How to Darken Your Eyebrows With an Eyebrow Pencil

Both eyebrows must be the same shape and darkness.

Drawing attention to your face is easier if you have well-groomed eyebrows. However, if your eyebrows are light or sparse, they may disappear on your face. Darkening them with an eyebrow pencil can help define them and highlight your eyes. When darkening your brows, use the correct shade of eyebrow pencil and avoid darkening the brows too much, because this can give an unnatural appearance.

Things You'll Need

• Mascara wand
• Eyebrow gel

Instructions

1. Buy an eyebrow pencil that closely matches the shade of your eyebrows, so you get a natural effect. If your eyebrows are fair, choose a pencil that is at the most two shades darker than the brows. If your eyebrows are dark, use an eyebrow pencil that is two shades lighter than your brows.

2. Run a clean mascara wand through your eyebrows in an upward motion.

3. Outline the top of your eyebrows. Place the fingers of one hand on your temple and lightly pull the skin backward so it's taut. Draw a thin line with your free hand starting at the inner corner of your eyebrow. Trace the upper edge of your eyebrow all the way backward to the tip of your eyebrow.

4. Line the bottom of your eyebrows. Place your eyebrow pencil at the inner, bottom corner of your eyebrow and draw a line along the roots of your eyebrows, toward the outer tip. Connect the top and bottom line in the outer corner of the eyebrow.

5. Fill in your outline. Make short, light strokes from the middle of your eyebrow toward the outer tip of the eyebrow. Move the pencil in the direction of your hair growth. Fill in all sparse areas. Avoid pressing too hard on the pencil -- this may deposit too much color and give a caked on, unnatural appearance. Draw light, small lines, because you can always go over the same area twice to darken the brow even more.

6. Move the pencil from the outer tip toward the beginning of the eyebrow while drawing small lines. Keep the inner part of the brow a little lighter than the rest of the brow; otherwise, you may end up with a permanent angry look on your face.

7. Brush through your eyebrows with a clean mascara wand. Lightly rub the wand over your brow bone to evenly blend the color for a more-natural look.

8. Hold your eyebrows in place with eyebrow gel.

References

• "O: The Oprah Magazine"; O's Step-by-Step Plan for Perfect Brows; Jenny Bailly; September 2010
• Paula's Choice: Eyebrow Shaping and Shading