Eyebrow Style

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then modern women are in luck. Today, women of all ages have access to beauty aids that women of previous generations could only dream of—skin, hair and eye treatments that enhance appearance and promote a sense of self confidence and well-being.

“Anything we do needs to be pleasing and inviting,” said Lori Wagner, owner of Hello Lovely, a Simsbury-based beauty boutique that recently opened a second studio in Lakeville at 346 Main Street. “Lashes and brows, lashes and brows—when you are interacting with people, they are looking at your eyes. Women feel better about themselves when they know they are looking fresh and pretty.”

Wagner, who had a career in marketing before changing both her locale and her profession some five years ago, remembered the day when she had her first eyelash extensions applied. She had suffered a kitchen mishap when heat escaping an open oven door left her artificial lashes looking like “a weed-whacker had hit them.” An appointment with a lash studio soon corrected the disaster and, “When I walked out of the studio, I had not felt so good about myself in a long time,” she said. “I felt so pretty.”

She said she was in a bit of “a mid-life crisis,” when she and her husband moved back to Simsbury from Fairfield County to be closer to family. Tired of marketing, she found she wanted ‘something service-oriented that makes people feel better about themselves. So, I went back to school for cosmetology. It’s very different but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself and my family.”

And, judging from the online testimonials, it was the best thing she could have done for her clients as well. Indeed, she said she opened the studio in Lakeville at the urgings of customers who driving more than an hour to her Simsbury location.

The efforts she brings to revitalizing and enhancing the eye area requires real artistry. “There are ways to frame the eyes in the most esthetically pleasing way,” she said. “It has to reflect the architecture of your face. Young girls often want a look that might not be their own but the more you do to the brow, the less natural it looks.”

For the past several years, the “Instagram Brow,” the sculpted, arched, product-heavy look that recalls Joan Crawford’s dramatic style, has dominated the fashion world. But now the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction.

“Over the past few years there has been a lot of framing out of thicker brows. There is a tremendous amount of product—tints, pencils and other products—to create that styled brow,” she said. “You can do that, but it might not be best suited for your face frame.”

“That trend will still be strong with youth,” Wagner predicted, “but by 2020 brows will be completely softened up. Girls who are shaping their brows much more sharply are going to go back to a softer look with a higher arch and slightly thinner.”

She said that one of the hardest aspects of creating shapely brows is taming the naturally asymmetrical quality of the human face. “For one thing eyebrows are sisters, not twins,” she said. “Women want them to look symmetrical, but there is always one crazy sister. You can try to soften the difference, but they will never be the same. You have to look at the natural structure of the face to map out the brow arch. Our recommendation, have your brow shaped by your own face so the look will always be right for you.”

Once the desired look has been determined, the client can decide among a number of ways to create it. Perhaps the most permanent, is microblading, which calls for etching shallow lines in the skin and then depositing pigment in the etched lines—kind of a less permanent form of tattooing.
“The lines are etched much more shallowly and have to be touched up over the year,” Wagner said. Still, she cautioned, “Trends do change and you are stuck with that look for a couple of years.”

A less permanent way of establishing long-term color is to tint the brow. “We do a tremendous amount of tinting and shaping,” Wagner reported. In older clients, the quality of the hair in the brow can be changing and tinting will make them fuller.

Tinting requires a bit of artistry on the part of the esthetician, however. “The tints we use work pretty nicely,” she said. She said different shades are blended to get a natural look. “If you put dark over the entire brow, you don’t get nice even color. We try to match hair color or the client’s favorite color. Ladies with whiter hair still want their brows to look the way they did—which is a nice look. But, you don’t want to overdo anything.”

Shaping the brow can call for removal of stray hairs through plucking, waxing or threading. Waxing, a long-established practice, is not a one-size-fits-all solution, Wagner said. “For teens with blemish issues we recommend threading (looping thread around individual hairs and pulling them out). Threading is not too painful and it is good for people with sensitivity to waxing. For anyone using topical skin creams like retinol, there is always a danger of the skin lifting with waxing so anyone who has those medications needs to be off them for quite a while before waxing.”

Is the discomfort of shaping one’s brows worth it? For Wagner, the answer is “yes.” “Using a highlighter under the arch brings the arch to the forefront, making you look bright-eyed, alert and pretty—which makes you feel good,” she said.

As much attention as brows have been getting, Wagner said most of her work is even more subtle, focusing on eyelash extensions.

“Extensions give length and fullness,” she explained. “We take individual synthetic strands and apply them, one to one, on the eyelashes, one to two millimeters from the natural root. They are glued on and last a good two to three weeks. In many ways, they frame the eyes.”

Applying a full set of lashes can take up to two hours but Wagner says most people find it a soothing experience. “You would think it would be irritating to have it done,” she said, “but many people fall asleep. It’s quite relaxing and gives you time to ponder. When it is done, there is no more need for mascara.”

Different looks can be achieved with the extensions. She said some women like full, sweeping lashes while others want shorter, denser, ones. Still others want them “winged out” to give a cat-like look. A full set of classic extensions costs $175, with fills for classic extensions that are shed costing $75 every two to three weeks. Prices go up with a full volume set, and to hand-create fans.

Wagner said many customers feel some trepidation about getting extensions, so Hello Lovely offers a “consultation patch test.” “We clean the eyelid, go through the literature and put 12 extensions on each eye so the person and go home and try it. They see the process and know if there will be any allergic reaction. Almost all of them come back for a full set. I love the patch test because it lets them realize that it is doable and comfortable. We will not work with someone who does not have enough strength in their lashes for a full-volume set.”

The Lakeville studio is open Wednesdays through Sundays and Simsbury seven days a week. For more information call 203-895-9983 or click on the link below.