I grew up with style icons like the Olsen twins, the Spice Girls, and Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century.

Looking back, I can’t say that any one of those people were single-handedly responsible for my comma eyebrows. I also can’t say exactly when I started a full-scale attach on my eyebrows. All I know is that my tweezers won, and my eyebrows lost.

I didn’t fully grasp the importance of well-shaped eyebrows until I was in law school. I wanted to be polished, to be taken seriously, and I learned that a good set of eyebrows could help me at least feel like I had achieved those things. Even when I skip other make-up, I don’t go without eyebrows (or lipstick of some kind).

Of course, as with many things I start, I overdid it. I drew on my eyebrows dark, thick, and square. I’m sure they were also uneven.

The products I used certainly had something to do with that. I was using brow pomade – a thick concoction in a dark shade. To try to soften my eyebrows, I began using a waterproof brow pen. I couldn’t risk my eyebrows washing off in a rainstorm or with some sweat. Somehow, though, I managed to make them look less natural.

After years of trial and error, I have found that a brow pencil with a thin point creates the most natural effect.

I have also discovered the importance of mapping out your brows. Those few extra minutes you take to mark up the Golden Ratio on your brows, you’ll have well-shaped brows that are even.

Perhaps the point here, more than giving you eyebrow tips, is that I have spent years finding the eyebrows that make me feel most powerful. Your eyebrows will be uniquely you. But above all, may they make you convey confidence wherever you go.