You’ve Been Filling Your Brows In All Wrong

#FacePalm

Anyone who knows anything about makeup is well versed in the fact brows can make or break a look. And with so much attention on brow game lately, the pressure is greater than ever to get it right.

But deceptively effortless as on point brows may look, there’s a huge amount of effort and skill required to pull them off. Which is why, more often than not, most of us are getting it wrong. Like, really wrong. Here are three inexcusable brow mistakes that you’ve almost certainly been making…

Mistake 1: Using just one color

While most of us reach for the same reliable eyebrow pencil when we’re filling in our brows, a single shade will never create a truly natural look.

To create the illusion of dimension, start by filling your brows in with a pencil or powder in a shade lighter than your brow color, then go back in with a darker shade, filling in any patchy areas and concentrating on the tail so the color graduates from light at the start of the brow, to dark at the end.

We use: Bobbi Brown Light Brow Kit

Mistake 2: Forgetting about your skin tone

When selecting a shade for your brow pencil or powder, you should always consider your skin tone to ensure the result is seamless. If you have an olive to dark complexion, opt for a shade of brown with some red in it to compliment your warm skin tone. If you have dark hair and lighter skin, opt for a light brown.

Never match the shade of your pencil or powder to your hair. People with brown hair should always opt for a caramel or dark blonde tone while blonde to light-haired ladies should opt for a very light blonde shade.

We use: NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil

Mistake 3: Neglecting the prep

The biggest brow sin? Neglecting to adequately prep the skin for product application. The result? You touch your face during the day and end up with brows smudged up into your forehead. #fail

To avoid this beauty blunder, lightly dab some concealer underneath and on top of each brow before you start filling them in. The concealer will give your brow product something to stick to while adding extra lift and definition, which will give you a cleaner, fresher finish.

We use: Sephora Brow Enhancer

Some of our other fave brow product picks

Left to right: Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara, IT Cosmetics Brow Power, Clinique Brow Shaper.

Nadia Bokody

Nadia is a journalist, media commentator and editor with a penchant for hoarding makeup and an opinion on just about everything. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, Cosmopolitan, and many more. She's a passionate advocate for destroying mental health stigma and sexually empowering women, and has absolutely no concept of TMI. Follow Nadia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.