A very wise person once said "eyebrows are sisters, not twins." While that statement will pretty much always ring true, that doesn't mean you can't aim to make your brows more symmetrical if you truly desire to do so. Plus, having more even-looking brows can enhance facial symmetry, too.
As someone who's had her fair share of brow appointments go wrong (growth serums to the rescue), I'll take any opportunity I can to learn how to master grooming my own brows at home. If you're in the same boat, you might want to consider brow mapping. The expert-approved technique can help you identify what can be done to make your brows complement your face shape using facial measurements.
Curious to know more? Read on to learn how it works and how you can incorporate it in your own brow routine.
Meet the experts: Christy Calafati is a leading brow artist and educator based in Westlake Village, California. Joey Healy is an eyebrow specialist and founder of the Joey Healy Eyebrow Studio in New York City.
Brow mapping is a technique done by brow artists and specialists to help create symmetry between eyebrows, says Christy Calafati, a leading brow artist and educator. This consists of marking up the area around the brows with vertical and horizontal lines to measure and even out the length of the tails, the location of the arches, the thickness, and the distance between brows.
Most times, the mark ups are done using mapping thread and a wax pencil or eyeliner pencils, but some experts are able to map just by looking at their client's face. "There's not a universally agreed upon way on how to brow map," says eyebrow specialist Joey Healy. "Sometimes people will reference the corner of the eye, the iris, the edge of that eye, and the nostril or the middle of your nostril." He adds that some professionals will even take a clients hairline into account when doing mark ups as well.
Since the main goal of brow mapping is to create symmetry, it's no surprise that it's the number one benefit. "Instead of seeing a [brow] shape independent of everything else, it's seeing your brows in relationship to one another and to other parts of the face," says Healy. As a result, you'll get brows that are equidistant, terminating at the same point with arches in the same places and an even thickness.
In addition to creating symmetry, mapping your brows can also prevent over-plucking in the future, says Healy. For example, maybe you're currently taking too much off the ends, at the arches, or in the middle. Mapping can help you identify specify points where you can let your hair grow in a bit more. At the same time, you'll also have a better sense of where you should be removing hair or filling them in during brow appointments or when you're doing them yourself.
Before going in for your first brow mapping appointment, there are a few things you'll need to do and keep in mind to prepare. Here's what to know:
Brow mapping isn't usually provided on its own, but it's typically done in the early stages of a larger service. "You would never charge brow mapping as an additional service," says Calafati. "It's the blueprint for everything you're going to be doing, whether you're going to be tinting, waxing, laminating, doing powder brows, microblading...it's part of it." However, if someone wanted to only do brow mapping, Calafati and Healy agree that it shouldn't cost more than $20. Depending on what treatment you're having done after, the price can range anywhere from $215 to just over a thousand dollars (especially if you're doing brow pigmentation or microblading).
Physical side effects to brow mapping are highly uncommon, but some people can have an allergic reaction to whatever is being used to mark up the brows. "Say you're using an eyeliner, lip liner, or a coated thread that has some sort of dye or powder on it," says Healy. "You could react because the eye area is sensitive."
Additionally, brow mapping could also lead someone to become over-analytical about their facial symmetry, leading to a lower self-esteem. "It starts to create this dissecting of yourself that's totally not healthy or necessary," says Healy. Instead, he suggests making the goal to have your brows equidistant so that they're somewhat leveled rather than aiming for perfection.
While it's definitely understandable to want to get brow mapping done by a professional, you can also do it from the comfort of your own home. You can mark your brows using an eyeliner pencil, a thin string with eyeshadow on it, a lip liner, or a thin pair of closed tweezers. Once you have your tool of choice, you can use three main reference points to establish your brow shape.
"You want the start of your brow to be right above where your tear duct is on your eye," says Calafati. "If you go from the outer part of your nostril and go straight up through the outer part of your iris, that should be the highest part of your arch."
To measure where your tail should end, start on the outer part of your nostril again, and angle your measurer so that it leads out to where your eyelashes end.
You don't need any aftercare for brow mapping. However, you might be given specific instructions to follow if brow mapping was done before a treatment like waxing, tattooing, tinting, etc. Unlike other services, brow mapping doesn't have to be done every few weeks or even months. It's more about when you'd like to double check on the symmetry of your brows. If you go to your brow artists for other reasons, they may do mapping every time you go for those treatments. Aftercare looks different for each of these, so it's best to talk to your brow artist for specific instructions.