Jimena Garcia – Brow Whisperer

Jimena Garcia is more than a beauty expert, she’s an artist — a world-renowned “Brow Whisperer,” Jimena was the first official Brow Artist for Chanel, with a completely unique, transformative approach to sculpting brows. This season,  we’re honored to have her in-house at Santa Monica Proper for an exclusive brow pop-up, available for our Proper guests and visitors. 

With a background in art history, Jimena’s highly-sought-after approach is grounded in enhancing every individual’s natural beauty, considering details like facial structure and daily lifestyle to create a completely custom brow treatment that amplifies and aligns with the uniqueness of every client. To learn more, we sat down with  Jimena for a deeper conversation on her ethos, process, and ongoing inspirations.

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How did you become the favorite brow artist that you are today? What’s your story? What are your biggest achievements and projects? 

I’m going to be completely honest with you… I’ve always been an artist and my upbringing encouraged me to seek and see beauty in as many ways as I could. With brows, I found my niche. 

I was born in Sydney but grew up in New York where I studied art history and fine arts. My ever-present interest in aesthetics organically led to an interest in faces, more specifically their design — balance, contrast, form, movement, proportion. When I look at a face I consider all of these things.

In terms of my greatest achievement… I had a professor in school say to me, “you’re only as good as your last client” and I’ve carried this with me ever since. Every person I encounter, I approach them like they are my first, my last, and my only. I show up and bring everything I have. 

Can you detail the experience you offer at Santa Monica Proper?

When you arrive you enter the beautiful lobby where you get the chance to enjoy looking at all the art. I’ll greet you there and escort you to my suite. I see my clients in an outside area that feels like you’re both in Europe in the summer but also in iconic Los Angeles with palm trees to the stars.

Right now, we’re in a moment where our time and the experiences we engage with hold even more weight or importance because everything has shifted — when we go out, where we choose to go, how we spend, etc. Proper facilitates an experience that’s beautiful, kind, and thoughtful from every doorknob to nook and cranny. I think the experience I’m offering at Proper is a meeting that allows magic to transpire. 

 We see your work as art. What parallels do you see between art and what you do?

 Everything. I get to create live art every single hour that I see a client. I get to see something from start to finish. Brows are like bonsai trees, it’s a lifetime of care — it’s enduring, which I love.

 What’s your favorite thing about being a brow artist? What brings you the most joy other than seeing your clients fantastically in love with their brows?

It’s like an opera — it incorporates everything, stories, music, costumes, sets. Each performance is unique and perfectly imperfect, just like every brow.  

At the end of the day, I have the privilege of working with people in very vulnerable states. They’re not showing me the cocktail-party version of themselves, they’re trusting me to see them just as they are and reflect back their innate beauty. That vulnerability allows really cool energy to permeate. My favorite moment is when I see someone step into a new level of confidence or self-love.

What do you consider when you have a new client, a new set of brows? What are some of the nuances you notice on someone’s face?

The first thing I consider when I see someone is their essence, their style, their movement, how they use gestures, and how they style themselves. I consider proportions and the highlights of their face, the quirks, the oddities, and the components creating their character — not just the static, but their faces in movement. I look for patterns, how someone speaks and forms words, the timbre of their voice (are they delicate with their words?). 

And then I consider how their brows can help them embody their persona or the persona they’d like to portray. How can I sculpt a brow that supports how they want to move through the world. 

Who are your muses in terms of beauty, work, and life?

There are so so many… but the one that is always right next to me is Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” CHANEL.

3 words to describe you in your current state

Intrepid. Electric. Open.

What’s next for you, Jimena?

I want to go global and engage with all the different kinds of beauty. I’m fortunate to be bicoastal between NYC and LA and, in non-Covid times, I go to Paris and South America regularly. Now it’s time to go bigger. I want to participate more deeply in my industry. I want to create the tools and products my industry needs. I want to find the need and match it with what inspires me. 

I believe this past year has taught many of us how to be more flexible. I want to flex on this flexibility in order to access different places, people, and ways of thinking. Culturally speaking, everyone understands and interprets beauty differently. As a mobile business, I want to actively go out to both see and share beauty.