I envy women with perfect eyebrows. To me, the perfect brow has a nice arch to it and is thick without stray hairs escaping below the browline. Brooke Shields has always had gorgeous brows like that.

For the rest of us, there's usually tweezing, waxing or threading involved. And who among us hasn't had an instance of overzealous plucking? **raises hand**

This Mercury News article shows the results of having three testers try three different products on their eyebrows: pencil, powder and brush and all-in-one kit. Products were from companies Dianne Brill, MAC, Shiseido, Physicians Formula, Becca and Sephora.

Whichever eyebrow enhancement you choose is a personal decision and what you've used for the past decade doesn't have to be what you use for the rest of your life. I'm a pencil girl, but I've tried powders in the past. They're nice, but I just don't often have the time for all that detailed shaping.



To make the most of your brows, observe these simple tips:

1. Don't overpluck. I know, I know, what do you do if you've already done it? Wait it out; that's all you can do. Next time, though, come back here and read #1. If you're a serial overplucker, pluck one or two hairs, then step back (away from the tweezers!) and look in the mirror. Need more tweezing? OK, one or two more hairs. Step back. Repeat until your brows are shaped naturally.

2. Don't color in with black pencil, even if your hair is jet black. This is simply too harsh a look unless you're going Goth. For black brows, try a dark brown or gray pencil. For brown brows, a light brown pencil will be flattering. If you want blond brows to be a little darker and stand out more, a light brown pencil is as dark as you should go. Anything darker will look too obvious.

3. Don't use razors on your brows. One slip of the wrist and you're going to have something even more painful than a paper cut on a very delicate part of your face.

4. Follow the natural arch of your browline. Some people have high arches, while others have lower ones. Please, please...do not try and make yours high if they're not. Just accept the fact that you have what you have and work with it.

5. This should really go without saying, but I know that somewhere, a woman has just bulldozed her browline and is now coloring in her brows in whatever shape she likes. Just.don't.do.it. Eyebrows are made up of hair, not wax.

'Til next time, my pretties.