How To Find the Best Brow Shape for Your Features

As anyone who’s accidentally gone overboard with the tweezers likely knows, eyebrows can make (or break) your look. Unfortunately, finding the best brow shape to complement your features can be a little challenging. Instead of looking to social media trends to inform your brow routine, you should choose your eyebrow style based on your face shape and structure—it’s a practically foolproof way to guarantee great-looking arches. If you need help on that front, keep scrolling. Below, we’ll explain how to determine your face shape, reveal the best eyebrow shapes for different face shapes, and offer tips on shaping, taming, and filling in your arches like a pro. 

Understanding Your Face Shape

While everyone’s face is unique, most can be categorized into one of six shapes based on length, width, and how rounded or angular your features are. To identify your face shape, pull your hair back and look head-on in the mirror. Carefully assess your face’s length and width and write down your findings. Then, compare your features with the descriptions below to find your face shape. 

• Square: Square faces are roughly as wide as they are long and boast strong, angular features. If your temples, cheekbones, and jawline are on the same vertical plane and your chin is blunt (rather than pointed) you likely have a square face. 

• Rectangular: Rectangular faces have the same angular quality as square faces but are slightly longer than they are wide.

• Round: Those with round faces often have soft, rounded features without any sharp angles. With this face shape, the cheekbones are the widest part of the face—they’re prominent, but not pointed or overly sharp. 
• Oval: Oval faces (sometimes called “long faces”) fall somewhere between rectangular and round. They’re longer than they are wide, like rectangular faces, but boast softer features than square and rectangular faces. 
• Diamond-shaped: Diamond-shaped faces are characterized by their high, prominent cheekbones, narrow foreheads, and pointed chins. Most of the time, diamond-shaped faces are slightly longer than they are wide, though this isn’t always the case.
• Heart-shaped: Last but not least are heart-shaped faces—which, as the name suggests, resemble the shape of a hand-drawn heart. They’re widest along the cheekbones, with a rounded forehead and sharp, pointed chin.

If you’re still having trouble identifying your face shape based on the above descriptions, try printing out a picture of yourself and tracing the outline of your face with a pen or pencil. Sometimes, this makes it easier to visualize your overarching face shape. 

How To Find Your Perfect Eyebrow Shape

Your face shape and the relative softness or sharpness of your features can help inform how you shape and groom your brows. Keep scrolling to discover the best brow shape for each face shape. 

Best eyebrow shape for square faces

When working on coordinating your eyebrows with a square face shape, take a moment to remember this often repeated adage: opposites attract. Pairing a rounded eyebrow shape with a prominent, angular jaw can help soften your features. 

Best eyebrow shape for rectangular faces

If your face measures longer than it is wide, keep your eyebrows thick to complement your face shape. You can also extend the tails of your eyebrows to add the appearance of width to your face.

Best eyebrow shape for round faces

An angular eyebrow shape can help balance out the fullness of round faces. Creating strong lines can aid in counteracting softness and a lack of definition, giving the appearance of a more defined bone structure. 

Best eyebrow shape for oval faces

Oval faces are pretty well-balanced—if you have this face shape, you’ll find that almost any eyebrow shape will complement your face. Since having too many options can be overwhelming, try accentuating your symmetrical shape with a gently angled brow. 

Best eyebrow shape for diamond-shaped faces

With a pointed chin and a narrow hairline, diamond-shaped faces are distinctly angular. Opting for a softly rounded brow shape can help soften those sharper angles and balance out your features beautifully. 

Best eyebrow shape for heart-shaped faces

To complement the high cheekbones of a heart-shaped face, choose an eyebrow shape with a high arch. By adding height to your eyebrows, you can lengthen the look of the shorter jaw that often comes with your face shape.

How To Shape Your Eyebrows

Once you determine the ideal brow shape for your features, follow these tips to groom and shape your brows like a pro.

1. Mark your brows

To determine where your brows should start, align an eyebrow pencil vertically with the outside of your nose, and create a mark where the pencil intersects with your brow bone. For your arch, pivot the pencil so it passes directly over your iris and, once again, mark where the pencil touches your brow bone. For the tail of your brows, line your pencil up with the outer corner of your eye and make a small mark where the pencil hits your temple.

2. Outline your brow shape

Using light, feathered strokes, outline your brow shape by connecting the marks you made. Be sure to use a washable eyebrow pencil so you can easily remove the marks once you’re done. 

3. Brush up your brows

Next, use a clean spoolie to brush your brows upward and prep them for grooming. This will remove any stray hairs or dust that could be sticking to your brows and allow you to see their current shape.

4. Tweeze and trim 

After brushing up your brows, tweeze any hairs that fall outside of the outline you drew with your brow pencil. If any of your brow hairs are longer than the others, you can also trim them down to shape with eyebrow scissors—just be sure to take your time so you don’t end up trimming too much.

How To Fill In Your Eyebrows with Makeup

If your ideal brow shape differs from your natural brow shape, you’ll need to lean on makeup to help bridge the gap, so to speak. You can use a brow pencil, brow pen, or eyebrow gel for this step—select whichever one suits your needs and preferences best. 

How to fill in your brows with a brow pen

If your natural brows are on the sparser side and you’d like to make them look fuller and thicker, reach for a brow pen, such as the L’Oréal Paris Faux Brow Hair-Like Brow Filling Pen. The unique pen features two ultra-fine brush tips that allow you to draw precise, hair-like strokes for full yet natural-looking brows. To use it, lightly press the fine tips against your arches wherever you’d like to add definition. Then, using light pressure, draw short, hair-like strokes to create the illusion of thicker, fuller brows.

How to fill in your brows with a brow pencil

A brow pencil is great for a subtle look. Using the tip of an eyebrow pencil like the L’Oréal Paris Brow Stylist Definer Mechanical Waterproof Eyebrow Pencil, draw the outline of your brow shape. With light strokes, fill in any gaps and sparse areas, then use the spoolie side of the pencil to blend and groom your eyebrows.

How to shape your brows with brow gel 

A clear brow gel will be your best bet if your brows are thick but simply won’t hold their shape. These formulas work much in the way that hair gel does, providing long-lasting hold to help keep your brows in place. For a brow look that won’t budge, we love the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24HR Brow Lamination. The sweat-resistant formula brushes on easily and provides up to 24 hours of lift and hold. For those who to give their brows a little extra color but don’t want to fill in their arches with a brow pen or pencil we suggest using a tinted brow mascara. The L’Oréal Paris Infallible Volumizing 24H Wear Brow Mascara is a great pick, and it comes in seven natural-looking shades to complement various hair colors.

Next Up: Brow Lamination: What It Is and How To Get the Laminated Brow Look at Home

Photo courtesy of L’Oréal Paris