While the number of days we’ve been in quarantine varies from person to person, and region to region, one thing that’s a constant is our need to step up the self-care. The salons are closed and we’re on our own when it comes to taking care of our skin, nails and hair, including our eyebrows.
Licensed aesthetician and bona fide brow queen LaTonya Starks, more widely known as Lori Dior, is here to help. As one of the most sought-after body-sculpting and brow specialists in Atlanta, she’s known for her natural ombre brow technique.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur has been working her magic at her salon Lori Dior for four years, and in that short amount of time she has solidified herself as the go-to expert for body work, skin care and grooming services. She’s perfected the eyebrows of Cliff Vmir and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Deborah Bryant, better known as Momma Dee.
“Some people’s eyebrows are more like distant cousins, but brows should always be like sisters,” she says with a laugh. “Brows should be like sisters or fraternal twins, but not identical.”
Get your brow sisters just right during quarantine with these expert tips that Starks offered.
- Follow pro-style techniques. It is so important for ladies and gents to focus on their natural arch when grooming their own brows—it’s all about achieving the right shape. Don’t tweeze the hairs above your brows; only pluck the stray hairs below. That will help maintain the shape. Another technique that helps maintain a natural-looking brow is combing your brows down before filling the upper part in. Doing this also helps create the perfect shape and gives your brows a more soft, natural yet defined look.
- Use the right tools. I recommend using slant-tipped tweezers because they are the absolute best for gripping tiny brow hairs. And brow gel is your best friend. Brow gel, when used daily, keeps your hairs in place and makes a big difference in their appearance.
- Find the right color match. One of the most important things you should consider when doing your own brows is finding the right brow shade or color matching. I recommend filling in your brows with pencil or powder one shade lighter than your hair color. It’s all about what goes better with your complexion and your preference.
- Don’t go overboard. People typically overshade or fill in their brows too dark. Your brow ends should never go past the eyes or down the face. You also want to make sure you aren’t starting your brow with a sharp line; it should be a gradient effect.
- Remember less is more. Don’t pluck more than one hair at a time. It is best to start off slow when plucking your brows, and again, focus on the shape between each hair. This will guarantee you have really nice brows. Also, short strokes are the way to go when filling in your brows. Never draw in one long stroke. Filling in the areas where there are the least hairs first without fully filling in the entire brow will also give a more natural- and fuller-looking brow as well.
“If someone overplucks or overwaxes their hair, then an eyebrow pencil or dip brow would definitely be their saving grace,” she says. “Also, exfoliating reduces ingrown hair in the brows.”