The Importance of Eyebrows: How Well-Defined Brows Change the Look of Your Face

Until recently I never really understood all the hoopla about eyebrows. I have friends who get them waxed like clockwork, know others who obsess over getting them to be just the right shape and my sister even once paid big bucks to have hers done by eyebrow guru to the stars, Anastasia.

And there I was never paying them much mind. Sure, I'd pluck the few strays I'd occasionally get beneath my brow bones, but that was about the extent of it.

Then, I saw a bunch of before and after pix in some women's magazine where the only thing that the makeup artist changed was their brows and, for the first time, I saw what an incredible difference shaping and shading make. Heck, all you have to do is go see "Eat Pray Love" and witness Julia Roberts' perfectly groomed brows to get inspired to do something about your own.

Here are some tips to help make the most of yours;

Arch the Right Way: Lots of us pluck the arch of our brows into the wrong place and that works against us. To know where it should be, grab a pencil and hold it parallel to the outer edge of your iris. The point where the pencil hits your brow is where your arch should be.

Stopping Point: Your eyebrows should end at the same place where your brow bone does. If they're shorter they'll look oddly rectangular. Too long? You run the risk of looking droopy eyed -- not a good look.

Step Away from the Tweezers: Experts agree that over-plucking is a bad idea and recommend that you tweeze only once every three weeks! And, when you do pluck, pull out only one hair at a time.

Lighten Up!: A lot of women use eyebrow pencils in entirely the wrong shade -- namely too dark. A good rule of thumb is that you want to go with a color that's a shade or two lighter than the color of your hair. (Go with what your current hair color is, not what you were born with.)

And, because I'm incredibly inept at most things cosmetic related, once I'd made the decision to start paying attention to my eyebrows, I made an appointment with a professional for the initial shaping -- I wanted someone who knew what she was doing and figured I could just keep up what she set forth. Worked like a charm.