The almighty eyebrows

Has anyone else noticed that your eyebrows have the ability to make or break your look? I know the Bible says a woman’s hair is her crowning glory; but if you gave me a choice, I’d take my eyebrows being properly coiffed over my hair being “done” any day. In all fairness though, since I have locks my hair is never “not done.”

Anyway, I come from a long line of expert brow shapers. My maternal grandmother who completely devoted her life to raising her children and later grandchildren, still always made time to make sure her brows were right. For decades, she was the go-to woman when it came to shaping and sculpting. And she shared that vital information with her sisters and passed it down to her nieces and eventually her daughter, my mother.

I’ll never forget the day my mother looked at me and decided it was time for my first plucking session. I was a freshman in high school and had just come home from the school gym class I was taking. Needless to say I looked a bit rough and my thick, unruly eyebrows weren’t helping the situation. I showered and my mom had me lie down on her bed as she sat over me, plucking away.

In retrospect I should have been more afraid of this process. The whole thing was pretty agonizing. My stomach was knotting and unknotting as I felt her rip each individual hair from my face with precision. I felt trapped, like a form of torture.

But once I was released and I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized what wonders the plucking had done for my face. My eyes looked brighter. My face looked softer and more feminine. I looked less like a little girl and more like the woman I would become. For the next couple of days, I couldn’t walk past a mirror without doubling back to take a peak at my new eyebrows. You couldn’t tell me nothin’. I had arrived.

From that moment on, if my eyebrows weren’t done, I just didn’t feel right. I could have on the flyest outfit, my hair could be styled to perfection and my face could be beat for the gods; but if my eyebrows were bushy or too overgrown, it was all for nothing.

Try as I might to hide the stubbly hairs growing in, eye shadow and even foundation did little to hide the coarse black spikes that were coming in. It was time to shape again. The look of having my eyebrows properly shaped is virtually magical. There have been times where my face looked like I’d applied some makeup, simply because my eyebrows were right. It’s important that they be done promptly and properly.

As the years progressed, I would put the tweezers down in favour of waxing. And just a few months ago, I stepped into the threading world for the first time. (I’m still not convinced that it’s the better option.)