How to Get Full, Feathery Eyebrows If Yours Are Naturally Sparse
It means you can play around with big, feathery brow shapes, even without much natural hair.
Thick, fluffy eyebrows are so en vogue these days that it seems people will go to limitless lengths to get them. Countless grooming appointments, extensions, full eyebrow transplants — all are valid options for someone with naturally sparse brow hair, but sometimes all you need to get that look is a little bit of makeup, the right tools and techniques, plus some practice.
Take it from makeup artist Mary Phillips, who works with notable eyebrow owners Kim Kardashian, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jennifer Lopez, among others. According to her tips, achieving a full, feathery brow look is actually quite simple. “Use an angled brow brush,” she says. Good picks include the Anastasia Beverly Hills Firm Angled Brush and Sephora Collection’s Essential Brow Brush.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brush #14
Sephora Collection Essential Brow Brush
Grab a brow powder (like Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo) that’s a shade lighter than your brow color, Phillips advises next. “Gently comb hairs up [with the brow brush]; follow the way the brow hairs naturally grow, letting the hair extend over the shape of the brow,” she explains. “Then add your preferred brow gel to keep the look in place.”
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo
Having naturally sparse eyebrows might feel like a disadvantage in the age of soap brows and celebrities like Cara Delevingne—but makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes, who has sparse brows herself, points out that it actually gives you “free reign” to play around with your shape, density, and color. The only problem is that “most people don’t know where to [apply their makeup] because they don’t have that guide [for shaping].”
Her advice is to use a brow pencil to lightly outline your preferred general shape if you’re not sure where to start. Try the MAC Veluxe Brow Liner.
MAC Cosmetics Veluxe Brow Liner
Strokes Microblade Pen Perfector
Otherwise, you can get right to the nitty-gritty with Hughes’s step-by-step fluffy brow tutorial. Her general process is to use a combination of brow pomade (with a sharp, angled brush for precision) and a brow pen such as the Strokes Microblade Pen Perfector to draw on individual brow hairs. To get the most realistic hairs possible, place the tip of the pen near the bottom of the brow and lightly flick upward. All that’s left to do after that is to swipe your favorite concealer along the bottom of the brows to make a sharp, clean edge.
Whichever full and fluffy eyebrow method you prefer, just keep in mind that everyone’s brows are different. No matter how much we all like to obsess over them, eyebrows are still just eyebrows at the end of the day. The more you approach them that way, the more fun you’ll have playing around with them.
