Trim with caution
"Trimming your brows is like trimming your bangs: It sounds easy, but often ends in disaster," quips Bailey. His tips for getting it right? "Take a clear gel and brush the brow hairs upwards towards the hairline and out towards the temple. Let the gel dry completely, then only trim the ends that are sticking too far out past your desired shape."
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Find a good, big mirror
"Brows bring balance and proportion to your face and eyes, so it's important you use a mirror where you can see both of them," he explains. "AVOID tiny magnifying mirrors, because you can only see a field of tiny hairs versus the actual shape and what it's doing for your entire face.
Natural lighting is key
"Always use natural lighting," says Bailey. "If possible, take a mirror you can prop up and tweeze near a window with even lighting on your face."
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Fill in your brows BEFORE tweezing
Pro-tip: "Use a micro liner to fill in your brow into the desired shape before you remove any hairs, so you can see which ones need to go and which ones need to stay," advises Bailey. (Obviously, the Benefit Precisely, My Brow Eyebrow Pencil, $24, is perfect for this job.)
Tweeze WITH the grain
"The most common mistake people make when tweezing is removing the hair in the wrong direction," says Bailey. You know that myth about how over-tweezing can cause your brow hairs to stop growing back? According to Bailey, that's due to tweezing in the wrong direction. "Each brow hair is connected to a tiny blood vessel (derma vessel) that keeps it healthy and allows it to grow back when the hair is removed. Tweezing in the wrong direction or against the direction of natural growth can cause that vessel to rupture."
Not sure which way to tweeze? "Typically [the right] direction is upward or towards the temple, versus straight out away from the face," explains Bailey.
