Beauty pro division

Tweezing your eyebrows can be a tricky thing. If you overpluck, it will take a week or so for those hairs to grow back. If you underpluck, then you risk looking like a bushy mess. Here are some tips to achieving the Model Eyeybrow look:

1. Everyone understands where the eyebrow starts, but not where it ends. Line up a pencil at the end of the nose, towards the corner of the eye. That's where the line of your eyebrow should end. This is also where your eye shadow should end, as well.

2. Balance to the eyebrows are very important. You want to make sure that they're not uneven. From where it starts to where it ends, the line of the eyebrow should be horizontal. If you line up a pencil at the beginning and the end of the brow lines up too high, you know you've tweezed too much.

3. The Model Eyebrow is a shape that looks great on everyone. From the start of the eyebrow to the arch, the line is straight. From the arch to the end of the eyebrow, the line is softly curved. It's a classic eyebrow shape that's always in and looks great on everyone.

4. Avoid creating a straightness in your eyebrows by not tweezing above the eyebrow. By tweezing on top, you tend to flatten the shape, making it very difficult to create a high flowing arch. You get your arch only by tweezing underneath, never on top.

5. If you are getting that pinching ouch when tweezing, do what the pros do. Grab the hair with tweezers and pull the hair with the tips of the tweezer touching the skin as you pull. Pull in the direction that the hair grows, and you'll find tweezing to be virtually painless. Why? It's the pulling up of the skin that hurts, not the hair. By keeping the skin flat, you eliminate much of the sting factor.

6. If you find yourself breaking out after tweezing your eyebrows, keep it sanitized. Use witch hazel on a cotton ball before and after you tweeze to avoid those little red bumps.

7. Ideally, the best shape is the natural line that your eyebrow already is. If your eyebrows are extremely thick, a very thin eyebrow will not work for you. If your eyebrows are thin, trying to maintain a thicker eyebrow will be too much work. Just as in hair texture, work with what you have. Softer facial features enhance a thinner, more elegant eyebrow, while a strong bone structure is the perfect face for a thicker, stronger eyebrow.

8. The secret to model eyebrows, is to never completely wax your eyebrow. Models know that eyebrow looks come and go, and if you wax only, you lose the ability to grow in your eyebrows at a later date should you want to change your look. The best technique is to just wax the hairs that are not needed and tweeze to define the shape of the eyebrow.

There are several shapes to tweezers, but the most used are:

The thin tip: Good for grasping fine hairs and plucking ingrown hairs.
The slanted tip: This tip gives you maximum control.
The square tip: Removes coarse hairs or several hairs at a time.

I personally use Esthetic Plus' Slanted Tweezers and find that they work fabulous on my brows. You can learn more about them through my review of them on my blog or simply visit their website at www.estheticplus.com.

(Model Eyebrow tips provided by Elke von Freudenberg, eyebrow expert.)

Soaps from Bath and Body Bliss
4 out of 5 Stars
I crossed my fingers and hoped that the soap was just as good as the pretty packaging. The Seaweed Soap smelled so nice and you could just feel from the bar that this soap would just glide across your skin. The Seaweed Soap is made of kelp, sage, chamomile and is scented with sage and rosemary essential oils. I loved that this soap was mildly abrasive, exfoliating my skin nicely, while creating a great lather. This soap felt wonderful...Read more.

Bikini Kitty Shave System
3 out of 5 Stars
Bikini Kitty is a Shave Care System to eliminate and prevent razor rash, ingrown hair and provide an irritation free shave. Bikini Kitty's products are vegan and organic. The kit comes in a very handy vinyl bag with handles. It includes a Body Brush, Everyday Magic Spray, Shave Gel, No nick Razor Oil, Razor-burn soother and 2 single blade disposable razors...Read more.

Joico K-Pak Liquid Reconstruct
4 out of 5 Stars
As my hair gets longer, I find that it splits and freys a little more easier, or just seems a little more obvious, and that my hair tangles a lot more causing me to wish (for just one millisecond) for short hair again. This product has been a miracle worker, along with the Joico K-Pak Smoothing Balm...Read more.

Maryam's Soap Nook Exfoliating Body Wash
4 out of 5 Stars
My VIP package came from Maryam's Soap Nook. Today's review will be about her Exfoliating Body Wash with Kukui Nut Oil and Jojoba Beads. This product was sent in an out of this world fragrance---Pomegranate and Wild Berries. This wonderfully pink Body Wash with it's blue-green Jojoba Beads lives up to my expectations of not only smelling wonderful, but also working just as well...Read more.

Hungarian Apothecary Mud comes from the Heviz Lake in the Hungarian town of the same name. The mud has long been known to have healing qualities dating back to the Romans. Heviz Lake is heated by geothermal activity, this combined with water flowing from a catchment area of the surrounding hills taking with it metals and minerals along the way, makes Hungarian Apothecary Mud a highly sought after spa treatment.

Hungarian Apothecary Mud (Moor Mud) from this lake contains a complex array of nutrients, natural trace elements, minerals and humic substances easily absorbed through human skin. The benefits to the skin include toning, detoxifying and anti-inflammatory benefits, which help to renew old or damaged skin cells. Due to the thermal activity in which it resides, the mud is a great retainer of heat, but can also be used cold.

Local New Yorker, Greg Cartwright, owner of Downtime Massage and Skin Care and a dually licensed Massage Therapist and Esthetician, primarily uses Hungarian Apothecary Mud prior to and after Body Sugaring. He has a three-step process he follows prior to Body Sugaring that includes a full body application of Hungarian Apothecary Mud. This eases inflammation and any skin sensitivity prior to hair removal. It is a process he recommends a few days prior to having Body Sugaring done. Once Body Sugaring is complete, the application of Hungarian Apothecary Mud following the procedure helps calm the skin, close pores and begins the healing process immediately. The mud is left on the body for a minimum of 20 minutes.

This mud can be used in a variety of ways including as a facial mask, in a body wrap and for a mud bath. It’s been known to cure over 50 ailments. I have long been a fan of mud and have seen for myself the amazing benefits using it lends.

Be sure to watch for my Industry Experts Profile interview with Greg Cartwright next week on our main blog.