THE ACCESSORY OF THE SEASON
The brow-centric trend manifested itself in two distinct ways this season – brows either dominated the face with strong color or they took on an editorial edge with a faint whisper of white blonde. “The brow bottom line: it's all or nothing this season. Eyebrows were either in full force or completely stripped to minimum impact. In both instances, the eyes were dramatically enhanced,” says Healy.
Brow guru to the stars Joey Healy recaps the hottest brow trends accessory sashaying down the Spring 2013 runways – not shoes, bags or jewelry – but eyebrows! From the rich bold brows seen at Marc Jacobs to the daring bleached arches at Alexander Wang, eyebrows took center stage at Spring 2013 Mercedes- Benz Fashion Week in New York City.
About Joey Healy: A triple threat in the beauty industry, Joey Healy is a prominent eyebrow stylist, professional makeup artist and licensed esthetician. With his skill and unique approach for creating the ideal arch, Joey launched his mobile eyebrow styling division in late 2009 and The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection in 2011. Utilizing his talents, Joey has become a favorite amongst celebrities including Kyra Sedgwick, Aviva Drescher and Carole Radziwill of The Real Housewives of New York, Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live, Sean Young of Blade Runner and many more.
GET THE LOOK! LIGHTENING:
The interpretation: Healy says, leave the white blonde eyebrows to the models! The look is best translated with a brow tone that is 3 shades lighter than your own. A fully bleached brow has virtually no presence on the face and will dramatically de-emphasize your bone structure. The result can be quite alien looking and will give you the appearance of a large forehead. The intention here is to simply play the brow down to make the eyes more prominent.
The method: Lightening one's brows is best achieved with the aid of a professional. A simple, odorless bleach paste obtained by beauty pros is ideal to soften the look of a brow that is too severe in darkness for one's face. Leaving the paste on anywhere from 1-5 minutes is generally enough to "knock-out" that harsh edge and restore softness to the brow. “I rarely use bleach to take eyebrows all the way to blonde. 99 times out of 100, the idea is just the tone them somewhere in the chocolate range. Be warned, leaving bleach on for too long will cause eyebrows to turn orange! One must stop before this stage, or leave the bleach on longer to go past orange to blonde,” says Healy.
A second alternative to using bleach is to experiment with makeup. This is a good option if you are afraid of commitment! There are 2 ways to achieve this:
1. Colored mascaras are ideal for this task because they individually coat each brow hair (not JUST filling in the space in between). Play with an assortment of light brown mascaras to find the one that suits you best, make sure that they are not only waterproof, but have a non-crunchy in finish! Using very little product, lightly brush the color through the brow; this is best done with a disposable mascara wand – most built-in mascara applicators are made to work their magic on lashes, not eyebrows. One coat will do! Let dry and enjoy your new lightened brow hair.
2. Another option is to use a very small amount of concealer that matches your skin tone and massage it onto a disposable mascara wand. Gently sweep the wand through the brow making sure to get from root to tip. No clumps allowed! Next, use a soft taupe waterproof pencil (like the Joey Healy Brow Architect Stylo in WICKER – $25, www.joeyhealy.com) and lightly bring a bit of color back into the brow with short feathery strokes. Be sure to opt for a pencil, never a powder. To ensure your lighter brow lasts all day, set into place with a light application of a non-crunchy clear brow gel (like Joey Healy Brow Structure Clear Set – $25, www.joeyhealy.com
The Joey Healy Collection Brow Architect Stylo in Wicker | The Joey Healy Collection Brow Structure Clear Set
Voila! Perfectly lightened eyebrows!
GET THE LOOK! BOLD:
The interpretation: The idea here is to emphasize your natural brow color without having them overtaking your face. The best way to achieve this look is to opt for one shade darker than your actual eyebrow tone and carefully blend through, says Healy. The goal is to make them striking while creating flattering enhancements to your basic bone structure. Over darkening your brows not only looks unnatural, but will distract from your other features in an aggressive manner.
The method: To indulge in this bold runway trend, one must start with a good foundation. Patiently allow your eyebrows to grow out for a full 3 weeks and book one professional shaping session with an expert who will give you a well-groomed shape to work from. After having grown those bad boys out to their maximum, now it's time to sharpen them up for definition. Healy adds, accenting the brows with color will allow you to highlight key points in your shape and give the brow a polished look. With shaping you can only remove hair, but when one embraces “the fill” you can really start to redesign your shape. Choose a pencil (like Joey Healy Brow Architect Stylo – $25, www.joeyhealy.com) if you need to sharpen up an arch, extend out a tail or cover an obvious gap/scar. Go with a powder (like Joey Healy Luxe Brow Powder – $28, www.joeyhealy.com) to give more uniform density to an already well-shaped brow that feels sparse. “Pencils can be considered more corrective while powders ‘turn up the volume’ on your shape. With that said, women sometimes have a strong preference toward one or the other based on what they personally find easiest to use. In my opinion, working with a powder is easier for a novice because, with a light hand, you can gradually build up the color, “ says Healy.
Whichever brow color you chose, make sure you always use waterproof brow products to ensure everything stays in place throughout the day (both my pencils and powders are waterproof).
To apply, always start with a small amount of product then build intensity. Never overdraw your shape, just emphasize key points in the brow by making the most of what you have. For powders use a stiff, angled brush for control (like Joey Healy’s Duo Brow Brush – $28, www.joeyhealy.com). Brushing through the brow several times at the end of a fill creates a more effortless looking result. To finish always set with a non-crunchy clear gel for hold (like Joey Healy’s Brow Structure Clear Set – $25, www.joeyhealy.com). This will help to groom unruly brows into submission if they attempt to make a run for it in different directions! Avoid using dense wax-based setting products which are difficult to apply, melt easily and give eyebrow hair a stuck together look.
If your sparse brows are not quite cutting it for this bold trend, kick them into high gear and get them as thick as possible! In terms of a brow growth product, the Joey Healy Brow Renovation Serum ($125 - www.joeyhealy.com) is the cure for those with over plucked, thinly waxed or just plain sparse eyebrows. This paraben-free formula will help to stimulate growth and thicken the hair follicles of your eyebrows when used twice daily for six weeks then nightly thereafter. A genius cocktail of glycosaminoglycans, pentapeptides and hyaluronic acid are the key to this product’s success, containing a nutrient blend of properties that get eyebrows back on the road to a lush recovery.
Voila! Perfectly emboldened eyebrows!
The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection Brow Architect Stylo | The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection Luxe Brow Powder | The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection Duo Brow Brush
The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection Brow Renovation Serum | The Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection Brow Structure Clear Set
