For the better part of last year, it seemed like everyone — us included — was obsessed with getting eyebrows as full as Cara Delevingne’s. Ever since, we’ve been following the motto “the bigger, the better” when it comes to DIY-ing our brows, giving them a kind of voluminous bedhead treatment by brushing them, filling them in and piecing them out before we left the house to tackle the day.
Now, it seems like the next wave of #browsonfleek is finally upon us, and it’s a sleeker, sexier look than ever: angular arches. Spotted all over the Cannes red carpet on celebs like Eva Longoria and Karlie Kloss, whose brows naturally drive upward, the severe point right at the height of the arch gives off a strong, vampy mystique (it’s very, very Marilyn Monroe) that classic rounded eyebrows just can’t step to. Vixen vibes aside, this dramatic shape is actually extremely versatile. Since it can accentuate any arch height, any girl can make this look work for her, no plucking required.
Obviously we couldn’t help but try out this mega glamorous look ourselves, so we tapped our resident beauty expert Misty Spinney to create an everyday version of the latest brow shape to sweep the red carpet. Scroll through to learn how to DIY the the next big brow trend in just five steps.
Step 1: Angle Up
Use a flat angled brush and an eyebrow cream like the one from Benefit’s Smokin’ Eyes Sexy Eye & Brow Makeover Kit ($36) to draw a straight line at an angle starting from the top of the inside of your eyebrows to just over where your natural eyebrow arches. Pro tip: this will look more natural if you use small, feather-like strokes that mimic the length of your hairs to draw the line instead of tracing one solid line.
Step 2: Angle Down + Fill In
Use the same short stroke technique to create the angle that cuts straight down to the outside end of your eyebrows and to fill them in. Concentrate on filling in the top portion of your brows and avoid filling in the hairs that are closest to your eyes on the lower eyebrow line.
Step 3: Blend
Use a mascara wand to gently comb through your eyebrows in the direction that the hairs grow. This will help soften the line you originally created to reshape your eyebrows.
Step 4: Highlight + Disguise
Use a light pale pink cream shadow, like the one found in Benefit’s Smokin’ Eyes Sexy Eye & Brow Makeover Kit, to apply that cream with your finger to highlight your brow bones + accentuate your upper angle. Be sure to use this cream shadow to cover up any stray hairs that are not within the lines you filled — it will help polish your final look.
Step 5: Gel In Place
Finally, to keep your brow in place and for one final blend, use a clear eyebrow gel very gently to brush through your brows. You can see how natural they look after this step!
The before and after is fairly striking. Besides being fuller and more pronounced, the added angle is actually helping to highlight Misty’s cheek and jawbones. Turns out it’s a great way to make a romantically tousled hairdo feel really modern too.
Would you rock this latest eyebrow trend? Tell us how you bump up your brows or share your fave eyebrow hack in the comments below.
(Photos via Pascal Le Segretain, Clemens Bilan/Getty)