Interview: Brow Queen, Sharon-Lee Clarke

My brow pin-up gal - Camilla Belle!

Image: Elle

Eyebrows are proof that it's always the little things that count. When they are shaped well they'll frame and illuminate your eyes and contour your cheekbones - in fact, to say they're a surgery-free facelift is no understatement. But when bad brows, happen to good girls, not only are they awfully distracting, but they can make you look older, and your eyes appear puffy and tired.

With more than twenty years experience creating brows that wow, Sharon-Lee Clarke is known as Australia's original and leading eyebrow artist. Her eyebrow ethos? Using a wax and tweeze method, Sharon-Lee shapes brows to suit each individual face rather than surrender to the latest trend.

Recently I caught up with Sharon-Lee to find out about all things brow related and what makes this tweezer artist tick....

Sharon-Lee Clarke

My interest in brows started...with my own and then those of my friends and family (all of which were guinea pigs for me whilst I was training). Beyond that it just became the very first feature I noticed on everyone and I developed a very critical eye for them.

I’d love to shape the brows of... oh sooooo many! Julia Roberts, Guy Sebastian, Julian McMahon and Oprah.

My most memorable job was... there have been so many. Rob Lowe was exciting purely because I had a crush on him as a teenager (who didn’t?!). Meryl Streep is just lovely as were Paul and Linda Hogan.

A well-shaped brow will... make or break a look. On a bad hair day you can throw your hair back into a pony tail. Bad brows remain bad brows. A fabulous brow pushes the focus onto your eyes. Brows should never be the standout feature of a face.

The most common brow blunder that I see is... hands down, over plucking.

I’m always being asked... make me look like Megan Fox! It’s amazing how many women come in with clippings of her.

Sharon-Lee's newly opened Emporium where you can enjoy the full gamut of indulgent beauty treatements including, brow shaping, lash tinting and extensions, manicures and pedicures - all with a glass of Champagne in hand no less!

My hidden talent is... cooking.

My beauty philosophy is....keep it simple. Source the right products and the right specialists in each field (facials-hair-nails-tanning-massages) that you can consistently rely on.

My ultimate luxury is...a massage. I just don’t do them enough. I keep promising I’ll make the time to take one weekly but I just don’t do it....maybe next year.

On my bedside table you’ll find... fresh flowers, a book or two I threaten to read but never do, a water decanter and a glass of wine – and the remote.

I’m happiest when... I’m working or in the kitchen.

My golden rule is...stress is the enemy. Laugh – a lot.

Emporium

1 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW

T: (02) 9360 5124

Sharon-Lee also regularly has pop-up brow salons in other states. Call (02) 9360 5124 to find out when the next one will be near you.