Jessica Turner Sharon Lee spends her time globe-trotting; catching up with her international following of high profile clients who insist that she, and only she, tend to their caterpillars.
The acclaimed Australian brow guru, who is a celebrity in her own right, has been obsessed with eyebrows for as long as she can remember. She started shaping, waxing and tweezing on her family and friends when she was 12.
With 20 years officially in the brow biz under her belt, Sharon Lee has since built an empire. Her Woollahra, Sydney, salon is its beating heart – complete with her own makeup collection and a team of hand-picked therapists devoted to her special brand of eyebrow artistry.
Now, for the first time, she is holding a small number of exclusive masterclasses at her Sydney salon. The half-day workshops will cover contraindications; what not to do, trends and techniques.
Qualified beauty therapists who are interested in attending should register their name on the list ASAP.
If you’re looking finesse your brow-ess, her super-personalised, highly-mathematical techniques are well worth taking note of. Indeed, they’re the ones favoured by Martha Stewart, Serena Williams, the Olsen Twins and Tom Cruise.
As a matter of fact, Sharon was on her way out of the country, en route to The Oscars to groom Leonardo DiCaprio’s brows for the big night, when she took the time to speak with SPA+CLINIC:
How do you approach eye brow shaping – can you elaborate on your technique?
I map the face out instantly using an equation that took years of trial and error to perfect. It is based on forehead height, cheekbone width vs jawline width and nose width is factored also.
Add to that, I consider depth of eyes and how prominent the brow bone is. From there I look at colouring and age. It’s quite the task to get right but worth it.
After factoring in all this, I then get to work in creating the perfect set of brows that are individualised. I don’t believe in stencils.
The whole premise of them is that there just those brow shapes for everyone and even then you have to whole them perfectly straight and fill with a powder or pomade and hope they stay put. Equivalent of a comb-over. Not fooling anyone.
Do trends influence your work at all and what eyebrow trends will emerge over the next 12 months?
The right brow for a particular face is standard – it’s based on arch and length. Thickness and colour, however, are trend based.
For 2017, thick brows will remain fashionable, but instead of the overly tinted and filled brows of Insta-fame, they’ll be lighter and softer. The ombre look is dead already.
Over winter, we’ll be lightening brow colours across the board ever so slightly but err against at-home bleaching creams!
I’m loving the way Rhianna and JLO are sporting lighter coloured eyebrows lately. I’m also liking Margo Robbie’s because of the overall line and breadth, however, I’d lighten a little too.
How do you approach Asian eyebrows – taking into account the K-beauty trend for a straight shape (no arch) ?
Asian brows are a completely different kettle of fish The hair is sparser, has a strictly downward pattern of growth and almost always stops short on length and lacks any form of arch.
I loathe trimming for them but it is what we see the most of because therapists are frustrated and confused at what to do to rectify. ‘Snap and tear’ technique is crucial here, as is depth of colour, pitch and often, strokes.
Will the ‘snap and tear’ technique be taught in your workshop?
The ‘snap and tear’ technique takes ages and we can’t be train people up on it in just one day.
The workshop will focus on teaching skills like the ‘introductory hand’ and ‘angle support’ which are all important and can be learnt in the timeframe, no problem.
Are there any eyebrows that have been so badly butchered by the client or another therapist that simply can’t be fixed?
With the art of our ‘triple layer method’- everything can be tackled and even perfected!
Almost all of our first time clients are fresh from a brow nightmare somewhere else.
An expert visit is worth the expense, even if you never return because you get to see what your brows should look like and it can be the benchmark for visits elsewhere or home care.
What tips do you tell your clients for home-care ?
Tweeze, tweeze and tweeze – every 3rd day and only take hair that is breaking the skin so you know it’s hair I’ve taken. This way you can differentiate between new growth and old – fail proof.
What is the philosophy behind the Sharon Lee makeup range?
All our products have multiple purposes, many of which are not self-explanatory on first sight. For instance you don’t realise our gels separate into three pieces, our tweezers serve very different purposes or our mirror is magnetic.
Our glosses even have hidden matching liners in the cap. We’re full of surprises but it’s all about value for money and products that stay the distance.
