Here's a little heartbreaking tale featuring my brows.

You guys, you don't know how devastated I am right now. I used to hate my brows because it was wide and quite thick but I fell in love it when it was threaded for the first time back in August. I love how it's still thick yet shaped and groomed. Because of that, I had my brows threaded again last October in LayBare in Robinsons Metro East. Since it's time to get the brows threaded again, I went back yesterday for another threading session. Unfortunately, there were eleven people in line and I really can't be bothered to wait for a long time considering the potential traffic jam on the way home. So I decided to try my luck and went to the next LayBare branch in Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall. Since it's fairly new and quite hidden, I only waited for a few minutes. Finally, it's time! 

The brow technician studied my brows for a while and I told her that my left brow is thicker than my right. She agreed and told me that she'll clean my brows first aka remove stray hairs. So I said okay and let her do her thing. She started threading my right brow then afterwards my left. When she started threading my left, I felt something off. The pain was different, not the pain you usually feel when it's just cleaning. I thought, "Huh, I must really have a lot of stray hair!" Then after a few minutes, she told me to check the brows if I'm okay with it. So I looked. And boy oh boy.

It doesn't look bad right? YOU'RE WRONG. When I saw this, I was so horrified to the point where I wanted to cry. But crying doesn't really help in solving any problems nor would it bring my thick brows. Being such a pacifist, I just told her it's okay, paid the service, and went out quickly. I met up with my mom afterwards and she was as horrified as I was. Who wouldn't?

Quick comparisons. Look at the difference in size ans shape! Holy smokes. Looking at this picture makes me cry because I really miss my thick brows. Now all I'm left with is a pair of skinny tadpole-looking ones. I guess the main reason why I hate it is because of the shape. Look at my left brow shape (the one on your right). It's not that noticeable here but there's an abrupt stop before the arch. Argh!!!!

 LESSONS 

I don't want to put all the blame on the brow technician. She's just doing her job after all. However, it might have turned out better if she asked me what I want first, or I should've prepped her first. It would've been better if she told me what she was going to do with my brows because at the end of the day I would be the one to go home with them. But again, it's my mistake for not telling her what I want. I guess I kind of assumed that I'll have the same results like the ones I had when I got it done at Robinsons Metro East. The technicians there are really good so I expected the same here. Well, I guess I won't pay this branch a visit anytime soon. I'm open to going back but I'm too traumatized right now. 

 SOLUTIONS 

Because I'm the ever positive person, I immediately thought of possible remedies to my horrendous brows. Thankfully, I have the things I need so I was able to make them look like my old brows. The best product I found was my PrismaColor Ebony brow pencil in Jet Black. I got this a couple of years ago in makeup school and I'm really relieved I have it. It's the perfect pencil for girls with black hair because it darkens the brows without having the heaviness/creaminess of a regular brow pencil. It's also the only pencil I can use on a daily basis because it's not fussy to use and it makes my brows look more natural than powders and creamy brow pencils.

Steps:

1. I fill my (atrocious) brows first. Create a decent peak, decent point, and decent shading.

2. See the abrupt stop I was talking about? Frigging hate it. Anyway, I imagine the growth of hair from that point that connects to the rest of the brow and fill it in. In short, I shade the bare area. No other way. I have to shade the area to lose that ugly shape.

3. After shading, I will now adjust the the shape and shade of my brow. Too dark? I'll brush it with a spoolie to lessen the color. Light? I'll shade more. 

4. Tada! I know I'll be needing more practice with filling my brows but not bad right?

Aside from my PrismaColor pencil, brow powders are also an option. For my brows, I'll be using two palettes: The Body Shop Brow & Liner Kit in 02 and Naked Basics shadow Crave. My choice of brush is Suesh's angled brush.

Steps:

1. I filled my (awful) brows with the darker powder from the Body Shop brow kit.

2. I now filled the bare area with Crave. Filling this area is easier with this option because the angled brush helps deposit the product precisely. Plus, Crave is an eyeshadow so it's much more pigmented than the brow powder. Word of warning though: be very careful when using Crave in your brows as it's very pigmented. Be sure to tap an excess shadow from your brush before shading. After filling the area, I carefully place the darker TBS powder on top of Crave so that it blends with the rest of the brow.

3. I now used a highlighting pencil on my brow bone to lighten and lift my brows.

4. Yay, done! This option requires time and patience and practice but it's good for night time because it creates darker, fuller brows.

Guess I have to get used to filling my brows now. When I had my thick brows, I can get away with not filling them but now that I have a pair of brows with such an unappealing shape, I need to allot time for fixing it. Thankfully my brow hairs grow quickly so hopefully by February it's full again and I'll definitely get them threaded in LayBare RBS Metro East.

Finally, if you're considering brow threading, I say go for it. You'll never know unless you try. BUT remember: do your research and always tell your brow technician what you want. What shape, how thick, what style. If you have a brow template that you really like, bring it with you. Better be safe than sorry.

PS. Sucky brows for Christmas 2013. SMH.