Modernmom talked to celebrity makeup artist Brett Freedman, who has done many famous including those of Brooke Shields, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Patricia Heaton. He firmly believes that the perfect eyebrow can take years off of your face instantly — and is so obsessed he started his own line of brow shapers and enhancers, Vanitymark by Brett Freedman. He told Modernmom: “The brows are the one feature you can alter (without surgery) that changes your look in dramatic ways.” Here are some of the stars he’s done — pick your face shape and create your perfect brow!
Brooke Shields — Angular Face
For Brooke a fuller brow suits her best. A strong, angular face benefits from the softening of an ample brow line.
Clean out the arch just a touch and brush the hairs up and out for a fuller look. Use a touch of brow gel to hold and add shine. If you have a small or delicate face, fuller brows may overpower your features. You don’t want your brow to be more prominent than the eye it’s framing!
Jessica Biel — Oval Face
Jessica is blessed with a great arch line. To keep the face looking open make the most of your arch. This elevates the brow line and gives a very sophisticated look. Being that she’s a middle toned blonde her hairs are in between being fair and dark. When readying her for a red carpet event a little brow enhancing is important. Since she will be a touch more glam than her day to day you want the brows to stand out a bit, too. Define the brows with sweep of brow powder to make them a whisper more vivid, and always use a shade lighter than the hairs so you see a shadow of definition, not a dark, filled in look.
Luci Lui– Slender Face
Beautiful yet delicate, Lucy’s brows look best when extended a touch. You want to add a little drama and width to the brow line by really defining the ‘tail’ of the brow.
Start by tweezing the ‘cobwebs’ the upper brow that feather up toward your temple. You really want to clean that area up so the end of your brow will look more polished and defined. These hairs are lights and sparse so you may feel you can ignore them. Once you clean them up you’ll see s crisper, tidier shape you’ll love. Use a bit of pencil or powder to enhance the ‘tail’ of your brow and extend a touch. This adds boldness and really vamps up the eye.
Vanessa Hudgens — Round Face
Are you growing your brows in? Actresses brows are always tended to. With photo shoots popping up at every turn, their brows are always camera ready. Sometimes they get a little too camera ready!
Working with different make-up artists can give your brows an identity crisis. Some prefer on the thin side, some very arched and some totally unkempt. Vanessa’s brows look better fuller and the almost bushy look is very in these days. almost bushy look. I like her brows to look polished but with a casual, loose feel. Almost bohemian. Ready to grow in your brows? Try the below!
Growing in Your Brows?
1. Put the tweezers down! Give tweezing a rest for 2 weeks. Aside from the middle you really want to let everything grow in to see what you are working with.
2. Don’t panic! As the nubs come in it’s going to look untidy but don’t worry. Keep in mind that you look at yourself in the mirror much closer than people are seeing you in real life. Remember, the end result will be so worth this awkward stage.
3. Keep brows trimmed. If your hairs tend to be long and unruly, brush up toward forehead and with small scissors (from the outer edge, in) snip just the tips. Then brush your hairs through to see if any hairs pop out of the newly tailored line.
4. Mimic new shape. As your brows grow in I advise to take a bit of brow pencil to your arches to downplay the nubs as they grow in. Choose a pencil close to your brow color. Best to err on the lighter side. You want to see the hairs. If you can’t see the feathering of hairs after you fill in you’ll lose depth.
5. After a couple weeks you’ll see what hairs are coming in where. You can now go into the arch and take out any hairs that are ‘out of the realm’. Look for the very low hairs that are actually in your brow bone area. Remember, less is more.
I suggest my Ultra-Brow pencil to give the most natural finish.
About Brett
Brett Freedman, LA-based make-up artist, has been obsessed with cosmetics and the cosmetics industry since he was a child. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Brett charmed his relatives (and horrified his father) with his skills playing “Avon Lady” and giving his sister’s Barbie dolls impromptu makeovers.
Brett began climbing the beauty ladder doing makeup for the local “Glamour Shots” in the late 80’s.
“We turned housewives into hookers,” Brett says.
In the early 90’s, Brett moved to Miami’s South Beach to break into fashion. There he worked nights and weekends at a local makeup shop tweezing brows and painting drag queens. By day, Brett was fast becoming a sought-after makeup artist for photo shoots, doing everything from beauty editorials to covers for some of Europe’s top fashion magazines.
“When I did my first Cosmopolitan cover, I really thought I’d ‘made it’! I grew up being mesmerized with Cosmo… and that I was working on a shoot… I was DYING inside! A real personal victory!”
By 1996, Brett was ready to move to a bigger market. Always fascinated with Hollywood, he had LA in his sights. The change paid off in spades as Brett was soon working with some of the world’s most beautiful and glamorous women.
Brett is currently the owner/creator of VANITYMARK cosmetics… one of the beauty industry’s hottest new make-up lines. www.vanitymark.com
