Brow mapping explained
Brow mapping is the map your artist makes on your face at the consultation, using landmarks such as your nose and the corners of your eyes. A LikeU preview is homework before that visit, not a substitute for it. The Brow Brief records relative proportions from your photo. It does not give millimetre measurements or pigment codes.
Mapping is the consult. Preview is the homework.
Artists map so the head, the arch, and the tail have a reason to sit where they sit, and so the two brows are planned separately. Real faces are not symmetrical. The map is drawn on you, in the room, where distances are real. A photograph cannot do that job. It has no scale bar.
| Comparison | In-person mapping | LikeU preview and Brief |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | On your face, at the consultation. | On a photo you upload, before you go. |
| What it uses | Landmarks the artist can see and measure on skin. | Landmarks found in the photo: nose, eyes, and the brow area. |
| Numbers | Whatever the artist measures on you. | Ratios only. No millimetres, and no pigment brand or number. |
| Who decides | You and the artist, after a pre-draw. | You pick a shape to discuss. The Brief does not pick a winner. |
What the placement map is showing
On the Brief, the placement map is a picture of your original photo with three points on each side: the head of the brow, the arch, and the tail. A common way to explain those points is nose to inner eye for the head, nose toward the outer iris for the arch, and nose toward the outer eye for the tail. Left and right are fitted separately. That description is so you can read the sheet. It is not a set of instructions to map or tattoo your own face at home.
What “relative proportions” means
- Where the arch sits along the length of the brow, as a fraction of that length.
- Whether the tail ends higher, lower, or about level with the head, compared with the width of your eye in the photo.
- How long the brow is compared with that eye width, and how far the arch sits above the head in the same relative units.
Those are ratios because the photo cannot tell us millimetres. Your artist measures on your face. If a number on the sheet and the pencil on your skin disagree, the pencil in the room wins. Bring the Brief as a preference, then let them re-map.
The Brief never recommends a pigment. On a standard preview the colour line asks your artist to judge in person. It does not include a brand or a number.
Common questions
What is brow mapping?
It is the artist’s in-person plan for where the brow head, arch, and tail sit, usually taken from facial landmarks and drawn on your skin. A photo preview is not that map.
Does a LikeU preview replace mapping?
No. The preview and Brow Brief are homework. They use relative proportions from your photo. Your artist re-measures and pre-draws before any procedure.
Why are there no millimetre measurements?
A photo has no scale bar, so a millimetre figure would be invented. The Brief stays in ratios and leaves real measurements, and every pigment code, to your artist.
Not medical advice. The preview and the Brow Brief are homework for a consultation, not a procedure plan and not a picture of healed brows.