Rashida B, Eyebrow Goddess

In the world of eyebrow shaping, there are the laypeople (the ones who wax you at any standard day spa or mall outlet), and there are the superstars — Anastasia, Damone Roberts, and Miss Rashida B., among them. Rashida flits between Miami and Chicago, beautifying the brows of the truly fabulous in both cities. When she isn’t plucking, shaping, holding down her popular Chicago salon, The B Spot and getting namedropped in the likes of Vogue magazine and Daily Candy — Rashida’s keeping it real on Twitter as @beautyschooled. AND she’s got an awesome blog of the same name — where she drops knowledge and interviews professionals in the world of makeup and the beautifying industry.

My interview with Rashida was unconventional in the sense that we were cracking each other up and bonding like old friends (even though we hadn’t met yet!) So without further ado, here are some of Rashida’s best tips and quips.

I had to ask her about the infamous eyebrow weave video — despite the repeated promise of “celebrity status,” Rashida is not feelin’ it.

“I don’t recommend it. It doesn’t look good in person. Maybe you can use it for photography, to achieve a certain look for a photo shoot…” she suggested. Oh, Rashida you are being too kind.

What about the latest no eyebrows trend, as identified by the New York Times?

“I’m gonna say no to that as well, unless you’re a runway model. If you absolutely have to achieve that look, there’s this stuff called spirit gum which you can use to smooth them down.”

One of the things I loved about interviewing Rashida is, she is no nonsense. She broke down her feelings about waxing and threading, without hesitation. And she got this formerly wax-happy bella to think twice.

“Tweezing is my preference, but I’ll give you the facts. The saddest thing I’ve been hearing lately is about clients going to get their eyebrows waxed and walking away with scabs. That’s when you go to a place that isn’t professional. There should be a consultation form when you go into a professional waxing salon. They don’t do that. What if you’re dealing with a diabetic? Diabetics, you don’t wanna lift the skin off them for fear of infection. Are you on Retin A? Are you on Accutane? These are questions that need to be asked before you get waxed. And don’t get me started on the double dipping and the stick… if you think about it, they’re using the same wax for your eyebrows, your upper lip, and your bikini area. And they’re just double dipping the stick into the same wax.”

Um, EW. I never even thought about that before.

I had to mention a popular chain of wax salons that ahem — I had a ghastly experience with back in Miami. Now they’re offering “celebrity brows,” where you can go in and ask for let’s say, the Megan Fox brow. It sounded ridiculous to me. And Rashida agreed.

“That’s… insane. You don’t have Megan Fox’s face, or her eyebrow shape. You can’t go into an eyebrow shaping like that. Don’t think thin, don’t think thick. Beware of eyebrow trends. It should be all about your face, your brows, and what’s gonna look right on you. It happens all the time, where ladies will say to me “I want eyebrows like my friend.” Well, unless your friend’s gonna give you her face, that’s probably not gonna work.”

So what are the perfect brows, according to Rashida B?

“It’s all about your facial features, your brow shape, and your lifestyle.”

Lifestyle?

“Yes — if you want high sculpted brows, that might not work for an everyday 9 to 5 job. And if you’re a low maintainance person but you want high maintainance brows, you’re gonna have mad stubble for days.”

What about eyebrow stencils?

“They should pile them all up and burn them. I can spot ’em a mile away. Oh, you’re Anastasia high arch #3, hi!”

What about threading?

“Threading is great if you have alot of thick hair. For your facial hair, sideburns, upper lip… great. But for your eyebrows, you probably don’t have alot of thick hair there. And they lie you down and tell you to pull your forehead. So when you let go, what happens? It looks great up there, but then your face relaxes. I don’t agree with any eyebrow method where they have you recline. That makes your face look completely symmetrical. It’s not a true reflection of what you’re going to look like later on when you’re out and about on the street.”

So if someone perhaps couldn’t afford Rashida’s services, and wanted to do their brows themselves?

“Find a picture in a magazine, of someone who has the same facial features and eyebrow shape as yours. Don’t try to be Megan Fox or Jennifer Connelly or whoever has the hottest brows. Find someone who looks like you. Then take a white eyeliner pencil, or a light colored concealer stick, and use it to create that shape on your face to make sure it’ll look right on your face. Then pluck the hairs that are covered by the white pencil/concealer. Don’t go overboard, don’t get obsessed with getting the one hair in one area… try to look at the big picture.”

I followed Rashida’s advice to the letter and tah-dah! My brows look GREAT. Another tip of advice from personal experience, sit in good light so you can really see the hairs you’ve covered with white pencil, and use a good pair of tweezers. For beauty needs like this, I am LOVING the Tweezerman Lighted Slant Tweezer.

My interview with Rashida couldn’t end without a question I also put to eyebrow king Damone Roberts — is there a particular famous person who’s eyebrows she’d like to work on? Hmmmm?

“Until Michelle Obama showed up, I didn’t have one!” she responded.

Ding ding ding! I knew that’d be the answer. Lord knows I heart the First Lady but it’s undeniable that her eyebrows could use some fresh talent and a little growing in. Rashida more than agreed.

“I’m gonna need someone to work on that, OK? Have you read my brow blog?”

I hadn’t, yet. But in case you were also concerned, click here to read Rashida’s take on Michelle O’s brows, which fully explains why they are the way they are.

As she explains at the end of her post, “Brows should be shaped in a manner that is best suited for the client, in a shape that flatters and compliments their individual facial features, never mind what the eyebrow stylist’s preferences are.”

I agree completely, and here’s hoping Michelle opens up her circle and finds additional people to help keep her as flawless as possible. Like um, Rashida perhaps? Hey, she’s right here in Chicago!

In summary, Rashida B is made of awesome. After this interview I had the good fortune of meeting her at the Blogalicious kickoff party here in Chicago, and it was SO much fun. Can’t wait to visit her salon and get the Rashida B brow treatment for real! You know I’ll review the whole shebang!