”

As you shape, work on one side of the brow at a time, starting on the left. “Take a step back once you’ve taken a few hairs out and see which ones you want to take out on the left side. No face is perfectly symmetrical (with the exception maybe of Jessica Alba) and you may not have to tweeze as much on the right.

He prefers tweezing over waxing because it’s more precise but warns that both over-tweezing or over-waxing can lead to misshapen brows. And often, there’s no going back.

Measure Up

Measuring your brows can help you figure out your ideal shape. “Brows should be one inch to one and a half inches apart from each other,” he explains. Once you attain that symmetry, you can see how long each brow should be at the arch and at the tail end.

Your goal is to raise the natural arch shape of the brow to open up the eyes. “The arch should begin at the iris and the tail end of the brow should be angled to the corner of your nostril. You can figure this out by using a ruler and holding it out to create diagonal line from the end brow to the nostril.”

Brows that are too long can make your eyes appear droopy so go slightly shorter to lift eyes.

The Perfect Brow Tool Kit

Robert shared his top five must-have tools for brows:

• Precision tweezers. He recommends Mehaz tweezers. “They have a slant precision pair that is amazing.” Available at mehaz-rubis.com.
• Eyebrow pencil. His pick for a universal color is Chanel’s Le Crayon Sourcils Precision Brow Definer in Soft Brown. Available at nordstrom.com and other select department stores.
• Brow brush. His uses the slant Brow Brush from Make Up For Ever. Available at sephora.com.
• Brow powder. His likes the Brow Powder Duo from Laura Mercier. Available at lauramercier.com.
• Tinted brow gel. His favorites are the Natural Brow Shaper cream gels from Bobbi Brown. Available at bobbibrowncosmetics.com.

For more about Robert Bolanos, visit robert-bolanos.com.