The number one thing you can do to revolutionize your look is to change your eyebrow shape. As a senior, what techniques do you need to know so that your brows are stunning, in-line with current trends, and easy to work with?

Is your hair color different from your eyebrows and should they match? What brow shape is the most flattering for your face? How are eyebrows for senior women different than, say, a millennial’s eyebrows?

Being a professional makeup artist and business woman who floats around Instagram and Facebook, I can attest that the difference is potentially huge. For example, eyebrow styles for a 25-year-old would resemble Groucho Marx’s eyebrows on an older woman! As entertaining as he was, a fashion statement for older women he is not.

As we age, our faces become more angular and need a softer, more blended look, rather than the sharp lines and ultra-thick brows trending now. With this in mind, I created the above video tutorial to show what techniques are more suited to an older woman.

What are the key factors to create a perfect brow?

Eyebrow Shape

Eyebrow styles are regional and also cultural. What this means is that you can create the look that suits your personality as well as your location. I live in Colorado, where the women wear yoga clothes to work and mascara is a sufficient amount of makeup.

That being said, my best friend lives in Atlanta and the women there wear more makeup than I would ever wear on a daily basis! The nuts and bolts, however, of shaping your brows remains relatively consistent no matter where you live.

To shape your brows, take a pencil or brush and place it from the outside corner of your nose straight up (line A in the figure below). That is where your brow should start.

Then take the brush from the outside of your eyeball straight up, and that is where your brow should arch (line B).

Then, put the brush from the edge of your nose, to the outer corner of your eye and up into your hairline (line C). That is where your brow should end.

Lastly, draw a straight line from the bottom of where your brows begin to the bottom of where they end (line D).

Should I Color My Eyebrow Hair?

In some cases, our eyebrows can become thinner and the color turn different from that of our hair. This begs the question, should you color them?

Well, it all depends on what looks the most natural and appropriate on you. For example, if you have let your hair go grey, and your eyebrows are still blonde or dark, this might look very pretty and flattering!

On the other hand, if the blonde in your brows is turning into a dirty yellow blonde shade, it might be worthwhile to brighten them up.

As a rule of thumb, you don’t want your brows and your hair color in competition. Therefore, if you color your hair bright red, you might want to have your brows a cool brown, and if you color your hair blonde and your brows are silver, it makes sense to have them match.

What’s the Best Way to Fill in Your Brows?

There are basically three different ways to fill in brows: a cream or liquid/gel, a powder shadow, or a pencil. In the video, I focus on shadow and pencils to shape and boost the brows, as in my not-so-humble opinion, using a cream or gel provides lines that look too sharp on older women.

If creams and gels are your preferred method, then feel free to ignore my advice, but in general I use the other two methods.

Pencil is a wonderful and simple way to fill in brows. Be sure to use short strokes so that it matches your natural hair growth and length. Then use your finger to blend it in so that it loses the sharp edges and “lined” look.

Eyeshadow is an easy to use method to fill in brows as well. Using a slanted brush, or small tipped brush, fill in your brows according to the preferred shape. You can use the edge of the brush, or your fingers to blend in the color so that it looks the most natural. On the whole, I use eyeshadow when filling in brows on older women because it’s fast and blends well.

Have fun with these ideas to shape and color your brows and see what works best for you. Or you might be like my many Colorado friends, who do nothing at all and are totally happy. Whatever your choice, I hope this has been helpful!

What are your struggles with eyebrows? What works best for you? Do you fill in your brows or color them, or both? What techniques do you use? Please share with our community!