As the summer temps start to rise, leaving the house with minimal, light makeup is what dreams are made of. A pop of gloss on the lips, a slight touch of mascara on your lashes, and a swipe of tinted moisturizer, and you’re all set to run the world. But if you really want to go back to the basics, there’s one beauty ritual you should always make sure is top-notch before you head out: your brows.

 

Let’s be real: Your eyebrows shape your whole face. Whether you pluck on the thin side or let them grow wild, those tiny arches determine how your makeup will look. But just like finding a date on Tinder, it seems like DIY-ing your brows is just simply impossible to do. So how exactly do you get perfectly plucked brows every single time? Well, thankfully you came to the right place! Below are a few ways to really make your eyebrows stand out.

 

1. Tweeze after you shower

 

While we all know that tweezing can be a real pain in the butt, there’s a way to make the whole process a lot less painful. After taking a hot shower, grab your favorite pair of tweezers, and pluck your eyebrows. The warm water helps open up the follicles, which allows the hair to be pulled out much easier.

 

2. Align your brows with your face shape

 

 

When it comes to your brows, there are a few set of rules you should be aware of before you pluck away your arches: Use a brow pencil as a guide to help you find the beginning, end, and arch of your eyebrows. The beginning of your brow should start right where your nostril begins. Hold the pencil vertically against the bridge of your nose and on top of your nostril to help you find the starting point. (Essentially you want the inside edges of your brows to match the outer bridge of your nose). To find your arch, place the pencil on the tip of your nose and angle it straight across your pupil. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s where your natural arch lies should be.

 

Finally, to find the end of your brow, simply take the pencil, at an angle, and place it against the end of your nose and eye. If the tail end of your brow hits the place where the pencil ends, then your eyebrows are the perfect length. If your brow is too long, then tweeze some of those hairs away.

 

3. Tweeze with good lighting

 

If there’s one thing you need to make sure to have before you tweeze your eyebrows, it’s really, really good lighting. The worst thing you can do is try to pluck your eyebrows in a dimly lit bathroom, where you’re pretty much asking for a beauty disaster. If you can, take advantage of natural light. Bring a handheld mirror to the most lit area in your home so you can see all those tiny hairs you need to pluck.

 

4. Tweeze in the direction of your hair growth

 

 

If you see a tiny black hole where you just tweezed, it means you didn’t pluck the whole hair follicle. To prevent this next time, tweeze in the direction of your hair growth so you can capture the whole strand with ease.

 

5. Don’t use a magnifying mirror

 

While it might seem like a good idea at first, plucking your eyebrows with a magnifying mirror is actually one of the worst things you can do. The mirror can be misleading and make you believe you have more hair follicles than you actually do, which can lead you to accidently over plucking your hairs – and no one wants to play that game. To prevent this, use a normal mirror and between every few plucks, take a step back to reassess your eyebrow game plan.

 

6. Trim your eyebrows

 

Keep your eyebrows looking fresh by trimming the front part of your brows. While a tiny pair of scissors works fine (and they look super cute), I recommend using a nose-trimming tool instead (the round edges will prevent you from cutting yourself and making your brows look like the red wedding from Game of Thrones).

 

 

To start: Brush the front of your eyebrows straight up and carefully trim the extra uneven hairs. Then, brush the tail end of your eyebrows toward the inner part of your brow and slightly trim those hairs, too. Whatever you do, don’t go scissor crazy – trust me, it’s not worth it.

 

7. Fill in the spaces

 

If you’re one of the lucky few who naturally wakes up with Cara Delevingne brows, then I praise you. But if not, to get the best brows possible you want to fill those puppies in – but not too much. First, find a color that complements your brows. Use this guide if you’re unsure on how to find the perfect shade.

 

Instead of filling in eyebrows completely, lightly stroke in the direction of the hair growth. Try to focus on filling in your arches – natural eyebrows are usually darker in that area. The beginning of your brows tend to be lighter and more spread out. If you want, top it with a brow gel to keep those hairs in place and you’re good to go!

 

8. Get fancy

 

 

To elevate your brows, it’s never a bad idea to add some dimension. Swipe a highlighter right below the arch and run it along till the end of the tail. This will help illuminate your brows and really make them pop!