How to fill in eyebrows: 4 Beauty Panel tips for taking your brows from sparse to statement
It hasn’t been easy keeping up with eyebrow trends over the years. In the ’90s we fell victim to the tweezer’s evil whisper to pluck just one more hair to achieve sleek, thin arches. But as styles have changed and a bushier, more natural look has come into favour (à la the boyish brows at Isabel Marant Fall 2013) it’s time to appreciate the eyebrows we were born with—and the beauty products that help make them stand out.
While Cara Delevingne’s celebrated brows are certainly worth obsessing over and Lily Collins make us never want to touch a tweezer again, not everyone is blessed with bold arches. However, with the simple swipe of a brow pencil, wax or shadow, even the sparsest brow can make a statement. Whether you’re a blonde, brunette or redhead, our Beauty Panel has tips and tricks for achieving flawless, filled-in eyebrows.
Challenge 36: How do you make your eyebrows stand out? See the answers now! »
When it comes to brows, Kelly Freeman of Glitter Diaries confesses to having barely-there-eyebrows and provides her foolproof thickening tips. JJ Cowan of Secrets From Your Girlfriends shares her brow determination over the years and breaks down why she steers away from oil-based or liquid brow liners. And if it’s a gel-based brow product you seek, Aïda Michelle Lopes of I Fell For That explains her switch from pencil filled-in brows to ones set with a gel.
Have a beauty question you want to see the panel answer? Send it our way at [email protected]. Read on for the answers to this week’s challenge and for more goodness, get to know all contributors on our Beauty Panel hub page.
Jump to: AÏDA MICHELLE LOPES | ELLIE SOMFELEAN | JJ COWAN | KELLY FREEMAN
JJ Cowan
Toronto | Secrets From Your Girlfriends
The statement eyebrow has become a current obsession of all beauty fanatics including yours truly and creating the perfect, bushy brow where the territory literally lacks volume is a tricky endeavor. I speak from personal experience because I am not naturally blessed with copious volume in the eyebrow department – this coupled with a bald spot running through my right brow (a childhood scar), makes the task even more difficult. I have tried everything from growing out my brows in hopes that I would miraculously resemble Cara Delevingne, to dyeing them black as a means to correct my bushy brow deficiency. However, both proved ineffective.
Over the years, through sheer brow determination I found that “acceptance” was the right brow fix that worked for me. That’s right, the first part of creating the perfect brow is accepting the canvas you have to work with and if that’s a sparse brow, so be it. Now, what’s a girl to do when working with a minimal brow line, I suggest using an eye shadow that closely resembles your natural hair color. Applying the eye shadow to the brow area using a slanted brow brush is a great way to shape and give your face some drama without looking overly made-up. I personally find using oil based or liquid brow liner a bit to heavy but using a basic eye shadow adds just the right amount of definition. Begin by lining the outer areas of your brow creating a stencil, then move inwards shading in the entire brow for a fuller appearance – it’s
as simple as that.
Products used: M.A.C Eyeshadow in “Espresso” and Quo Slanted Eyebrow Brush
Ellie Somfelean
Montreal | My Beauty Box
I’ve learned over the years the importance of a good brow. It can add structure to the face, make you look polished and tie the whole look together. The biggest tip I’ve picked up from beauty gurus and makeup artists is not to over pluck. I use my Tweezerman tweezers to clean up under the brow and get that clean crisp arch but the secret lies in using scissors to shape and trim rebel hair versus plucking them out. This gives the brow that crisp shape while looking healthy and full. On a daily basis I use an ashy brown pencil to fill them in where needed and play with the intensity of the brow. I have light hair and I am pretty fair with a strong yellow undertone in my complexion so I find an ashy brown always looks best. I always like to finish with a wax, just to set everything in place and use an angle brush both to diffuse the color in the brow as well as brush the waxed hairs in the right direction. Lastly, I take a satin light eyeshadow and brush gently underneath the brow to highlight and make everything look polished.
Products used: It Cosmetics Brow Power and Avon Perfect EyeBrow Kit in “Blonde”
Aïda Michelle Lopes
Montreal | I Fell For That
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been into thick eyebrows. I like the way they bring character to a face and help to structure it. My eyebrows have always been nicely shaped but pretty thin, I’ve never felt the need to tweeze them but I’ve always wanted them thicker so I’ve been helping them a bit in this area.
I used to do them with a pencil but I recently switched to a brow gel (I’m trying to grow them out and I’m convinced that the pencil “attacks” the root and doesn’t help the growth).
In order to fill my eyebrows and make them appear a little bit thicker I use the Aqua Brow gel #40 from Make Up For Ever (disclosure, I work for Make Up For Ever) and an eyebrow brush, it takes me around two minutes in the morning and when I’m lazy it’s the only step of my make up routine. I always have to remind myself with this sentence in order to not spend 30 minutes doing them: “your eyebrows should look like sisters, not twins.”
Products used: Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow in “#40” and Make Up For Ever Double-Ended Eyebrow Brush in “#274”
Kelly Freeman
Mississauga | Glitter Diaries
I have barely there brows, so I’m always trying out new ways to make them stand out against my fair skin. The trick that I find works really well for me and will work for others with brows like mine are as follows: I start by using a brow pencil and outlining the top and bottom of the thickest part of my brows, then I extend the brow liner down the tail end of my brows. The lines look harsh after that so I tone them down and make them look more natural by brushing through them lightly with a spooly. Then I fill in the middle of my brows and wherever else that needs a little more colour with a soft taupe shadow! To make them look even more sculpted, I will also use concealer and outline outside of my brows and blend it out!
