How to Choose the Perfect Eyebrow Shape for Your Face

My mother’s defining feature has always been her stunning eyebrows—full but not wild, gently arched without sharp angles, and meticulously shaped without feeling overdone. Growing up, she’d laugh and say she received compliments on them every season, whenever the trend cycle swung back to embrace fuller, natural brows over the razor-thin styles.

Unknowingly, my mother taught me an essential brow lesson: Forget the trends; the best brows are the ones that suit you. This wisdom is especially relevant now, with trendy procedures like microblading and lamination that may look great today but could harm your brow health and shape in the long run.

Avoiding the trend cycle can be tricky, and pinpointing the ideal brow shape for you might feel elusive. To help, we consulted the experts—celebrity eyebrow stylist Joey Healy and Anastasia Soare, CEO and founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills—who shared everything you need to know about discovering and maintaining the perfect brow shape for your face.

The Brow Philosophy 

Though Healy and Soare each have their own distinct brow philosophies, they both agree on the basics: achieving balance and proportion according to your facial features and anatomy is essential. In simpler terms, the best brow shape should be customized to fit your unique bone structure.

“Don’t try to replicate a celebrity or influencer’s brow hair by hair,” warns Healy. What works for someone else might not work for you. It’s better to embrace your natural brow shape than to force a total transformation to mimic your favorite star. I always say, ‘if you fight with your brows, they will fight back and they will win.’”

Healy recommends letting a professional shape your brows initially, then handling upkeep at home with a light touch. But if you can’t get to a pro, there are ways to find your perfect shape yourself, especially by using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Golden Ratio Shaping Technique, which uses three key measurements to craft the ideal brows tailored to your unique face. All you need is a pair of tweezers, brow scissors, and a brow pencil.

How to Shape Eyebrows

Before diving into a technique called brow mapping, let’s talk about tools: It’s crucial to use high-quality tools when grooming your brows at home. “Some tweezers can make plucking unnecessarily painful or break the hair near the root, so invest in a solid pair with slanted tips,” advises Soare. “And don’t skimp on sharp, precise scissors; even the tiniest trim can make the difference between a perfect shape and an uneven gap.”

1. Position the tweezers vertically against the bridge of your nose, extending upward toward your forehead. According to Healy, your brow’s starting point should be where this imaginary line intersects with your brow. If you prefer, mark this spot with a small line. 
2. Next, move the tweezers to align with the outer corner of your nose and the outer corner of your eye. The tail of your brow should end where this line meets your brow bone. “It can extend just beyond the corner of the eye for extra length,” says Healy, “but avoid going into the temple’s dip.” 
3. Lastly, map out the arch, which should be roughly two-thirds of the way out from the front of the brow toward the temple, along the line that connects the center of the nose to the middle of the iris. No matter your specific brow shape, this should be the highest point of the brow.

The Ideal Brows for Every Face Shape

Though everyone has unique facial features, there are general guidelines for finding the best brow shape based on your face shape. 

Best Eyebrow Shape for Square Face

The key is to choose a brow shape that contrasts with your face shape—square faces look best with soft, rounded arches. Sharp, angular brows will only highlight the already prominent angles of the face.

Best Eyebrow Shape for Round Face

For a round face, where length and width are about the same, opt for a high arch to add structure and elongate your features. This will help narrow the face and create a more open appearance.

Best Eyebrow Shape for Rectangular and Long Face

For those with longer faces, where the length nearly doubles the width, opt for straighter, more elongated brows to add width and break up the shape. Rectangle faces, similar to long faces in proportions but with a more defined jawline, should go for softer, fuller brows with a slight curve to soften the jawline.

Best Eyebrow Shape for Triangular Face

If your jawline is wider than your forehead, giving your face a more triangular shape, go for low, curved brows with plenty of volume and fullness. Make sure the tails are angled upward, as downward-sloping brows will elongate the face and make the features appear sharper.

Best Eyebrow Shape for Heart and Diamond Face

For those with opposite features—a forehead broader than the jawline and a more pointed chin—slightly thicker, straight brows with a soft, rounded arch will help balance out the face. Rounded arches are also ideal for diamond-shaped faces, where the cheekbones are wide, and the forehead and chin are narrow and pointed. In general, experts recommend keeping brows natural and undone for diamond-shaped faces.

Best Eyebrow Shape for Oval Face

For oval face shapes, it's best to opt for leveled brows with a gentle arch, as the face is likely already well-balanced and symmetrical. 

Some Professional Tips for Shaping Brows at Home

Both experts recommend being selective about which hairs you remove—avoid plucking hairs from the brow bone itself, focusing only on those between the eyes, across the nose bridge, along the forehead, temples, and upper eyelids. Soare advises marking the three key points and filling in brows before grooming, tweezing only the hairs that fall outside the marked area. She also suggests using brow scissors sparingly, only trimming excessively long hairs to achieve a cleaner, more defined shape.

“I recommend cleaning up the shape rather than completely reshaping the brows, as there's less chance for error,” says Healy. “Remember, less is more!”

On the flip side, previous over-tweezing can sometimes make it challenging to perfect your brow shape.

“When someone transitions to the Golden Ratio Shaping Method, they may find that their brow hairs don’t align with the correct measurements, possibly due to over-tweezing or years of following an incorrect shape,” Soare explains. “It requires patience, but giving your brows the time and care they need to grow back is essential. In the meantime, use a precise brow product to cover up any gaps or thinning areas.”  

In this scenario, both experts recommend using a brow serum to encourage growth and enhance fullness and hair retention.

If this sounds intimidating, there are some tools to help guide you through the process the first few times. For example, we suggest downloading the ABH Brow App, which provides an augmented reality guide to assist you in real time. Anastasia Beverly Hills also offers stencils online for those who prefer a physical guide. 

If all else fails, Healy recommends scheduling an initial appointment with a professional for expert advice. “When you leave a professional brow shaping appointment, I suggest taking photos of your brows—from the left, right, and straight on—in natural light,” he says. This will give you a reference point when maintaining your brows at home, plus you’ll always have an expert-approved blueprint for your ideal brows going forward.