Hello beautifuls! I’ve been getting this questions asked A LOT lately. You asked, I answered. Enjoy!
Q. How do you fill in your brows and what products do you use?
A. It has taken me months – quite possibly closer to a year – to master the art of brow shaping. It’s taken this long because I’ve had so many hit and misses with brow kits and other brow products. Now, I finally found products that works for me.
Firstly… I always start my makeup with my brows. After washing, applying sunscreen and moisturising my face in the morning I do my brows first before I get into anything else.
As far as grooming goes, I get my brows waxed at Leah’s Waxworks in Bondi Junction every 2-3 weeks and see a lady there named Shaz (she works Wednesday through to Sunday). A brow wax costs $10 and they’ve always done an excellent job with my brows. I generally get my brows waxed as a “tidy up” so the shape is neater. They also have brow threading (which Shaz is a pioneer of) for $20 if waxing isn’t your thing.
I do pluck my brows from time to time but only the rouge hairs that grow back which is nowhere near the brow itself so I don’t ruin my brow shape.
My brows have always been sparse and not until in the last few years have I really taken notice of how thin they are.
I’ve tried to use the lash and brow serums to encourage hair growth but I find that it doesn’t really work for me. The follicles aren’t there so although the hairs will grow and shed less, I will never have full, thick, bushy brows. Such is life.
So… everyday, I wake up early and I sit in front of my mirror and fill in my brows.
Now, one thing you should know: BROWS ARE SISTERS – NOT TWINS! So don’t think your brows are ever going to be perfect or exactly alike. And if they do, well… good on them. But they shouldn’t.
Also, if you have light hair – your brows should be two shades darker. This ensures your face is framed nicer and it doesn’t look like you don’t have any brows.
If you have darker hair (including our redheaded sisters) – your brows should be two shades lighter so you don’t look too goth (unless that’s the look you want to achieve).
Here are the products I use for my brows…
Models Prefer Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in ‘Medium’, $8.99
I love this product because it’s a good waxy product which is highly pigmented and is extremely cheap! It has a handy spooly on one end so you can groom as you go. I’ve never been a fan of pencils that you need to sharpen (I’m way too lazy for it), but this is good because it’s retractable and you can control how much is used and accurate precision on filling in brows.
It does look a little light for me, but when I add the brow cake on top it does darken it up a lot more to a perfect shade.
Available in three shades (dark, medium and light) at Priceline.
Illamasqua’s Eye Brow Cake in ‘Peak’, $22.00
After I’m happy with how I’ve filled in my brows I add just a bit of this on top to “set” the pencil in place. I use any old small angled brush because it’s small and precise. Some might say it’s unnecessary but I like to. It also helps if I’ve missed spots with the brow pencil.
Available in six other shades.
Then to tidy things up, I just take a couple of cotton tips, dipped in some makeup remover and run them around the perimeter of my brows so it’s neat and tidy.
Some people use concealer to tidy it up but I often find that using concealer (because it’s often lighter than your skin tone) just highlights the forehead area which looks odd to me.
This takes up about ten minutes of makeup time to do. I can do it in five minutes but it’s something I enjoy doing slowly and taking my time on. After I’m happy with how they look, I continue with the rest of my make up.
How do you fill in your brows? What products do you use?