the brow whisperer
SFChronicle.com | Sunday, October 18, 2015 |
J9
Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
S H O P TA L K
THE BROW WHISPERER Michele Holmes brings an expert eye, gentle products to tame, tease or transform eyebrows
Your eyebrows are not something to be trifled with. Over-plucking, over-waxing, over-trimming — nobody wins. And if you happen to be a client of San Rafael’s “natural brow specialist” Michele Holmes, don’t expect to get away with tweezing even a single hair between appointments. “This is about a long-term relationship,” Holmes said when we paid her a visit. As she mixed a custom vegetable tint (after she asked us to take our hair out of a bun so she could analyze the color), she continued, “If we’re trying to grow your brows out and you tweeze without me, it’s not going to work.”
BOOK YOUR BROWS By appointment only $65 for brow treatment in San Rafael Studio. House and office calls in San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay begin at $120. (415) 5165505 or [email protected] Visit Holmes’ pop-up 5-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Pretty Penny, 5488 College Ave., Oakland. Guests receive a free mini brow service on a first come, first serve basis.
Leave it to the expert. Holmes was trained by her longtime friend, celebrity brow artist Kristie Streicher, who designed (and copyrighted) the “feathered brow” look. After
S TA F F Style Editor Laura Compton Deputy Style Editor Angela Salazar Contributing Editor Bernadette Fay Staff Writers Tony Bravo Carolyne Zinko Design Director Elizabeth Burr Designer Christopher T. Fong Photo Editor Russell Yip
Advertising Kathy Castle Account Executive [email protected] Follow us On Twitter, Instagram: @SFC_Style Contact us 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 777-7168 E-mail us [email protected]
Holmes closely (very closely) inspected our brows, she gave her blessing to our arches. “Most of my first-time clients come in with their arch in the wrong place: too close to the center of the eye,” she said. When asked why that is, she explained that most women get their brows done upside down. Expect to be sitting straight up during Holmes’ luxe brow treatment. She starts by cleansing the brow area, then massages in Streicher’s Aforé oil (a blend of argan oil, aloe and essential oils) to soften the hair, making the processless painful. Holmes then mixes and applies a custom tint, and treats your brows to a textured shag haircut with tweezers and tiny scissors, making your
brows look fuller and softer. Holmes slicks on Streicher’s deliciously smelling Après Calming Cream, a gel-like blend of soothing ingredients like aloe, camphor and calendula to calm your skin postpluck. Then, she pulls out her Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil and shows you exactly where you should be filling in. Spoiler alert: You shouldn’t be filling in your entire brow, which, according to Holmes, can make your brows look “severe and theatrical.” After a pencil lesson, Holmes moves on to brow gel. Her all-time favorite tinted gel is Tarte Amazonian Brow Clay, which she says “attaches to the
hair, not the skin, and gives a color-boost while holding your shape in place.” If you prefer clear gel, Holmes suggests the matte-finish Mary Kay Brow Gel for a stronger hold, or Laura Mercier Eye Brow Gel for a light hold. Once Holmes showed us our final reflection, we couldn’t believe how much thicker our brows looked. Think of her as the brow fairy of the Bay Area, floating from house to house and office to office, bestowing perfectly imperfect brows. Janna Mandell is a Bay Area freelance writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @beautybinge
ARTSOFFASHIONFOUNDATION
By Janna Mandell
Michele Holmes, above right, with client Dalila Acuna in S.F. Holmes’ preferred products (clockwise from above left): Kristie Streicher’s Après Calming Cream; Tarte Amazonian Brow Clay; Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil; and Streicher’s Kristie Streicher Kevyn Aucoin PrecisionAforé Browoil. Aforé Oil by Kristie Pencil. Streicher, $45. http://www.featheredbrow.com.
FA SH I ON SHOW
ON THE COVER Wilkes’ World: The 82-year-old retailer is celebrating the 50th year of his namesake store in downtown San Francisco. Pages 4-7 Photography: Russell Yip / The Chronicle
T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 5 0 S E L E C T E D FA S H I O N D ES I G N E R S F R O M T H E WO R L D ’ S TO P D E S I G N S C H O O L S W I L L P R E S E N T T H E I R V I S I O N O N T H E R U N WAY
CELLINI DATE
T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E
A RT S - O F - FA S H I O N . O RG RECEPTION 6:00PM & FA S H I O N S H OW 7 : 3 0 P M AT T H E B E N T LY R E S E R V E rolex
and cellini are trademarks.
