GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

I've been wanting to shape my eyebrows, but I was afraid to do it on my own. But then... I also don't want anyone else to do it either because they could not possibly care about my eyebrows as much as I do.

So anyway, I selected the three vids below to go by in doing my own eyebrows myself. I was concerned with how one is supposed to find the natural shape of their eyebrows. And now I feel confident that I can do it myself without the world ending. Thank goddess for the internet.

If you don't have time to watch all three, the last one, which is in two 6-minute parts, combines techniques of the first two. Well-groomed eyebrows make a difference, even if a subtle one, in how people see you. Especially if your a TG and you've got "bushes" above your eyes. . . .

I'm off to conquer some brows!

Keep it up, you'll get the hang of it Rachel. Letting them go just makes more work. I've maintained my shapes for over 3 years now, but I do use brow pencil because I always keep them a little on the thin side.

You are a treasure trove for finding all the good stuffs.

I had mine tattooed on.

Thank you sooo MUCH, cindy! Of course, what I find starts out as a self-serving search for the best way to do things, which the internet so aptly provides for (I believe that, in a sense, the world is becoming one mind with it), but what I find and deem worthy of sharing I passon to others who might also be drifting in an ocean of uncertainty in the same boat that I am.


Now THAT is TOO cool!

Also, I just got done seriously shaping my eyebrows for the first time, and it took me 2.5 hours, but it was so relaxing doing it and thinking about nothing else. . . .

I've learned that I need to get an "eyebrow shaver," which can be seen in the first vid, to save lots of time. Getting all the little fine hairs with tweezers is meticulous work.

I don't touch them; too much work for dubious results.

If I don't keep up on mine I'll end up looking like an Italian Grandmother. It's like growing a hockey puck above my eyes.

I leave it all up to my Electrologist.

However, you should start at the tip of your nose and draw a straight line from there through the pupil of your eye, looking straight on, through your eyebrow. Where that line intersects the eyebrow is where the arch of the brow should be.

Mine are wider than I'd like but there are parts that are sparse. I just use an eyebrow pencil to make them look the same, as much as possible.

They were too wide for my taste, so I had some electrocuted.

The most painful thing ever. Root canals are more pleasant.

awesome videos thanks a million!!

Sure, I'm glad to help and it's good to be appreciated.

I'm just too damn scared of screwing them up. Where I live we have a large East Indian community, and they are experts in threading. Costs me 8 bucks once every 6 weeks or so.

Eight bucks?! Heck, there's even room in there for TIP! lol

yeah, and they look awesome!

Thanks for the videos. OMG, the last time I tried to shape my eyebrows I really botched it, took too much off on the corner by my nose on the left eye...couldn't look in the mirror without almost crying. Eyebrows are really hard for me.

YW. Those vids helped me in shaping my eyebrows correctly, but I'm gonna have to get a pro to thin them.

I went and had my eyebrows tattooed on. But go to someone who is especially trained to put on permanent makeup. I went to a school who teaches techniques. I had the instructor do mine. Cost me more but they really turned out great. The average cost is around $200.00.

Just putting this out there... You could also try eyebrow templates if you're a first-timer... That's what I did, until I got my confidence up.

Yes there's some good videos out there. However, I've found it a good idea to go and get them professionally done to start to establish the line and then you can maintain it yourself

Just a couple of thoughts on eyebrow shaping and tattooing. If you have an esthetician help you shape your brows (I did, and it was a well worth it) they may want you to let them grow out for a week or more before your appointment to give them something to work with. By the time I had my appointment I was feeling a bit bushy. It was sorta like having the electrologist tell me to let my facial hair grow for a couple of days before each appointment. Yuck!

About tattooing, I will probably, eventually have it done. As I age the darkness of the hair has faded, and it's actually hard to see the outside ends without make-up. However, I was cautioned by a plastic surgeon during an FFS consult that brow lift/hairline advance surgery, and certainly brow bone shaping surgery will raise your eyebrows. If your tattoo is already at the right height above your eye, and then you have the surgery, you may end up with a premanent deer-in-headlights look that can't be fixed.

Just please please don't let them look like Jillian Flathers's, the Hell's Kitchen contestant this season who got hers tattooed:



It looks like something done with a Sharpie.

Good lord that lady fell asleep while babysitting Bart Simpson! Did she go to the same stylist that Devine used? Ok, ok, I'll stop. Maybe she just doesnt have eyebrows? I've worked with someone who didn't have them. Kind of weird looking.

After years and years of plucking and shaping my mother has lost the bulk of hers and when those hairs went light grey, her eyebrows all but disappeared.

Honestly, fixing my eyebrows is one of those little chores that make all the difference in how I feel that I look. And what's weird is that you can't even really see the problem from a distance, but it does manifest in your brain as this fuzzyness between your eyebrow and the skin below it. It's a little tough the first couple of times but you get a knack for it pretty quickly. Having large eyebrows is not a terrible thing but if you want to look your best, cleaning them up but not overshaping them can be a big boost. I have kind of bushy eyebrows but a nice natural shape that's fairly easy to bring out. Just remember never to shape the top parts but cleanup is fine(all the little strays that don't make your lines solidish).

Usually I start with the top cleanup and then I do bottom and side cleanup and once I have a solidish line, I can add some definition. I do this once every 1 to 2 weeks and that's usually not terrible. I've gone for a month without and usually by that time, the cleanup is a drastic difference.

Yeah...

I have learned that it is easier to shape your eyebrows with an eyebrow razor and the results are good but they dont last but just a few days, but after you get your shape with the razor then you can use tweezers to keep the shape and keep them looking good......... Also if you have short eyebrows then instead of using an eyebrow pencil, you can use a powder that you can get from Mary Kay and it really works much better.............. Uncle Leo's eyebrows are frightning!!!!! Then again his normal eyebrows are pretty frightning also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I always have had sort of spotty eyebrows that tend to antennae. As I have gotten older (56 now) I have lost about half one brow and some of the other. I assume I need to pencil that in but could use a bit more detail about that than in the Face Pack on the site. A general suggestion is that for makeup related things some actual application to faces is shown. That would give much better idea of real technique instead of just talking about it.

To reply to your specific eyebrow question, and sort of generally reply to your intro -

First, I'll assume you go to a salon to get your hair cut. Most salon's have an esthetician to help you with exactly what you ask. Nothing beats having someone show you in real time - no book, no email, no forum post, no video. You don't even have to tell them your trans., just tell them that as you've aged you've begun to lose some eyebrow hair and you need their help. They may also be able to help you with minimally invasive make-up. You may get stuck with buying the salon's brand of make-up at exorbatant prices, but my experience is it's money will spent. And after you get the knack of it, you can shop at the local discount store.

The eyebrow powder that I was talking about earlier works really well for thinning eyebrows and it makes them look more natural rather than looking like they are drawn on with a pencil......................

I don't even touch my own brows, when I go in for waxing, I have tech tweeze my brows and shape them.