Factors to Consider When Shaping
There are several factors to consider when it comes to shaping your client’s eyebrows. These factors along with facial asymmetry are what make shaping the hardest step when it comes to doing brows.
Factors to Consider When Shaping
- Amount of Existing Brow Hair
- Hair Growth Imbalance
- Face Shape
- Brow Bone/Bone Structure
- Brow Muscle Imbalance
- Eye Axis Imbalance
- Asymmetry
- Previous brow work (if applicable)
Amount, shape and thickness of existing brow hair
How much brow hair a client has, how thick the individual hairs are, and the existing shape play a huge role in deciding the shape. Clients with thin and fine brow hairs allow for more flexible shaping. Because each brow hair is thin, blending is much easier if the desired Ombré Powder shape was different or thicker than her existing brows. If the client has thick and coarse brow hairs, you ideally want to stay within her existing shape and thickness. I wouldn’t go more than 2mm outside of her natural shape and thickness. You don’t want to change the shape too much or go much thicker, because the difference in the shape of the Ombré Powder brows and her natural shape will be noticeable. Your client has been living with her existing brow shape for all of her life so you don’t want to drastically change it. This drastic change can be too overwhelming for a lot of clients as well as high maintenance. If there is a lot of natural brow hair growth outside of the tattooed shape, the client will have to be on top of brow grooming.
Hair growth imbalance
Hair growth imbalance can be a major factor to consider when it comes to shaping. If your client has one brow that is higher and one that is lower, compromises will have to be made. You will have to make the higher brow lower, and the lower brow higher in order to meet in the middle and create symmetry. Some brow hairs might need to be sacrificed to achieve even brows in this case.
If your client has one brow that has a straighter shape and one brow that is more arched, you will have to meet in the middle in order to create symmetry while saving as much brow hair as possible. The straighter brow will have to be slightly more arched and the more arched brow has to be slightly straighter and softer. Brow hair is precious. You want to keep as much brow hair as possible in your new shape because brow hair helps make your Ombré Powder brows look more realistic.
Face Shape
Face shape is a major factor to consider when it comes to shaping. You want to give your client eyebrows that will complement their facial structure.
Oval
Your client has an Oval face shape when her face is slightly longer than it is wide. The cheekbones will be the widest and most prominent part of the face and the forehead and sides of the face will be slightly curved. For a client with an oval face shape, there are generally many eyebrow shapes that will suit. You should aim to maintain the client’s natural face shape.
Square
Your client has a Square face shape when her forehead, cheekbones and jaw have the same width. Your client will typically have a prominent jawline. Ideally you should aim to balance the defined jawline by creating a more defined arch.
Round
Your client has a Round face shape when the length of her face is similar to the width of her face. The cheekbones are the widest part of the face and the chin will be typically rounded. A round face is like a squared-shaped face with softer angles. Avoid eyebrow shapes that are too round because round arches will make the face look even more round. A higher arch can break the roundness.
Long
Your client has a Long face shape when the width of her face is narrow and she has elongated features. You want to aim to make the long face shape appear shorter by avoiding high arches and long eyebrows. These shapes will create the illusion of an even longer face. Straight and flat eyebrows can be ideal since these shapes make the face look shorter.
Heart
Your client has a Heart face shape when she has a pointy chin and a prominent forehead. You want to aim to balance the prominent forehead and pointed chin by giving the client a soft and rounded arch.
Diamond
Your client has a Diamond face shape when she has a pointy chin and high cheek bones. Her facial features will be very angular and bony. You want to aim to soften the face by giving the client a more rounded and curved brow shape.
These are examples of some of the common face shapes and how it might affect the shape you give to your client.
Brow Bone/Bone Structure
Your client’s brow bone and bone structure can be a factor to consider when it comes to shaping. A lot of the times if your client has prominent brow bones, her brow bone could be uneven. One side of your client’s face could have a flatter brow bone while the one is more prominent. Examine the symmetry of your client’s brow bone because this could distort the symmetry of the brow shape.
Brow Muscle Imbalance
Your client’s brow muscle can be a factor to consider when it comes to shaping. Your client may have more muscles on one side of her eyebrow than the other. It could be more prominent in one area of the brow than the other. This imbalance can distort the symmetry of your client’s face, and therefore, the symmetry of the brows.
Eye Axis Imbalance
Your client’s eyes can be a factor to consider when it comes to trying to achieve symmetry. Your client may have one eye that is slightly lower, higher, more rounded, longer, etc. Try to keep in mind any eye axis imbalance when it comes to creating symmetry.
Asymmetry
The difficulty in shaping lies in that not everyone’s face is 100% symmetrical. In addition to any of the factors that may contribute to asymmetry mentioned above, keep in mind that there may additional factors that could come into play.
Previous brow work (if applicable)
If your client has had previous brow work such as Microblading, Microshading, Ombré Powder, etc., this will be a major factor to consider when shaping your client. The new shape given must cover your client’s previous work. In order to completely cover the old work, you can expect that the new set of eyebrows will at least be slightly thicker than the original thickness. If there is asymmetry in the previous work it will be difficult to achieve symmetry, sometimes even impossible. The more asymmetrical the previous work is, the thicker the new shape has to typically be to achieve symmetry. You will be limited in how you can shape your client since you will be working around the previous artist’s work. It is especially important to manage the client’s expectations when they have previous brow work. This is why you must screen clients for correction eyebrows or color correction eyebrows because not every set of eyebrows can be fixed. More on this later in Chapter 16.