From fluffy to laminated to over-plucked, here are the expert brow techniques you need to know…
This International Women’s Day, we’re spotlighting the female-founded brands that are backed by a wealth of beauty expertise. West Barn Co was kickstarted by a mother-daughter duo with a particular affinity for flawless eyebrows.
When it comes to perfect arches, CEO and founder, Kimberley Cattin, knows her way around a spoolie. “The reason we do what we do is because we want to empower individuality. To boost people’s confidence in their own unique beauty and to create products that enhance those beautiful natural features, instead of altering them.”
West Barn Co’s products lend themselves to all styles of brow, allowing you to get creative with your routine and discover what works for you. From fluffy to laminated to thinner brows, Kimberley shares her top tips and tricks for achieving the perfect pair of arches…
How to find the best brows for me
With brows, we’re all different. What works for one person may not work for another – and that’s okay. West Barn Co's Kimberley Cattin explains, “From a beauty perspective, your brows are there to frame your face, open your eyes and maintain the balance of your features.”
It’s useful to play around with different styles to find what suits your face shape the most. Go for a low-maintenance brow pencil if you want to experiment with your look. “Find a pencil with a good pigment deposit that isn’t too soft or it’s just going to crumble when you use it.” West Barn Co’s The Brow Pencil boasts the perfect formula, drawing hair-like strokes to fill in sparse areas of the brow while creating shape and definition.
Every brow toolkit should feature a reliable spoolie and brow brush. West Barn Co's Brow Brush claims the best in the business, equipped with a dual-ended design to shape, blend and tame your brows.
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Top tips for fluffy or feathered brows
Feathered brows are the TikTok trend that’s here to stay. Feathered brows create softer definition for a natural-looking finish, thanks to hair-like strokes and precise application. Discover Kimberley's top tips for acing this trend:
1) Avoid Overplucking!
Feathered brows require as much brow hair as possible, so it might be time to put down the tweezers. The end goal is a fluffy, fuller look, which means you should fill in any gaps or sparse areas with your brow product of choice. Pens, pencils and pomades all work nicely – try West Barn Co’s The Brow Pen, equipped with an ultra-fine tip for drawing natural, hair-like strokes.
benefit’s Powmade Full Pigment Eyebrow Pomade is waterproof, non-drying and highly pigmented, perfect for building structure and definition with your favourite angled brush. Plus, it even features a built-in brush wiper.
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RRP: £22.00Current price: £17.60
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2) Softly Does It
“Draw feathered strokes using a light touch,” suggests Kimberley. “That way, you an add to it for a fuller-looking style.” Start softly and build up to your preferred finish – it’s much easier to add and intensify product than it is to remove mistakes.
3) Less is More
“Using brow soap to finish that feathered, natural look is brilliant because it is really malleable and you can really have fun playing with it. Again go in with minimal product to brush through the brows, and add more as needed.”
The West Barn Co Soap Brows is the cult-favourite brow product we all need in our kit. Enriched with coconut butter and glycerin, the flexible formula allows you to shape and set your brows, keeping them brushed-up and feathery for longer.
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Top tips for laminated brows
Yearning to create salon-style brows at-home? Laminated brows give a clean, professional finish to instantly make you a THAT girl type. So what do you need to know about re-creating this power brow look?
1) More is More
Unlike a fluffy or feathered brow, laminated brows naturally use up more product, so bear this in mind. Kimberley suggests, “Use a brow soap and coat the hairs by brushing in all directions before brushing into place.” This allows you to manipulate brow hairs in the direction you want them to sit. As well as West Barn Co’s Brow Soap, the benefit Gimme Brow features a fibre-enriched formula to lends brows a thicker and tamer appearance.
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RRP: £26.00Current price: £20.80
2) Get Stuck In
Be prepared to use your fingers to precisely set your look. “Push the brow hair against the skin so you get that super fixed, laminated look.”
3) Secure your Hairs
Just like you set your base makeup before you leave the house, you should reward your brows the same treatment. “If you are going out for the night and want your brows to stay put, put some setting powder over the product once dry to really set the hold.
Choose a finely-milled, translucent powder – like the Beauty Bakerie Flour Setting Powder. This lightweight setting powder is perfect for setting makeup in place all day with an invisible, long-wear finish. Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder also keeps your makeup locked down for longer, offering invisible, matte coverage with a no-flashback finish.
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Top tips for fuller-looking brows
Thinner brows are If you grew up in the 2000s, it's likely you fell victim to overplucking your hairs, leaving you with much less brow to work with.
1) Brow Serums
Thicker brows aren’t so easy to come by, but brow serums are the best place to start. West Barn Co’s Brow Elixir features hydrolysed vegetable proteins to help promote brow growth, while GRANDE Cosmetics’ GRANDEBROW Brow Enhancing Serum is powered by peptides, vitamins and amino acids to help support the appearance of healthy, thicker hairs. The GRANDEBROW serum should be used for 6-8 weeks to encourage a stronger brow look – perfect for sparse, thinner or over-plucked arches!
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2) Try the Tint Technique
Create the illusion of fuller brows by adding colour and fullness. “Tinted brow soaps are ideal for fluffing up thinner brows while adding colour for depth and dimension.” Anastasia Beverly Hill’s Tinted Brow Gel defines and shapes your brow, available in 7 pigmented shade to create a thicker-looking finish.
West Barn Co’s Tinted Soap Brows stars the same fan-favourite formula with a pigment upgrade. The universal shade adapts to most brow colours, helping to nourish your hairs while fixing them firmly in place.
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3) Fine Strokes
Use a brow pencil or a pomade and your favourite angled brush to mimic natural hairs. Fill in the gaps with soft, hair-like strokes to cheat your way to thicker-looking eyebrows. Anastasia Beverly Hill’s Dipbrow Pomade or West Barn Co’s The Brow Pomade are perfect for mirroring hair-like strokes, giving instant structure and definition.
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A 2-in-1 staple, the ABH Brow Wiz has a slim, retractable tip to help draw fine, natural-looking brow hairs – plus an attached spoolie brush for combing your hairs and blending out any product. benefit’s Precisely, My Brow Eyebrow Pencil creates party-proof arches, thanks to buildable pigment and an ultra-fine precision tip.
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Brow Toolkit Essentials
Now you’ve mastered the perfect arch, you’ll need extra tools to maintain your look. West Barn Co’s The Brow Toolbox houses brow scissors and precision tweezers in one handy, compact tin – perfect for shaping and grooming hairs on-the-go!
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Make sure you're equipped with the right brushes for the job. Petite angled brushes and spoolies will be your new BFF – and 2-in-1 applicators are even better! benefit’s Dual Ended Angled Eyebrow Brush and Blending Spoolie is crafted from soft, synthetic fibres, designed to shape and sculpt your brows for professional-looking results. Tailor your brows with ZOEVA’s 322 Brow Line Brush, an angled brush equipped with firm, hand-bound synthetic bristles for drawing precise, hair-like strokes.
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RRP: £18.50Current price: £14.80
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Make your brows POP with Anastasia’s Beverly Hills Pro Pencil. The creamy, concealer-like formula to help outline and brighten your brow bone for a sharp, structured finish.
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Keep hairs smooth and nourished with benefit’s Browvo! Conditioning Primer, a clear-gel basecoat to prep and replenish your brows. Enriched with keratin and soy proteins, the product can be worn alone to enhance your arch or with other brow products for a long-wear finish.
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