If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, then eyebrows are your reflection of self-awareness.
It's 2015 and there's no excuse for having Nike shaped brows, or, God forbid, unibrows. This isn't about what others will think of you, or for the opposite sex- well kept brows should be a part of one's hygiene.

Well now that we've covered the 'well-kept' brows, it's time we move on to 'perfect-woman-crush' brows.
I'm so happy that big 'n' bold brows are back in fashion- I was sick of the thin trend and all the girls plucking everything out just so they could draw new ones... That just makes no sense. 
But after looking at recent pics of my friends and girls/women from all over, all I can do is quote my favorite meme- yaaasss girl, yaaaasss!
The thing is, we gotta work with what we have. And nowadays we work to make it look both natural but bold and groomed. If you've been blessed with natural thick brows then good for you, but girls with light hair or thinner brows need to work it up a bit (but just a bit!).
Here's my train of thoughts considering eyebrow maintenance- 

1. Know your face and know your way around beauty centers

Not all faces suite all types and shapes of brows. There is an universal way of plucking, but if you're unsure in your tweezing expertise, save yourself from a possible disaster and go to a salon (ask your friends for recommendations and never go to an unknown place). I've had luck, the first girl to do my brows never plucked too much, but the girl who does them now works wonders. Truth is, I have a dark facial hair and it's a pain to get rid of it, and you have to visit the salon as much as you can yidda yadda... But on the positive side, it does leave you with good brows, so it's a blessing in a way.

2. Know your colors

There's an unwritten rule that no one, not even black-haired girls, can wear full black brows. I don't even know when the trend started, but a lot of girls (and for some reasons most of those dye their hair blond) tend to make black Nike shapes... But why?? 
Take a look at Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox or any black-haired celebrity- they're all very careful when it comes to darker tones. 
The thing is, the darker your facial hair gets, the more you have to work it to achieve a natural look. Darker hair is more visible and tends to seem more fake than lighter tones. If you google the girls I mentioned, you'll see how their dark brows were just filled a bit at the end and are untouched at the base/beginning. That creates the seemingly natural, but well defined look. As for girls with sparse brows and light hair- keep your natural color but learn the right technique rather than look like you've been playing with markers.

2. Set your goals

Ever since discovering Janice Joostema on IG, I was done. Like, literally done. If I'd ever have a girl crush it'd probably be Janice. With great style and great looks, this girl rocks the most amazing brows. Although her hair and facial hair are far more darker than mine, I tend to achieve this shape and fullness. 
So set your goals girl!

 

4. Patience

It takes 64 days for eyebrows to fully recover. So if you've screwed up something while plucking before, they won't grow back over night. It seems easy to have full or big brows- just let them grow, right?
Wrong. It's hard to have grown brows but at the same time have them also neat and orderly. And there are times you look like an unplucked chicken but that's all the part of the wait- you have to let them grow, then pluck and style, then repeat again. Your facial hair need to get used to a certain shape for it to grow in.

5. Right products

This doesn't have to be that hard. There are dozens of products nowadays, from plucking, shading, styling etc.
I think everyone should invest in an eyebrow brush- I use an old brush I got as a gift, but it really doesn't matter what brand you use since they are all more or less the same. 
The first thing you should do is to keep in mind to do the brows after applying powder- first brush off the access with the fuzzy part of the brush and then style them. The rest is really up to you, but if you plan on filling, I would really suggest MAC-Brows pen (middle-right, the markings on the pen got smudged off from usage). It's actually really light and you can layer it for definition, also stays in the whole day. For darker brows, I use Estee Lauder Double Wear pen in coffee, which is actually for the eyes, but I found it far more better for the brows (too smudgy for the eyes). Lastly, I recommend brow gel for everyone. I use Artdeco brown- but again, it's for darker brows. Lighter brows would go just perfectly fine with transparent. It gives a more defined and combed look, plus they stay put the whole day.

If you're planning on googling upcoming trends for this season... Don't. 

I often hear from my friends things like 'I'm too lazy to apply cream', 'I always forget to use lotion' or stuff like 'I just use any foundation'... Wrong, wrong and wrong. We are young but that doesn't mean our face and skin can endure everything and just forget. From sunburns to dry skin and bad makeup, everything we do or don't do for our skin will later come out as wrinkles or big pores. My Mum has great genes and people always say she looks 10 years younger- but her trick isn't botox, but the fact that she has taken care of her skin all her life and doesn't go to sleep without putting on creams and serums. She's always been reminding me to be persistent and take care of my skin.

 Last couple of months I've been taking more care than ever to continue my regime and there really is a difference. So I'll be sharing a bit of what I've gathered through years and I hope it'll help some. 

I hit puberty really early and had problems ever since. It was never acne, but there was always constant redness and zits coming out at most terrible times. My main problem was that everyone was assuring me it was my oily skin that was the problem and I was treating it for years (literally 4 years), but it turned out it was my puberty hormones that were guilty, and my skin was actually dry-  I was only making it worse by clogging up my pores with bad creams. 

Unfortunately, it has taken me four years to come up with a right skin regime.

I'd like to start from the beginning, which, for me, is from the inside- food and metabolism.

