I remember somebody telling me once that eyebrows should be “sisters, not twins.” Some time later, somebody else told me that eyebrows should be “twins, not sisters.” In my confusion, I never let another person touch mine. In fact, for the past two years I haven’t even done them myself. But when somebody in the office mentioned leaving for a brow appointment one day, I was genuinely curious. People get their eyebrows done all the time, but I swear I never hear a thing about it. I wouldn't know where to even begin. There is an art to getting your brows done—I just had to figure it out.

So it was in an investigative spirit that I called Danielle Vincent. As Tenoverten’s in-house brow specialist and the founder of Kimiko Beauty, she came highly recommended by most of lower Manhattan. And I was glad I asked, because she happens to have a very useful 3-step guide to figuring out where to start. Definitely read this first. Pluck second.

1. "Put the tweezers down."

"When clients come in, ideally they’ve had at least six to eight weeks of growth—minimum. More is better. It can even take up to a year if you’ve had a lot of removal. Leaving them to grow can be kind of painful, but it’s the first thing you want to do to really get the most value and your best possible brow.”

2. Be choosey.

“Get research oriented. Find a specialist whose aesthetic jives with yours. There are so many ‘brow specialists’ out there, and not all of them are going to have them same vision for your brows as you do. My aesthetic is very full and natural, and essentially what you were born with—I’m sort of the anti-Instagram brow aesthetic. I don’t like when brows walk in the room before you. They shouldn’t jump out, but instead really frame the face.”

3. Bring a picture (of yourself)!

“As with a hairstylist, you really want to be as descriptive as possible. You can either bring in photos, bearing in mind that not every brow is achievable by everyone. If you bring in a pre-teen brow photo, that kind of helps guide the specialist toward your natural brow. At the end of the day, we’re born with the right shape. Either way, spend a lot of time talking it through."

Once your appointment's been scheduled, there are a few things that can happen. First is the shaping process. “I really prefer tweezing over waxing.” Danielle says. “Every hair counts—when you go in with wax it’s really not as accurate. Then you can sort of establish too where you want to guide the brow eventually. A lot of the time it’s not what you take out, but what you leave.” Then tinting: “So, so helpful. You have all these little hairs that are lighter than the rest, so when you tint it brings up those hairs and gives you a lot more to work with.”

And in between appointments? “I typically will have the clients put down the tweezers altogether between appointments. That way the process can continue—we work on growing in certain sections. It’s so funny because we’ll leave a slight gap between the core brow and one hair, and that encourages another hair to grow in between. Feels counterintuitive, but it definitely works.”

—as told to Anna Jube

See also: Everything you should know before getting eyelash extensions.