How To Get The Right Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

In Just a Few Simple Steps, We’ll Walk You Through It

Does it seem possible to you that the shape of your eyebrows can alter how the shape of your face appears? It may not seem so, but it is true. As the simplest illustration of this, makeup experts say to envision a face that is long and somewhat oval. Now, picture that face with nicely arched brows. It has an elegant elongation due to the peak of the brows, almost mirroring the lines of the chin. Now, flatten the brows. It actually shortens and blunts the face, making it appear wider and even a bit broader. Though the facial shape did not change, it appeared to. So, there is a “right” eyebrow  shape for your face, even if they don’t naturally take the ideal shape.

As one expert asked: “Is one eyebrow shape better than the other? The quick answer is yes.”

Naturally, the key is to first understand your own facial shape and then figure out the eyebrow shape for your face that is the most flattering. After all, that long face we described above could look too long if the brows were arched, and it might be that the blunter, flatter brows helped to balance it out.

How to Determine Face Shape

What this tells us is very simple: to get the best brows means first assessing the face and figuring out the precise shape it takes. The good news is that there are only six common shapes:

Oval
Round
Long
Square
Heart
Diamond

Let’s look at each individually to help you figure out which is the best description of your face.

The oval face is one that has pronounced cheekbones, a forehead that is wider than the chin, but an overall facial shape that tapers towards the chin. The round face is widest at the cheek area and is roughly as long as it is wide. The opposite of that is the long face with a narrowed and somewhat oval chin and a jaw, cheekbones and forehead all of the same width.

The square face may be squared due to the jawline and also because the forehead and cheekbones are approximately the same width as the jaw. A heart shaped face can be mistaken for an oval, but has a much more tapered and pointed chin. Finally, a diamond shaped face is quite unusual and one that is very angular with a shorter than average forehead and face widest at the temples

How can you be sure of your facial shape?

The good news is that you can take measurements to determine it! Here is a process suggested by one beauty expert:

1. Measure the length of your face with a ruler. Start at the top of the forehead and down to the chin.
2. Divide this by 3.
3. Measure the length from the bottom of your nose to the bottom of your chin.

If the last number is larger than the first number, it is likely that you have a long face. Should it be less than the first, you probably have a round face or square face (and if your forehead is short but your face is widest at the temples it is a diamond). If they are even or equal, your face is probably more of an oval or perhaps a heart shaped face.

How to Determine the Best Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

Before we start to look at the right eyebrow shape for your face, just keep two things in mind:

• You may not naturally have that ideal brow
• You can tweeze and style your brows to suit your face better

Of course, you may already have the ideal shape to your brow and require only a bit of regular grooming to keep those brows as even and as clean as possible.

Even more importantly, most brow work is easily a DIY project. You don’t really ever need to have someone do this for you. In fact, it is better that you first spend the time to figure out your facial shape and the right brow. A salon professional may make the wrong choices or be a bit off with their determination of your facial shape. Plus, they can be costly and you can save time and money by experimenting yourself. Invest in good brow grooming supplies and the ideal makeup products, and you can easily handle this on your own.

With all of that in mind, let’s take some time to understand ideal brow shapes for specific facial shapes:

Related: Did You Day Instagram-Ready Brows? Yes Please!

Oval

An oval face typically benefits from a slight arch as this adds a bit more dimension. However, dramatic or sharpened arches are not for you. This will only lengthen the oval, visually, and draw attention from the features. However, most experts agree that it is the oval face that gets to enjoy a bit of experimentation. The brows should start above the bridge of the nose and arch around 2/3 of the way outward from this point. A key point with brows for oval faces is that they should be longer than the eyes to give the face a bit more depth.

Round

To counteract the roundness of a round face, the best brows are those with angles. These help to overcome any overly roundedness in the face and even give it a bit more elongation. Rounded faces also benefit from thicker brows with higher arches as these too give more attention to the cheek and the eye. The brows should also extend past the outer edge of the eye.

Long

The ideal brow for a long face is one that is vertically stretched past the outer edge of the eye. As one expert said, it is to pay attention to the fact that longer faces are vertically stretched out, and need to enhance horizontal features. Thus, the longer brow with a gentle arch beginning as far as the outer edge of the brow, as this can help to shorten without giving the eye a droopy look.

Square

Those with square faces need to cultivate the thickest or biggest brows possible. This means that no defined arches are to be used. Instead, it should be softer angles or even a roundedness that gives you a full and broad brow with only a mild amount of peak at the outer edge above the iris.

