How to Prepare your Face for your Wedding Day. Lets Talk Brows!
There's a lot of truth in the cliché that your brows frame and define the rest of your face, so on your wedding day it's perfectly normal to want them, and the rest of your make-up, to look their best.
5 months to go
A question I'm frequently asked: 'I over plucked when I was younger, how can I make them visible again?' To help you tick one more thing off your wedding to-do list, here's what you need to do to get a happily-ever-after for your brows.
You've got 5 months to go and the majority of your wedding planning is complete, but there is one thing you could do for yourself. Stop everything! Literally everything - no plucking, no threading, in fact no brow hair removal - and for the next few months just let your brows grow. It's hard resisting the urge to reshape or even tidy up your brows at this stage, but it will ensure you have the maximum amount of eyebrow hairs to work with before your brow technician starts styling them. It's a lot more difficult to get a shape you love and desire to have on your wedding day otherwise.
4 months to go
A month has passed and you've past the first test of leaving your brows the hell alone. Now its time to focus on maintaining and controlling the growth.
If you naturally have very thin brows and want to achieve a fuller style, you may want to consider trying an eyebrow growth serum. You can find these in high street stores such as Boots and Superdrug which are sure to fall under any bride's budget. I like to recommend Benefit's BROWVO! conditioning eyebrow primer (£19). It's a clear formula enriched with Keratin and Soy Proteins to help promote healthy, fuller, looking brows. A few years ago I lead a Benefit Cosmetics counter and the brow launch was the biggest to ever hit Boots stores and I must say BROWVO flew off the shelves. Products like serums need as much time as possible to show results, so applying this twice a day 4 months in advance will give you a great chance of seeing a fuller brow in time for your wedding day. Another great brand in the heart of the brow game is Revitalash. They sell a serum called RevitaBrow priced at £48.95, so slightly dearer in price. People go mad for this, but it all depends on how much you're willing to spend.
3 months to go
You're three months away and you're finalising all the delicate details like wedding favours and centre pieces, but not only will you need plenty of time to think about what sort of makeup you'd like to wear, you'll also want to think about what type of brow product you like, if you haven't already. It's the perfect time to try a variety - from pomades and palettes to pencils!
A little brief on the finish of each product;
Pomades - A cream-based formula that is usually packaged in a small pot. It will give you concentrated colour which makes it great for faking hairs for sparse areas
Palettes - usually packaged in a duo form of a gel and powder. The gel is used to create the shape and the powder is used to fix the brow in place
Pencils - a very soft, ultra-natural approach to faking a great brow shape. They are particularly great for the fuller brow as only a discreet amount is needed.
If you'd prefer to get your brows more naturally shaped and/or tinted, you should go for an in-depth consultation at a top brow bar about a month or so before your wedding. Look to Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration in advance, so you can take images of brows you like with you to the appointment and be informed enough to discuss the brow style you'd like. If you choose to go-all out, with something like a HD Brow treatment, your stylist will "apply a custom-blended colour to either darken, lighten or simply tone the natural colour of your brow hair, before "mapping" your brows to design their unique shape
In my experience as a professional makeup artist, I believe the brows look better slightly darker in colour than you'd perhaps normally wear, so that they look polished in photos. Just don't get too carried away with intense colour or overdrawing!
There's only a few weeks to go until the big day and you should now be pretty happy with your brow progress, shape, shade and be happy you've tried and tested the product you love. In just 5 months not only have you managed to achieve the brow you've longed for, but you've learnt how to maintain healthy brow growth. Your brows are ready to walk down the aisle!