Whenever I get the chance to promote smart, successful, and talented women, I leap like a frog at the chance because their examples serve to remind us all of what you can achieve when you embrace potential, push up your sleeves to work hard, set and achieve goals, and never settle for mediocrity.

In today’s post, I share my Exclusive Interview with Maribeth Madron, who is a highly acclaimed makeup artist and eyebrow specialist.

I was honoured that the queen of eyebrows and makeup took the time to answer my questions, so that I could help others get their eyebrows on fleek!

Continuing to make her indelible and inspiration mark on the beauty industry, she has numerous recognitions including Best for Brows by Allure (eight times!), Best for Makeup, Best for Wedding Makeup, and a feature in Vogue’s prestigious beauty listing, “The Guide” for her brow work.

Working hard and remaining dedicated to her passion have always been part of her repertoire, as she began training since she was a teenager!

To date, under her belt, she has 10 years as Laura Mercier’s international makeup artist and educator.

Over the course of her fast-paced career, she has made personal appearances, been a globetrotter for press events, photo shoots, launches, and educational seminars. Clearly, there’s never a dull moment, and her drive propels her to tackle new and greater challenges.

Taking the beauty, entertainment, and fashion industries by storm, her work has been featured on many of today’s popular shows on television: The Today Show, Access Hollywood, The Bachelorette Wedding, the Grammy Awards, the Tonys, Good Morning America, The View, Late Show with David Letterman, Extreme Makeover, and Fashion Emergency.

Her work has been also featured in print in many of the top beauty, fashion, and lifestyle magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar (HK), Vanity Fair, Allure, Marie Claire (UK), and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Being able to juggle everything, she still also squeezed in time to be a frequent panelist for the Women’s Healthy Beauty Product Awards, and she was an Emmy Awards judge in the makeup categories.

Since 2013, Maribeth has been Maybelline‘s Global Brow Expert, and she’s involved in many of their initiatives including product development, as well product launches and print and video shoots.

Keep reading the rest of this post to get the lowdown on tips for keeping your brow game strong and insight into the upcoming brow trends, according to Maribeth in my exclusive interview!

Also, I talk about my eyebrow journey when I was a teen. (Hands up if you also tweezed too much in the 90’s!)

But First…Get to Know My Brows!

Before we dive straight into my exclusive interview with Maribeth Madron, I’d like to first revisit my Eyebrow Memory Lane.

In the 90s, when I was in elementary school, the original Beverly Hills 90210 TV series was in, grunge was popular, and so were skinny eyebrows, butterfly clips, and a terracotta, brown-based lipstick by Bonne Bell called Chutney. (My best friend and I obsessed over it and thought that wearing it made us look cool like the stars we admired in the pages of YM and Seventeen.)

These trends continued to trickle in as I entered high school, and like many girls, one day, I gazed into the mirror and decided that today would be the day that I’d trade in my caterpillars for slender, star-studded brows.

I confidently proceeded to pluck my eyebrows until they were half their size and resembled curved worms. While the current me would be horrified at the results (and I still laugh at old photos), the former me couldn’t have been prouder of my handiwork.

Even after years of only plucking stray hairs, my eyebrows haven’t bounced back to their original glory. They remain on the thin side, although I have recently got back into the brow game with the Maybelline Brow Drama Pro Palette in Soft Brown (255) that PR generously gifted me with back in December 2015, I believe.

As a born-again brow beginner, I really love how easy the compact kit is to use, and I’ve been reaching for it on a daily basis.

Short of a tweezer, the compact contains everything I need for my brows: tinted wax, brow powder, powder highlight, spoolie, and angled brush.

Obviously, since I’m very rusty and haven’t been doing my brows until very recently, I have a lot to learn. (Never stop learning!)

Who better to gain brow knowledge from than brow specialist, Maribeth Madron? 🙂

My Exclusive Interview with Maribeth Madron

Many of us have committed some (or lots of) cardinal sins when it comes to taking care and shaping our brows, but for those who haven’t yet tried to tweak their eyebrows, this is for you!

Common Eyebrow Mistakes & How to Fix/Avoid Them

Over-tweezing, trimming too short, waxing, and threading to shape the brows, rather than just cleaning outside the line are among the biggest mistakes, according to Maribeth.

To avoid them, she suggests to only tweeze outside the natural line, trim only very long or unruly hairs, and only wax and thread to clean superfluous hair. To correct, fill in with pencil, until the hair grows back.

3 Brow Essentials

Maribeth’s staples include:

1. A Brow Conditioner – To keep brows full
2. Slanted tweezers – For stray hair
3. Maybelline Define & Fill – A brow pencil/powder combo for definition & filling sparse areas

Upcoming Eyebrow Trends

As a beauty blogger, I’m always interested in what’s on the horizon and not just what’s hot now. Naturally, I asked Maribeth about the biggest upcoming eyebrow trends, and here’s what she told me:

• Full & refined brow
• Straight brow
• Lightened brow

Single Best Brow Investment for Beginners

Not everyone has ‘mad cheddah’ to throw around…except for me because I do love sprinkling tons of cheddar cheese onto my Tuesday tacos! 😉 (Note: I’m thinking about becoming a vegan. Cheese is the only thing standing in my way, but I’m about to make the change.)

I wanted to know how to get the best bang for your buck because, as a self-professed beauty junkie, I need to limit myself or I’ll go buck wild!

Maribeth recommended to invest in a good brow pencil because it’s a great way to fill in gaps, add structure, and frame the eye area.

I really like her suggestion because it’s also travel-friendly, and it keeps things simple with a single product.

Already Have Brows on Fleek? What’s a Game Changer?

Obviously, not everyone is like me – a late brow bloomer. Lots of you have not only been in the game, but you’re playing to win! So what does a seasoned brow aficionado need to up the ante?

Maribeth said that, regardless of a person’s brow issues or challenges, the Maybelline Brow Drama sculpting mascara will up anyone’s brow game.

For fine brows, it adds volume. For light or grey brows, it adds colour. For unruly brows, it provides hold.

Create the Illusion of More Brow Hair

My mother, bless her soul, has no more than 20 brow hairs. While I’m a hairier beast than her, I asked Maribeth a question on her behalf and for those who don’t have much hair, but want to appear like they have more.

Maribeth suggested using a wax/powder combination to give the illusion of more hair. She said, “A brow wax or wax-based pencil is used to determine the shape of the brow, and powder is used to set the wax, add colour, and hair-like texture. This combination will give you the longest wear and look most natural in most lighting environments.”

Thank You, Maribeth Madron!

A huge thank you to Maribeth Madron for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer my burning brow questions, so I could share the information with my dear readers! 🙂 I really appreciate this opportunity, and I am greatly inspired by you and your work!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. (I wish!)