VIDEO: Introducing My New #1 Favorite Way to Recreate Eyebrows

Hi folks, as is my now-customary way to begin all my blog posts: It's been a while since I posted something new! As you know, I may not be a frequent updater to this site as there's only so many new tips and tricks I can actually come up with, but I read every single one of your comments. So: Thanks for those!

I'm coming out of hiding as I have a new product recommendation that I am incredibly impressed with for recreating eyebrows due to hair loss from alopecia, chemotherapy, trichotillomania -- so much so that it has basically replaced my previous tried-and-trusted powder-and-pencil method for my brows. So you know it's good! It's KOJI's Dolly Wink's Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Brown and I am officially in love.

Why, you ask? For one thing, the nib is even finer than my previous favorite liner pen by Kat Von D (review and tutorial here), resulting in a super-fine, nicely convincing "hair" I can feather over a brown powder base.

Its staying power is also phenomenal, and I can put this on at 6 am, work a full day in a hot office, come back, go out, fall asleep and wake up with brows virtually intact. During the day, it's splash-proof, smudge-proof and sweat-proof. (Yes, I am forever splashing, smudging and sweating.)

As I make clear in the video, the downside of using a semi-permanent pen rather than pencil for brow recreation is the need to get it right first time (tiredness or hangover shakes be damned.) However, the lines you get from this pen are so fine and feathery that it really is hard to make a mess-up that's so significant it needs to be wiped away with a Q-Tip.

Big thanks to Thea from the BGBrows Makeup Shop -- which supports the nonprofit Bald Girls Do Lunch -- for introducing me to this product, which she now sells on her site (although it's available elsewhere online too, including Amazon.) Reminder: I don't have any kind of formal relationship with BGBrows or BDGL (ie. I'm not being paid to endorse anything they do) -- I just really like the stuff they have in their online store, including their world-beating brow lacquer. Just to be nice and clear :)

Let me know in the comments if you've tried this product. I wouldn't change up my regular brow routine of a decade for any old product, so I hope I've conveyed just how quietly life-changing this one is.

Love, Carly x

I'm in Vogue's Hair Loss Feature!

Hey folks: this is something I've been gagging to tell you all about for the last month, and I'm so thrilled I now can -- I'm featured in Vogue's incredible feature on life and style beyond hair loss!

• PHOTOS: Meet 9 Inspirational Women Who Have Embraced the Stylish Possibilities of Life After Hair Loss
• VIDEO:  9 Women Tell the Truth About Life After Hair Loss
• VIDEO: How to Draw the Perfect Eyebrows: Carly Severn’s Foolproof Tutorial

Back-story: Vogue contacted me a few months ago about participating in this new feature -- which comprised portraits and video (links above) -- and back in April, I went out to their offices in New York to be photographed by the amazing Cass Bird and styled by their phenomenal team. The series featured a range of incredible women, from cancer patients and survivors to alopecia folks like me. Meeting all these friendly, funny people on both sides of the camera was the most incredible privilege, and I'm still on Cloud 9 frankly. They also asked me if I would do one of my video tutorials on eyebrow makeup, and you can watch it here! (Their camera is a bit fancier than my wobbly iPhone videos on this site, eh?)

I wanted to note that one of these women was 17 year-old Mia Sidaros, a lovely, vibrant aspiring fashion blogger from Los Angeles who was living with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. Shortly after the shoot, Mia passed away. I'm honored to have got to meet her and her family at the shoot, and the Vogue video interview is dedicated to her memory, which I think is a truly fitting tribute.

I hope to write more about all this in a little while, but in the meantime you can view all of the gorgeous black and white portraits here, watch the video tutorial here and check out the video interview here. I really hope you all like it.

Love, Carly x

6 Things Not to Say to Someone Experiencing Hair Loss (and 3 Things You Definitely Should)

Me, mugging for the camera as usual.

Hi folks! I blog a lot here about tips, tricks and tutorials for women experiencing hair loss due to chemotherapy, alopecia (like me) or other reasons — but it's occurred to me that being the relative or friend of someone losing their hair can sometimes be tricky, too. Whether it's your daughter, your mother or your best friend, seeing someone you love going through a period of (often rapid) transition in which their appearance changes dramatically can be an awkward time, not least because you're not sure you're giving the right encouragement, or saying the right things. (Plus they probably seem angry and/or teary a lot of the time.) Well, as someone who lost their hair aged 19 and has had literally every line under the sun said to them at one point or another, I'm here to offer my personal take on what not to say to someone experiencing hair loss to help you avoid worrying about causing inadvertent upset or offence. Plus: a few things you can and definitely should say!

Please note: it is absolutely not my intention here to "pile on" to wonderful, supportive, well-meaning people who are sometimes tongue-tied or stuck for words around people experiencing hair loss. I wouldn't have had a bloody CLUE what to say to someone in this situation before I went through it myself. It's for that reason that I'm providing this list, because nobody else is going to tell you this stuff — and because the support you offer as a loved one is monumental.