Products used: Wet n Wild Brow Liner in “Taupe,” Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in “Ash Blonde” and Art Deco Perfect Tint Concealer in “05”
 it's time to appreciate the eyebrows we were born with—and the beauty products that help make them stand out.
While Cara Delevingne’s celebrated brows are certainly worth obsessing over and Lily Collins make us never want to touch a tweezer again, not everyone is blessed with bold arches. However, with the simple swipe of a brow pencil, wax or shadow, even the sparsest brow can make a statement. Whether you're a blonde, brunette or redhead, our Beauty Panel has tips and tricks for achieving flawless, filled-in eyebrows.
Challenge 36: How do you make your eyebrows stand out? See the answers now! »
When it comes to brows, Kelly Freeman of Glitter Diaries confesses to having barely-there-eyebrows and provides her foolproof thickening tips. JJ Cowan of Secrets From Your Girlfriends shares her brow determination over the years and breaks down why she steers away from oil-based or liquid brow liners. And if it's a gel-based brow product you seek, Aïda Michelle Lopes of I Fell For That explains her switch from pencil filled-in brows to ones set with a gel.
Have a beauty question you want to see the panel answer? Send it our way at beautypanel@fashionmagazine.com. Read on for the answers to this week's challenge and for more goodness, get to know all contributors on our Beauty Panel hub page.
Jump to: AÏDA MICHELLE LOPES | ELLIE SOMFELEAN | JJ COWAN | KELLY FREEMAN
JJ Cowan
Toronto | Secrets From Your Girlfriends
The statement eyebrow has become a current obsession of all beauty fanatics including yours truly and creating the perfect, bushy brow where the territory literally lacks volume is a tricky endeavor. I speak from personal experience because I am not naturally blessed with copious volume in the eyebrow department – this coupled with a bald spot running through my right brow (a childhood scar), makes the task even more difficult. I have tried everything from growing out my brows in hopes that I would miraculously resemble Cara Delevingne, to dyeing them black as a means to correct my bushy brow deficiency. However, both proved ineffective.
Over the years, through sheer brow determination I found that “acceptance” was the right brow fix that worked for me. That’s right, the first part of creating the perfect brow is accepting the canvas you have to work with and if that’s a sparse brow, so be it. Now, what’s a girl to do when working with a minimal brow line, I suggest using an eye shadow that closely resembles your natural hair color. Applying the eye shadow to the brow area using a slanted brow brush is a great way to shape and give your face some drama without looking overly made-up. I personally find using oil based or liquid brow liner a bit to heavy but using a basic eye shadow adds just the right amount of definition. Begin by lining the outer areas of your brow creating a stencil, then move inwards shading in the entire brow for a fuller appearance – it’s
as simple as that.
Products used: M.A.C Eyeshadow in “Espresso” and Quo Slanted Eyebrow Brush
Ellie Somfelean
Montreal | My Beauty Box
I’ve learned over the years the importance of a good brow. It can add structure to the face, make you look polished and tie the whole look together. The biggest tip I’ve picked up from beauty gurus and makeup artists is not to over pluck. I use my Tweezerman tweezers to clean up under the brow and get that clean crisp arch but the secret lies in using scissors to shape and trim rebel hair versus plucking them out. This gives the brow that crisp shape while looking healthy and full. On a daily basis I use an ashy brown pencil to fill them in where needed and play with the intensity of the brow. I have light hair and I am pretty fair with a strong yellow undertone in my complexion so I find an ashy brown always looks best. I always like to finish with a wax, just to set everything in place and use an angle brush both to diffuse the color in the brow as well as brush the waxed hairs in the right direction. Lastly, I take a satin light eyeshadow and brush gently underneath the brow to highlight and make everything look polished.
Products used: It Cosmetics Brow Power and Avon Perfect EyeBrow Kit in “Blonde”
Aïda Michelle Lopes
Montreal | I Fell For That
For as long as I can remember, I've been into thick eyebrows. I like the way they bring character to a face and help to structure it. My eyebrows have always been nicely shaped but pretty thin, I've never felt the need to tweeze them but I've always wanted them thicker so I've been helping them a bit in this area.
I used to do them with a pencil but I recently switched to a brow gel (I'm trying to grow them out and I'm convinced that the pencil "attacks" the root and doesn't help the growth).
In order to fill my eyebrows and make them appear a little bit thicker I use the Aqua Brow gel #40 from Make Up For Ever (disclosure, I work for Make Up For Ever) and an eyebrow brush, it takes me around two minutes in the morning and when I'm lazy it's the only step of my make up routine. I always have to remind myself with this sentence in order to not spend 30 minutes doing them: "your eyebrows should look like sisters, not twins."
Products used: Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow in “#40” and Make Up For Ever Double-Ended Eyebrow Brush in “#274”
Kelly Freeman
Mississauga | Glitter Diaries
I have barely there brows, so I'm always trying out new ways to make them stand out against my fair skin. The trick that I find works really well for me and will work for others with brows like mine are as follows: I start by using a brow pencil and outlining the top and bottom of the thickest part of my brows, then I extend the brow liner down the tail end of my brows. The lines look harsh after that so I tone them down and make them look more natural by brushing through them lightly with a spooly. Then I fill in the middle of my brows and wherever else that needs a little more colour with a soft taupe shadow! To make them look even more sculpted, I will also use concealer and outline outside of my brows and blend it out!
Products used: Wet n Wild Brow Liner in “Taupe,” Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in “Ash Blonde” and Art Deco Perfect Tint Concealer in “05”
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