Eyebrow, you brow... (part two, with photos)

[UPDATED: with new links!]

To accompany the video guide I recently posted on how to draw eyebrows back on, I thought I'd give you a step-by-step photo guide as well.

This simple powder-and-pencil technique works whether you're simply filling in missing parts of the brow, or drawing new ones on totally from scratch. Rather than simply pencilling on a flat, thin line, the aim is to create a 3d-looking brow that'll fool anyone into thinking you never lost yours in the first place.





Step 1:  Shading the shape with powder
Needed: Eyeshadow in black and brown (pictures: Rimmel London Mono shadows)

Make sure you start off with a nice dry skin surface - if you've just put moisturiser on, wipe off the excess so that the make-up you apply doesn't just slide straight off. If necessary (and I would recommend this), pat a little translucent powder over the eyebrow area.

Using a small slanted cosmetics brush (or failing that, a cotton bud / Q-tip), softly feather on the shape on an eyebrow on the brow area, using black and brown eyeshadows. It's best to use a combination of these two colours, as too often black looks way too harsh, and brown powders tend to come out a bit too 'terracotta' coloured, which on 90% of people looks fake.

Obviously if you haven't lost all of your brows, this will be much easier as you'll have a vague guide of where to draw. If, like me, you're 'starting from scratch', it'll take a little more practice. You can buy stencils for this, but I think you get a more natural shape if you just start lightly and softly. Any mistakes can simply be wiped away! Give the shape a nice soft arch, and don't extend too far into the centre of your brow.

Step 2:  Feathering in hairs with pencil

Needed: Eyebrow pencil in black-brown (pictures: Rimmel London Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Black-Brown)

You could leave it at the powder, but to look ultra-realistic your brows need some extra definition - by feathering in some 'hairs' using pencil. For this you want an eyebrow pencil, because they are very hard and non-smudgy. You definitely do not want a kohl eyeliner pencil, as they are designed to be soft and smudgy, which is not the look we're going for.

Sharpen your pencil to a very fine point - as sharp as you can. (As an aside, many cosmetics sharpeners are pretty terrible, so I often use a standard drawing pencil sharpener or this great one from Bourjois, although it's UK only unfortunately. If your pencil keeps crumbling, it's probably too warm, so try leaving it in the fridge beforehand.)

Then very gently feather in little lines over the top of the powder eyebrows you've just drawn on, so that they look like real eyebrow hairs. (Feather the lines away from the direction of your nose, so that you're drawing them outwards.)

Don't worry about them looking perfect - real brows aren't perfect, so yours shouldn't be either. Steadying your hand by resting your elbow on something often helps at this point!

Step 3:  Sealing the deal

Needed: Clear cosmetics lacquer or sealant (pictures: She-Laq by Benefit)

Now that you've drawn your masterworks on, it'd be a pain if they melted off in two hours time. This is where sealant comes in - to be precise, She-Laq by Benefit. This product , which looks a little like watery clear nail varnish, is pricey (given the size) yet worth its weight in gold for the bang-up job it does keeping make-up in its place. [UPDATE: She-Laq is no longer! But don't worry, Bald Girls Do Lunch's sealer is even better. Go grab it!]

Using the little brush in its lid, gently paint the lacquer over the brows you've drawn - it won't smudge the design. The liquid will then dry clear over the brows, making them water-proof, sweat-proof and (within reason) smudge-proof.

One tiny downside: lacquer does make your eyebrows slightly shiny (and this does tend to show up in photos). If this bothers you, just brush a little translucent powder over them to reduce the shine.

Treated well, they'll then last for around 24 hours - you can even sleep in them - and can just be washed or wiped off when you want to bid them adios. Job done!

(NB. If you still have quite a lot of your eyebrows remaining, go easy on the lacquer: it'll harden on any hairs and make them brittle, which, considering you're probably trying to conserve them at this point, isn't exactly desirable...)