PS. You can say anything to me now, by the way. I don't care. I'll be over here, eating pizza :)


What Not To Say To Someone Experiencing Hair Loss:

Runaway hair hare (photo: Airwolfhound / Flickr)

VIDEO: How to create totally waterproof eyebrows (if you don't have any of your own) — plus lashes!

Don't get me wrong: I love my trusty everyday eyebrow technique of eyeshadow + brow pencil + sealer. If it suddenly starts raining, I'm certainly not going to panic my eyebrows are going to wash off. But for a while now, I've been looking for a way to create totally waterproof eyebrows: the kind that will withstand not just raindrops, but full-on underwater swimming. And I'm pleased to report I've found one!

(Scroll down for the video tutorial...)

The key? This nifty waterproof Tattoo Liner Pen by Kat Von D. It's a felt-tip in jet black, and once it's on it will not. Come. Off. (I mean, it does obviously, but it takes serious effort.) The nib is fine and pointy enough to be able to use it like you would a sharp pencil, and that's exactly how I use it.

Tattoo Liner by Kat Von D, a.k.a. my newest love.

(Don't) Shine On: Two Top Tips For Preventing Shiny Eyebrows

Hello folks! Summer's pretty much here, so I've emerged from my blog hibernation to send my best wishes to you all AND share a couple of summery tips with you.

Where I DON'T live.

As lovely as warmer weather is, for us it also heralds the arrival of something even more annoying than wasps at your summer picnic — and that is shiny eyebrows. Heat and humidity are irritating enough when they transform your face into an oil slick, but when they start to affect your painstakingly-drawn brows and make them look unrealistically shiny (or even threaten to make them slide off), it's enough to make you stay indoors in front of an industrial-strength fan until the leaves start falling. So, how do I stop my eyebrows becoming shiny and annoying? With these two amazing products:

Recreating eyebrows with make-up: another video

Here's another video demonstrating exactly how to restore lost eyebrows with the aid of eyeshadow and pencil. (As comprehensive as my first video on this topic was, the recording quality could definitely have been improved - so, it has!)

If this is your first watch you might find my photo tutorial on recreating eyebrows a useful companion, too. Happy feathering and pencilling, amigos!

Product review: BGDL Brow Sealer

Image: Tim Beach   / FreeDigitialPhotos.net

[UPDATED: now with online shopping links for this product! Go get 'em.]

First, I must kick off with an apology for the radio silence - I have been moving my life's possessions across the globe! EyelineHer is now based out of the California Bay Area, so this means that I'll most likely be covering a lot more US products from now on. However, fear not UK ladies: I will endeavour also to give prices in GBP, as well as mentioning your shipping options.

So, let's kick off the invasion with a new brow sealer product review!

Bad news and good news

First, the bad news: the saviour of faux-eyebrows, Benefit's She Laq, is being discontinued.

As a long-time devotee of this product, which lacquers drawn-on eyebrows into place for over 24 hours, I'm gutted. (The decision, by the way, has been confirmed by their UK head office, although I'm afraid I don't know how widespread the discontinuation is.) This wonder bottle was the product that first reassured me of the power of cosmetics and beauty products to recreate what I'd lost facially, and I know that many other hair-free ladies feel the same way.

Which, in the spirit of indefatigable optimism, leads me to the good news: I have realised it makes poor sense to put all your eggs into one lacquer bottle, and to rely absolutely on a single product. Cosmetics companies are businesses like all the others, and, as frustrating as it is for those who love them, certain products do get withdrawn from sale. So, in between panic-buying my local department store's She Laq reserves and hoarding them in my underwear drawer, I have decided to embark on a mission to road-test all the alternatives I didn't even know were out there, for your lacquering and sealing pleasure. Testing will be fair and rigorous, judging products on a range of consistent criteria. First into the fire is a new one on my radar:

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.

Eyebrow, you brow...

My first post on EyelineHer, so I thought I'd better make it a good one! And where better to start than eyebrows?

Losing eyebrows, whether totally or partially, is for many just as big a deal as losing their hair, and it's not hard to see why. Eyebrows provide some key structure to your face, and unless you've fallen victim to a 'hilarious' shaving prank in the past, you won't have ever imagined yourself without them. So why not draw the little deserters right back on?

For a realistic look, the absolute key is a combination of powder and pencil (as opposed to just pencil, as many women use). Done right, faux-brows will look almost as good as the real thing, and will stay put for pretty much 24 hours. This video explains how - enjoy!


Products used: 

• Mono Eyeshadow in Brown and Black by Rimmel London
• Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Black-Brown by Rimmel London
• SheLaq makeup sealant by Benefit