Eyebrow shapes: types, mapping and the best shape for your face

Which eyebrow shape is right for you?

The best eyebrow shape is usually the one that works with your natural brow and contrasts the outline of your face. Round faces look more structured with a lifted, angled peak; square faces soften with a gentle curve; long faces look shorter with a straighter, longer brow; heart-shaped faces balance with a soft, rounded arch. Oval faces can wear most shapes, so a soft arch is the easy default.

Shape is only half of it. Placement matters just as much: where the brow begins, where it peaks and where the tail ends. Brow artists use a simple three-line method called eyebrow mapping to find those points, and you can do it at home with a pencil and a mirror.

Small changes go a long way. Brows frame the eyes and carry much of your expression, and in one well-known study people found famous faces harder to recognize with the eyebrows removed than with the eyes removed. That is a good reason to change your brows in small steps.

What are the main eyebrow shapes?

Most brows fall into one of five shapes. They differ in two things: how much the brow rises toward its highest point, and whether that peak is a smooth curve or a defined corner.

You will also see the S-shaped brow (a curve at the head, a lift at the arch and a tail that flicks slightly down) and the flat, thick “Korean” straight brow. The S shape is a dramatic version of a soft or high arch and depends a lot on makeup; the straight brow is the same straight shape, filled fuller. Thickness, color and how far apart the brows start change the look too, but they are separate choices from the shape itself.

If you are not sure which shape you have now, look at your brows in a mirror with your face relaxed. Lay a pencil from the head of the brow to the tail. If the brow barely rises above the pencil, it is straight; a gentle hump is a soft arch; a clear peak is a high arch, and a sharp corner at that peak makes it angled.

How do you map your eyebrows?

Eyebrow mapping uses three lines, and all of them start at the same point: the side of your nose, where the nostril meets the cheek. Look straight ahead into a mirror and hold a long pencil or makeup brush against your face.

Each point has a reason. A brow that begins too far toward the middle looks heavy and makes the eyes look closer together; one that begins too far out makes them look wider apart. An arch placed too far in can look surprised. A tail that stops short makes the face look rounder, and one that drops well below the head of the brow can look tired.

Mapping is a guide, not a law. Faces are not perfectly symmetrical, so your two maps may not match exactly. Aim for brows that look like sisters, not twins.

• Start: Straight up from the side of the nose: where the brow begins.
• Arch: From the side of the nose through the centre of the pupil: the highest point.
• End: From the side of the nose past the outer eye corner: where the tail ends.
• Mark each point with a light dot of brow pencil before you tweeze or fill anything.
• On most faces the tail ends at about the height of the head, or a little below it.

Which eyebrow shape suits my face shape?

The rule makeup artists use is contrast. A brow repeats or softens the lines of the face around it, so you choose the shape your outline lacks: lift and angles where the face is round, curves where it is angular, a horizontal line where it is long.

For a round face, the high arch and the angled brow are the best matches, because a lifted peak adds height and structure; a soft arch also works, while rounded brows repeat the curve of the face. Square faces get the opposite advice: a soft arch or rounded brow eases a strong jaw, and sharp angles are the one to use with care. Long (oblong) faces suit a straight, slightly longer brow, and a high arch adds even more height. Heart and diamond faces do best with soft curves; high or sharply angled peaks add drama at the top or echo pointed cheekbones.

Many faces sit between two shapes. If yours is close to another one, take ideas from both, and let your natural brow decide between them.

What about my eyes and how high my brows sit?

Your eyes change the details more than the shape. If your eyes sit close together, start the brows on the start line or just outside it, so the space between them looks wider. If they sit further apart, fill the heads slightly toward the nose.

If your outer eye corners turn down, keep the tail level with the head of the brow or a touch higher, never below it. If they lift, a softer peak and a straighter tail keep the look relaxed. Brows that sit close to the eyes look best shaped from below, with a straight tail rather than a higher arch drawn on top; brows that sit high can be filled along the lower edge to bring them a little closer.

How do you shape your eyebrows at home?

Start by growing. Most brow regret comes from removing too much, and you cannot fill in a shape you have already plucked away. If you can, leave your brows alone for six to eight weeks so you can see their full natural shape before you choose a new one. Brush them up with a clean spoolie each day so the new hairs lie neatly while they grow.

Then shape with the map. Mark the start, arch and end, and lightly outline the shape you want with a pencil. Remove only the hairs clearly outside that outline, mostly from underneath and between the brows, one at a time in good daylight. Step back from the mirror often: brows that look uneven at close range often look fine at arm’s length.

Fill before you remove. Short, hair-like strokes with a pencil, or a powder pressed in with an angled brush, can add an arch or extend a tail without losing anything. Match the color to your brow hair or go a shade lighter; brows filled darker than the hair tend to look heavy. To tame long hairs, brush them up and trim only the ends that pass the top edge.

If you would rather not do it yourself, a brow artist can map and shape your brows, and some people choose semi-permanent options such as tinting or microblading. Whatever you choose, take a front photo first so you have a record of your starting point.

• Let your brows grow for a few weeks before choosing a new shape.
• Map the start, arch and end, and outline the shape before removing anything.
• Tweeze from below and between the brows; leave the top edge mostly alone.
• Fill gaps with hair-like strokes in a shade that matches your brow hair or is a little lighter.
• Check both brows at arm’s length in daylight.

See your brow shape and mapping on your own photo

FaceRater’s free eyebrow shape finder does the first steps for you from one front-facing photo. It finds your face shape from 478 facial landmarks, ranks the five brow shapes for it, and draws the start, arch and end lines on your own face. It also reads how arched your brows are and where the tails sit compared with most brows, and adds tips from your eye spacing, eye tilt and brow height.

Treat the brow reading as a starting point. Landmark models trace brows only roughly, and makeup, tinting and lighting change how they read, so check the shape in a mirror too. The scan runs in your browser and the photo is not uploaded. Brows work together with the rest of your face, so frames and colors are worth a look as well.