When most people think of stencils, they think of patterns people use in creating artwork—the templates people can trace to create many types of artistic pieces. Eyebrow stencils work in much the same way. A person places one on her face and then follows the provided pattern to draw the shape with an eyebrow pencil or mascara, trimming her eyebrows to create the desired shape.
To use eyebrow stencils, a person usually cleans her eyebrows and trims any very long hairs before brushing her eyebrows in the direction they normally grow. Next, she places her chosen stencil on her face, lining it up with the natural growth of one of her eyebrows. Then, holding the stencil in place, she traces the outline of the stencil shape onto her face. Sometimes the stencil will mark a very thin shape. In such a case, the user may just use the eyebrow pencil or mascara to fill the shape in rather than tracing its outline.
Once the user has traced the stencil shape, she removes the stencil from her face, being very careful to avoid smudging her handiwork. She then uses a grooming technique to remove the hairs that are outside of the stenciled eyebrow. For example, a person may pluck out the extra hairs or use wax to remove them. If she finds that the eyebrow shape needs more refinement, she may retrace the stencil once more. Finally, many people follow up the use of eyebrow stencils by using tweezers to remove any stray hairs that remain.
Sometimes a person uses eyebrow stencils not to shape her eyebrows, but to create a new shape that is significantly different from the normal shape of her brows. In such a case, she may buy a larger stencil that can be positioned so she won’t remove too much of her eyebrow hair when she starts plucking. These stencils can even be used to correct eyebrows that have been plucked too much. In this case, the stencil is placed over the eyebrow and the user uses an eyebrow pencil to fill in the brow area.
There are many types of eyebrow stencils a person may buy. They come in many different shapes, and a consumer can even buy stencils designed to help her recreate the eyebrows of their favorite celebrities. A consumer may also purchase pre-waxed eyebrow stencils that are designed to remove the hair necessary to shape and polish the brows.