A Good Set of Eyebrows

It's amazing how such a simple change as shaping and arching your eyebrows can create such a transformation and yet appear so subtle and natural, if done correctly. And the correct way is to shape and arch your eyebrows according to your facial features, not someone else's. You may have a preference for a certain style, but take into consideration, realistically, how flattering or unflattering it would look on you. The goal isn't to pretend to be someone else. It's to draw out who you are and what you've been given and make the most of it. The right look will appear tamed, natural, clean, and flattering. A few people are blessed with natural arches, in which case arching is unnecessary. A simple shaping and regular maintenance plucking will keep you looking fresh and pulled together. The goal is to clean it up, not make it obvious that any change took place.

For your first time, it's best to go to an expert. An experienced professional can determine which shape is most flattering for you (although I recommend evaluating a shape for yourself beforehand) and turn your blank canvas into a completed and yet well-defined outline for you to follow in the future. I highly recommend getting a referral from someone whose eyebrows you admire. He or she's eyebrow shape doesn't have to match your facial features, but as long as it's well done and flattering on the person, it shows signs of suitability, perceptiveness, and skill. Maintaining great eyebrows aren't a costly investment, but it is best to go to a professional and not just any salon. Get the professional's name, rather than just the name of the salon, as people find new jobs. And if you're a new customer, you're more likely to be placed with a rookie rather than a longstanding customer. If you also let the waxist know that you've been referred, you're more likely to be treated with greater care.

I feel that, at this moment, I should take the time to explain what to expect. Being aware of what's going on makes your first time less daunting, but I have another motivating factor. I took my friend to the salon I go to, and she was mortified by the procedure because her salon operated differently. It's not that my salon was incompetent, as she persistently argued. It's quite the opposite. Each salon has a different method, and obliviously I can't anticipate each possible experience. My goal is to help recognize the signs of a superior salon and distinguish between the fakers and the real deal. So, I will focus on those aspects.

There are signs here and there. The price range is an initial indicator. A standard $8 wax job suggests the most basic kind, hardly worth your investment. Something in the $15 range suggests a superior treatment and type of wax. A proper eyebrow wax isn't just a wax job. It also provides eyebrow shaping. This technique involves waxing the BOTTOM part of your eyebrows, as well as on TOP and more times than not, in between. This is very important. And, hopefully, if you visit a perfectionist, your waxist will also use tweezers for stray hairs that wax can't remove and scissors to give a clean look because the reality is, no matter how superior the wax, it can't do everything. A cheap $8 job suggests that the waxist won't do all of this and will probably stick to waxing just the bottom of your eyebrows. A $15 treatment, on the other hand, will probably cover a thorough waxing. You won't know until you've had the treatment unless you inquire beforehand or get a referral, but it does provide some insight into the possibilities.

An $8 wax treatment doesn't suggest that the waxist is getting paid generously, so his or her skill level probably isn't too high, either. In addition to that, $8 for each wax job won't leave much money for a superior wax type. Such an inexpensive price range suggests that sugar wax, one of the cheapest wax type, is being used. So, therefore, hair can't effectively or efficiently be removed. That means more pain, more irritation, and mediocre results. In fact, to give you some perspective, sugar wax is often used at beauty schools because it's inexpensive and affordable. Even at beauty schools, they're often trained to wax your bottom, top, and inner area of your eyebrows. So, I'm always astounded by salons that offer an incomplete service. Beauty schools charge $2 on average and offer greater detail. I expect more from a professional than what a learning student can offer.

The best type of wax is what's often used for bikini and Brazilians. It's the kind that dries quickly and proficiently that it can be removed without the use of Muslim strips. It's less painful and less harmful on the skin, which is why it's used to remove hair in the most sensitive parts of your body. It only makes sense to use the best kind on any part of your body. It's just not universally used for eyebrows, as this type of wax costs more and requires advanced skill and technique. It's definitely worth the investigation, though. I assure you.

For starters, because this type of wax is superior, you use less of it, which is why there's less irritation. The wax also removes more hair effectively by removing it deeper from your hair follicles than sugar wax can. This, in theory, sounds good and it often is, but as with many other things, there are exceptions. Because it goes deeper into your skin, if you have any clogged pores, it'll be removed along with your hair. Such was the case with my friend when hair was removed between her eyebrows. I don't think she had a problem with where they removed hair or the shape she was given but the side effects that followed. She had a clogged pore when removed left an undesirable red mark smack dab in the middle of her eyebrows. That was unfortunate, but it doesn't mean that the wax was inferior or that the waxist is incompetent. It's quite the opposite. An inferior wax type isn't strong enough. And poor quality wax is not the way to go.