Heart

If you have a true heart shaped face, your best brows will be those that soften the most prominent lines in your face. This is why a rounded eyebrow always seem to work the best. Not a highly arched or angled brow but a gently rounded brow that brings the eye up and away from the chin.

Diamond

As one of the most unusual shapes, it requires the brows to be shaped to reduce the width of the face. This is usually easily done using a brow that is curved or rounded. This is a visual trick that visually reduces the appearance of the central area of the face, which is the widest, and helps to create balance.

As you might have realized, the most common goal of shaping and grooming the brows is simply to allow them to work effectively at balancing the proportions of the face. If the face is wide, the brows can be arched and rounded to narrow down the width. Long face, the brows can be drawn out or flattened to also reduce the appearance of length. If it is round, the brows can be used to narrow the look of the cheek and draw attention to the eye.

Of course, you also need to understand the nature of your brows. After all, some have thick, some thin, some unruly and uneven, and so on. Consider whether your brows have any natural arch or how you are going to have to “add, subtract, or change the shape” in addition to learning of the ideal eyebrow shape for your face.

Related: The Only Tool You’ll Need For Perfect Brows

How to Reshape Eyebrows

As you might have guessed, there are several effective ways to reshape brows. This can include plucking and shaping, but might also mean allowing over tweezed brows to re-grow, using brow products to control unruly hair, darken the brow, and so on. It is incredibly helpful to have a few of the more “universal” rules of brow shaping on hand to help you make mistakes.

If you do make any mistakes (such as poor shaping or over plucking) don’t panic! You can keep brow pencils, stencils and other products that can easily help you make blunders until the brows re-grow. The good news is that they re-grow very quickly.  This video will help you to get the eyebrow shape for your face.

Pro Tips on the Right Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

To help with the worst and most common mistakes, follow the important basic rules, that include:

• Knowing where the brows should start – Where brows stop depends on the shape of your face. Where they start though, is a somewhat standard spot. As one expert explained: “As a rule of thumb, the head (AKA where the brow begins) of your eyebrows should line up with your nostrils.” In other words, take your eye pencil and line it up with the inner edge of the eye or the center of your nostrils. Use that line to determine where the brows should start and keep that gap between them as tidy as possible.
• Drawing them on before plucking – If you wish to avoid overplucking entirely, it is a great idea to use a stencil or free hand and fill in the brow exactly as you wish it to be shaped when done. This allows the hair to be plucked to stand out and spares you mistakes. You will want to choose your brow pencils based on your skin’s tones and undertones. Try to also match it to the natural brow color and never use anything more than a short stroke when filling in or drawing across the brow as that causes an unnatural finish.
• Use a brush – Before plucking it can be very useful to brush the hair of the brows to make it clear where all of the hairs actually are. When done, use that same brow brush to pull the hairs upward and use your finest trimmers to clip the longest hairs and ensure the best results.

More Great Tips on the Ideal Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

• Avoid bare spots – Another of the great universal ways to improve on your brow shaping is to use a brow gel and brush to add some volume to the brows. This is great for those with thin brows or who have accidentally over tweezed and need to build up spare spots. You will also want to invest in an angled brush to get the most control when filling in the brows with color.
• Avoiding pain – Tweezing is often something most of us hate because it hurts! However, applying a bit of infant teething gel to the brow area can actually give you just enough safe and effective numbing to make it a nearly painless activity. When done, but a bit of witch hazel on the brows to reduce redness and irritation.
• Avoiding blurred vision – Though those hand-held magnifying mirrors are great for helping you get all of the stray hairs, they don’t give a balanced picture. Put down that hand-held from time to time to ensure you are staying on track and not overdoing things or getting your lines and angles wrong (again, stencils can really help here as well as just filling in the brow with a pencil)
• Know how to use contouring and highlighting – The option to use products like highlighters, concealer and other products on the brows is remarkable. You can create a lot of effects with highlights in the right places. Usually below the arch, above the brow and at the inner corner of the eye can achieve amazing results!

Related: The Best of Both Worlds – Concealer & Highlighter

Most of us are not born with picture perfect brows, but with some time spent figuring out the right brow for you, the basic ways to shape brows effectively and how to use the ideal products for the brow, you can soon have outstanding brows.  Now that you know how to determine your face shape, let’s get to work with the right eyebrow shape for your face.

More Great Brow Resources:

17 Genius Tricks For Getting The Best Damn Eyebrows Of Your Life

How to Reshape Eyebrows: 12 Tips from the Pros

10 Tricks to Pluck Perfect Eyebrows