There are numerous articles online with what to and not to eat if you want clear skin. The truth is, there is no rule. Sure, choccolate can induce zits, but a zit is just bacteria in a clogged pore and you can't blame choccolate for putting a bacteria on your face.

But certain foods can induce face bloating and irritation (redness)- in my case it's dairy products and oily food. Whenever I drink milk I get redness from my nose to cheeks; it's because I have a slight irritation towards dairy, so slight it's not harmless but still causes these kind of problems. You can have mild allergies towards food without even knowing it. And like I said, there is no rule because everyone has different types of metabolisms so they react in all different ways.

There is one golden rule and it's hydration- drinking at least a bottle a water a day keeps the zits away and I've proved it myself.

Second is the most important- cleaning makeup and washing your face right.

I bet 90% of face problems come from not fully cleaning your face. You have a great foundation and even powder on top, it covers everything and you couldn't be more satisfied- the more coverage the more work there is to get it off. Good coverage foundations have really small particles that go even further on and in your face than you've put it- after washing up your face I believe it's a must to rub on some lotion and go even further- like the beginning of the hairline, neck, etc. Soap is great but it dries the face- a dry face starts foliating which leads to clogged pores. Lotions tend to hydrate while also extra cleaning, so it's good to have a hydrating lotion close.
I use Mia Clarisonic every few days like an exfoliating solution, but I don't recommend daily use because the skin starts to get too thin. Exfoliate from time to time to get rid of the dead cells.

For getting makeup off I use Lush Kalamazdo soap- it smells great but it's also good for dry skin. I'm not usually a fan of their cosmetics, but this is from a new line that doesn't dry the skin and works on making it soft.

As for the lotion, I'm currently using Lancome but any can do as long as it says alcohol free.

Don't forget the eyes too- heavy eye-makeup removers can make allergies and cause eyelashes to fallout, so stick to micellar water- I use Biotherm or Nivea.

Third is what you do after cleaning. The face is dry and a bit 'tortured' so you can't leave it like that or you'll have redness. 
The deal with creams is so messed up- every skin type has its own best solution. I've tried literally dozens of serums, creams, tonics... When I find something good, it's usually good for some time but then it's like my face gets enough and starts reacting so I gotta find something else. For some time now I've been using Biotherm Skin-best serum and cream.

 It's for normal skin and really concentrated, but it does the magic. Another thing most girls forget is putting something in the morning before makeup. I forget it most of the times, but that makes 
a) makeup last longer and 
b) skin smoother. 
If my skin gets too irritated from all the products, I give it a day free of products, only a simple mask for a bit of recovery. Try with some clay and fruit masks- I recommend Shiseido clay mask.

Last would be proper makeup. That's a whole other story. I remember when I was 15 and buying foundation and the woman at Clinic sold me foundation I later found out was for wrinkled skin. Clerks at the cosmetic departments are usually not the smartest to listen to. I had a lot of trouble finding the right type of foundation- lasts long, doesn't look to fake, right tone, not heavy... And the conclusion was that our face has two separate periods- Winter and Summer. At Winter (along with the fact I'm marble pale) my face needs more foundation than on Summer. I don't mean more as in 'make it 3 layers', but as finding a more durable, concentrated product. We're out in school or work all day and we go to and fro, so you get my point. I use YSL Youth Liberator- has golden particles so it gives life to my pale complex. A dash of MAC pressed powder and good to go.

As for Summer, try going light. I used to mix L'Occitane BB cream with Illamasqua concentrated foundation- the BB cream is dark and the foundation is pale with great coverage- so you could get a matched tone and it's long lasting. But honestly I go without foundation on Summer (and nobody died).
I was sick sometime ago and due to penicillin my face got fully cleared, so I tried Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and would recommend to girls that need just light coverage- it's so light your forget you have it on, but it stays the whole day. As soon as my redness returned unfortunately I had to get back to higher coverage foundations.

Also a big big big advice- buy a good foundation brush. Might seem like more work around your face, but really it's not and it's an investment. When using fingers you get a lot of foundation in your skin on hands, fingers etc and later wash it away- so you just throw away a lot of it. Secondly, there's less chance of bringing bacteria to your face via hands (as long as you keep the brush clean). For pressed powder I use BOSS brush (but any can do), but for liquid foundation I suggest going for brushes that have microfiber hair. Trick with that is that it doesn't suck foundation inside but rather leaves it on the edges of the brush and it doesn't bring on bacteria. I swear in Illamasqua brushes- I use the concealer one for the whole face. They have bigger ones but I like the small one because I can get the foundation in every corner.

So here's all my wisdom about skincare. It feels like writing an essay haha but I'll have to sum up in 5 golden rules:

1. A bottle of water a day keeps the acne away

2. Micellar water - soap - tonic - cream; leave one out and the others don't count any more

3. Exfoliate twice a week but always put a creamy mask afterwards

4. Use the right foundation and always keep it light- avoid powder if possible

5. Never use too many products- too much is never good

Be nice to your skin- you only get one and it's on your face so everybody sees it. 

In the next post I'll bring out the foundation again but I'll deal with makeup and some looks too, so keep up xx