J9
Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
S H O P TA L K
THE BROW WHISPERER Michele Holmes brings an expert eye, gentle products to tame, tease or transform eyebrows
Your eyebrows are not something to be trifled with. Over-plucking, over-waxing, over-trimming — nobody wins. And if you happen to be a client of San Rafael’s “natural brow specialist” Michele Holmes, don’t expect to get away with tweezing even a single hair between appointments. “This is about a long-term relationship,” Holmes said when we paid her a visit. As she mixed a custom vegetable tint (after she asked us to take our hair out of a bun so she could analyze the color), she continued, “If we’re trying to grow your brows out and you tweeze without me, it’s not going to work.”
BOOK YOUR BROWS By appointment only $65 for brow treatment in San Rafael Studio. House and office calls in San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay begin at $120. (415) 5165505 or [email protected] Visit Holmes’ pop-up 5-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Pretty Penny, 5488 College Ave., Oakland. Guests receive a free mini brow service on a first come, first serve basis.
Leave it to the expert. Holmes was trained by her longtime friend, celebrity brow artist Kristie Streicher, who designed (and copyrighted) the “feathered brow” look. After
S TA F F Style Editor Laura Compton Deputy Style Editor Angela Salazar Contributing Editor Bernadette Fay Staff Writers Tony Bravo Carolyne Zinko Design Director Elizabeth Burr Designer Christopher T. Fong Photo Editor Russell Yip
Advertising Kathy Castle Account Executive [email protected] Follow us On Twitter, Instagram: @SFC_Style Contact us 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 777-7168 E-mail us [email protected]
Holmes closely (very closely) inspected our brows, she gave her blessing to our arches. “Most of my first-time clients come in with their arch in the wrong place: too close to the center of the eye,” she said. When asked why that is, she explained that most women get their brows done upside down. Expect to be sitting straight up during Holmes’ luxe brow treatment. She starts by cleansing the brow area, then massages in Streicher’s Aforé oil (a blend of argan oil, aloe and essential oils) to soften the hair, making the processless painful. Holmes then mixes and applies a custom tint, and treats your brows to a textured shag haircut with tweezers and tiny scissors, making your
brows look fuller and softer. Holmes slicks on Streicher’s deliciously smelling Après Calming Cream, a gel-like blend of soothing ingredients like aloe, camphor and calendula to calm your skin postpluck. Then, she pulls out her Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil and shows you exactly where you should be filling in. Spoiler alert: You shouldn’t be filling in your entire brow, which, according to Holmes, can make your brows look “severe and theatrical.” After a pencil lesson, Holmes moves on to brow gel. Her all-time favorite tinted gel is Tarte Amazonian Brow Clay, which she says “attaches to the
hair, not the skin, and gives a color-boost while holding your shape in place.” If you prefer clear gel, Holmes suggests the matte-finish Mary Kay Brow Gel for a stronger hold, or Laura Mercier Eye Brow Gel for a light hold. Once Holmes showed us our final reflection, we couldn’t believe how much thicker our brows looked. Think of her as the brow fairy of the Bay Area, floating from house to house and office to office, bestowing perfectly imperfect brows. Janna Mandell is a Bay Area freelance writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @beautybinge
ARTSOFFASHIONFOUNDATION
By Janna Mandell
Michele Holmes, above right, with client Dalila Acuna in S.F. Holmes’ preferred products (clockwise from above left): Kristie Streicher’s Après Calming Cream; Tarte Amazonian Brow Clay; Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil; and Streicher’s Kristie Streicher Kevyn Aucoin PrecisionAforé Browoil. Aforé Oil by Kristie Pencil. Streicher, $45. http://www.featheredbrow.com.
FA SH I ON SHOW
ON THE COVER Wilkes’ World: The 82-year-old retailer is celebrating the 50th year of his namesake store in downtown San Francisco. Pages 4-7 Photography: Russell Yip / The Chronicle
T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 5 0 S E L E C T E D FA S H I O N D ES I G N E R S F R O M T H E WO R L D ’ S TO P D E S I G N S C H O O L S W I L L P R E S E N T T H E I R V I S I O N O N T H E R U N WAY
CELLINI DATE
T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E
A RT S - O F - FA S H I O N . O RG RECEPTION 6:00PM & FA S H I O N S H OW 7 : 3 0 P M AT T H E B E N T LY R E S E R V E rolex
and cellini are trademarks.
