To cap off the first week of this month’s Special Eye Makeup Feature, I will tackle the issue of brows! This is a very small thing you can do that I feel will enhance your overall look.

Honestly, I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to brows. I just kind of shade them in (as you would a blank spot in a coloring book) and call it a day.

If you are looking for some how-tos, here are some posts that I’ve enjoyed from other, more capable bloggers:
— Ae from An Artechoke
— Xiao from Messy Wands
— Tina from What Tina Loves
— Liz from Project Vanity

This is just an overview of the tools I use, in order of my preference. I don’t have a tutorial because I literally just brush through my normal eyebrow shape and comb through with a spoolie. I don’t typically outline the outsides, because I find that I look very harsh in the face, especially since I have been blessed with the Bitchy Resting Face. So I just randomly fill them in!

(Honestly, I just find makeup fun… so I’m just really glad whenever someone finds something I post to be helpful! 🙂 Haha.)

Onto the products!

BROW POWDER — The Body Shop Brown & Liner Kit (02)

My most used product. It’s easy to use and it draws quite a light line that you can’t really tell if when you make a mistake. I mostly use the dark color, but if I want less of a harsh effect, I use the lighter shade. This is the effect:

I use any stiff angled brush—to apply the powder—and a spoolie—to brush through the hairs to make them neat. If I apply too much shadow, running a spoolie through the brows helps fix that, too.

Then, I set it with a clear mascara. This one is a generic, plain one by Nichido, but many people swear by products like MAC’s Boy Girl, which is tinted to help alter the color of your brows.

The wand is brown because of the brow powder!

WAXY PENCIL — random pencil from my sister, which she got from a drugstore in Hong Kong. Shade is “BR-1”

These are great for unruly eyebrows! The waxiness keeps the hairs in place. I find that this is quite soft and draws thickly, so I swipe it on in a haphazard-but-still-within-the-lines sort of manner and brush a spoolie to disperse the pigment.

For an alternative to this, try the e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit, which comes with a wax and a powder. It’s supposedly really good, but I myself have never tried it. 🙂 There are many drugstore alternatives, though, and I confess that this is my least-explored ‘genre’ of eyebrow enhancers, though it is a favorite for drawing on a really bold brow.

Another thing I haven’t tried before are the harder pencils, though I’m pretty sure I’d suck at using those. I’ve been wanting to try the hard pencil by shu uemura, but again, I have tons of products to use up first or dispose of. But those are supposedly really good and are a dream to apply when the actual pencil comes in contact with the oils of your skin. Here are a couple of great reviews by Mariana (The Beauty Bee) and Liz (Project Vanity).

EYE LINER/SHADOW — bareMinerals Liner Shadow in Bark

Sometimes, I just use a matte deep brown eyeliner or eyeshadow like this one by bareMinerals. The pigmentation is deeper and less “warm brown.”

I am wearing it here, and since it’s a loose powder, I have to set it with the clear mascara.

Many people use MAC eyeshadows for their brows. Popular choices are Omega, Wedge, and Mystery, among others. But, honestly, any matte shade that matches your hair color will do.

I think this may not work if you have super sparse hairs. I find that this liner/shadow in particular doesn’t really cling all that well onto your skin, either, so it’s not something I go to when I want super thick brows. As you can see, I had some trouble trying to fill in the sparse areas, too. The color is not as concentrated as when I use my brow powder.

Of course, you could use a cream eyeshadow, though I haven’t tried that yet. Liz’s tutorial that I’ve linked up there deals with this form of application.

MARKERS — Nature Republic Panda zero Waterpoof Eyebrow and K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 24H in 01

These are for “softly colored & long-lasting lines.” I think it’s mostly due to the fact that it tints the skin and stains better than say, a cream or a powder. I find the effect quite subtle and you can actually ‘draw on’ the hairs because of the thin tips of the applicator.

K-Palette, in Action:

Some swatches of the products beside each other:

I hope that helps! Be sure to check out the posts I linked above if you want some tips and advice on how to shape your brows. 🙂