I just thought I'd share her experience, so other people are aware of the possibilities. Her results aren't the cause of incompetence or bad wax. After something like that, I can see why she never returned, but to run back and continue to pay for a service she's not fully receiving isn't the answer, either. She thought that my waxist waxed her eyebrows incorrectly, which is untrue. That's how you learn to arch, shape, and wax eyebrows in beauty schools. After informing her of that, she, thenn argued that it was still a bad salon because she wasn't notified for what was to come. Can you imagine working at a salon and explaining step by step what's going to happen next to each and every entering customer? It's unrealistic and time consuming. How could that have made her experience better? I do believe that it's a great idea to explain step by step what's going to happen for first timers, but she wasn't a first-timer. So, the explanation would've been unsuccessful. For one thing, if she said she's had eyebrow waxes before, they probably wouldn't have bored her with the details. Most customers would become annoyed at that point, and waxists' live off of tips. Besides, she was there to get her eyebrows cleaned up, shaped, and waxed. If you have hair between your eyebrows, most people including herself probably wouldn't decline the offer to remove it, in which case her results would've been the same. My suggestion? Go get your eyebrows done when your skin's in good condition or else specify where not to wax beforehand. It's not a waxist's job to anticipate and detect whiteheads and do only half of their job duties as a result of it. It was too bad for my friend that she didn't know beforehand. It's one of those things you learn after the fact. I hope your experience is better.

Tip: If you've had an experience similar to my friend's and/or insist on going to a salon that charges less (because who can blame you for wanting to save money?), I highly suggest getting your eyebrows done at beauty schools. You'd be surprised by the results, and you'd be paying a measly $2. I'm not saying that inexpensive charges guarantees inferior results. I'm simply arguing that it's a high statistical probability. If you're satisfied with the results, why pay more than you have to? Receptionists at beauty schools are more than open to suggest their best students. You can always ask around, too.

Self-Confidence

Beauty and ugliness is everywhere. Beauty will never be truly appreciated because it's a superficial status that can easily fade. And yet with plastic surgery, you can cheat your way to be beautiful. And yet unattractiveness isn't going scarce. While some people are tormented about not being attractive enough, most people will give you a second look if you aren't a 10. So, whether you're hot or not, confidence is what's going to get you remembered especially since so few women possess it. Smile, be happy, and be proud of who you are. If you can't do it, that's okay. It takes time to become confident. I sure as hell am not. I'm just a hypocrite. In the meantime, fake it until you get there. Be conscious of your positive qualities, do things that make you feel good, and surround yourself by people who support you. A good environment, a positive outlook, and a smile goes a long way. (By the way, I know I sound cheesy, but it doesn't make me wrong.)

Use Products Targeted for Your Race

One of the best beauty advice I can ever give you is to use products targeted for your own race. Companies pour millions of dollars annually trying to understand skin types better to increase profits. This is probably why many cosmetic and skincare companies focus on one race. Targeting something specific increases success rates, rather than a general target that their funding can't adequately cover. Department store products are more likely to target races than drugstore brands, but that isn't to say that you should steer clear of drugstore brands. It isn't the price tag that determines quality, it's the ingredients. And certain ingredients are formulated to accommodate certain races better than others. For example, whites generally age quicker than Asians and blacks. This is because Asians and blacks have a tendency to have oilier skin, and oilier skin adds lubrication that prolongs elasticity. So, it serves beneficial for white people to use products that don't zap natural oils, and this includes people with oily skin. There are different types of oily skin. Asians and blacks with oily skin is different from whites with oily skin. And this is precisely why using products intended for your race is ideal. Finding products that most closely match YOUR skin type is better than something that deals with your skin type. If a white person used a product intended for Asian people, for example, he or she can unknowingly zap oil that would be useful to him or her in the future had s/he have used a more appropriate product line. Skin color is another example. Asians tend to have a yellow undertone, so using an Asian product line is ideal if you're Asian and will more than likely result in a closer match. Asians with pale skin is slightly different from whites or Latinas with pale skin. Whites and Asians are more likely to find products targeted for their race than blacks and Latinas. Sadly, product lines dedicated to blacks is very limited, but at least there are options available. The problem is that if it doesn't work for some blacks, there isn't much alternative for them. There really aren't products available specifically for Latinas because they're so mixed that it's hard to formulate a product that'll work for them all. Then again, because they're so mixed, Latinas can look white, Asian, or black, which means that just as long as their skin type matches, theoretically, they can use products intended for that race with success because of the genetic similarity. Whatever your circumstance is, understand it, embrace it, and act accordingly. There's nothing wrong with who you are, and no one should make you ashamed of it. It's just skin. On the grand scale, it's an unimportant factor, but it still defines who we are, so we shouldn't forget it, either.