How to Disguise Your Raggedy Eyebrows

My one main area of beauty deficiency is my brows. There are areas where they’re too thin and I often forget to fill them in before heading out. Then I see a photo of myself and I’m like….oh. I’m terrible about maintaining them. I have a fairly full brow and a decent arch, and I’ll go a good month or more without having them professionally shaped. I have friends who are way better about it than I am. For example, Luvvie – she’s so serious about her brow maintenance, and hates going to events if her brows aren’t snatched to perfection by her go-to eyebrow expert Mimi.

This post was inspired by the conversation we had yesterday, where Luvvie was basically freaking out about leaving the house without her eyebrows being done. When in doubt, she panics and then wears fake glasses. Yes. “My fake glasses are there for me in my time of need. I put them on and I’m like YES.” That is a direct quote. I cackled. I’m firmly in the anti-fake-glasses camp. I married a man who needs corrective lenses. I know how folks with real glasses tend to feel about fake glasses! So I’m here to share an easy way to disguise your raggedy, in-need-of-tweezing-waxing-or-threading eyebrows, that won’t require fake glasses.

 

How to Disguise Your Raggedy Eyebrows in 5 Easy Steps

1. Assess the Situation. Do you just have a few stray hairs under the arch that would require minimal neatening up? Or are your brows truly ready for the hands of a pro? If you just have a few strays and you have time to pluck them, then I recommend the Rashida B eyebrow method which she revealed in our first ever interview. Use a white eyeliner pencil, or a light colored concealer stick, and color over the area of strays that need attention. “Then pluck the hairs that are covered by the white pencil/concealer. Don’t go overboard, don’t get obsessed with getting the one hair in one area… try to look at the big picture.” I like to use a big, chubby brow bone highlight pencil, like Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Brow Duality, or NYX Push-Up Bra Eyebrow Highlighter.If you don’t have a ton of time just pluck the most noticeable hairs and keep it moving. Use makeup remover to get that white eyeliner pencil off, or use your fingers to blend, blend, blend it into your brow bone as a highlight.

2. Brush Your Brows. OK so if you have remaining stray hairs and no time, and the situation isn’t super terrible, then start out step 2. Brush your brows with an eyebrow brush. If you don’t have one, then consider investing in the Tweezerman Brow Shaping Scissors and Brush set, or the Sephora Pro Eyebrow Brush and Comb. Brush your brows down and in the direction of growth and use a brow pencil or powder to fill in any sparse areas. My current favorite brow enhancing products are Benefit’s Brow Zings, Urban Decay’s Brow Box, and MAC Brow Set. Great drugstore alternatives are Revlon Brow Fantasy (half gel, half pencil), and Milani Easy Brow, an automatic pencil with a brush on the other end. A brow gel or wax will help to set your brows in place, making step 3 easier.

3. Prime It All. The area you’re most likely worried about is your arch. Apply eye primer from the lashline all the way up to the brow bone. An eye primer will make your whole eye area look smooth and uniform, and it’ll keep your stray hairs in place. Some eye primers even work as a subtle highlight for your brow bone. My latest loves are the S.W.A.K Lip and Eye Primer by Chicago’s Mojo Spa, and Urban Decay’s primers are always awesome. The primer will cover and smooth down the stray hairs you’re going to cover.

4 – Cover The Struggle Areas. Here’s a trick many makeup artists use – try using concealer to disguise your struggle brows. Celebrity makeup artist and dear friend of mine Tia Dantzler explains how in this helpful Essence.com post. Basically you “use a flat tip brush, along with a cream concealer one shade lighter than your skin-tone, then go tightly underneath your brows in the direction of brows to highlight,” and then blend, blend, blend so it all looks natural and right. After covering the area of concern, then I like to go with a subtle, sexy eye. I learned from my friend India-Jewel Jackson that brown eyeshadow is a hallmark of well to do women (to paraphrase), so ever since reading that I’ve been using brown eyeshadow. Hey, why not? Sonia Kashuk has a few great little brown eyeshadow palettes – see her perfectly neutral palette, and  her bronzed beauty eyeshadow quad for example. I travel with that quad constantly, and create subtle shimmery brown looks.

5 – Draw Attention to Your Lash Line. Now that the raggedy brow situation has been concealed, the objective is to draw attention away from the brow bone and create a focal point nearer to your lash line. This is not the time for a bold brow bone highlight. This is the time for a sexy liner all along the lash line. Think cat eye, winged liner, dark mascara. Eye drama! That way people will be staring into your gorgeous peepers and not noticing the clever concealing you’ve done. Brilliant!

 

This eyebrow concealing method works best if your brows need just a little help. If you’re looking to completely cover your brows for a unique, truly creative makeup look, this post on Beautylish will teach you how to completely cover your brows using purple glue stick.

How often do you get your brows done? Do you do them yourself? Do you wax, thread or pluck? Let’s discuss!