You'll Thank Me For This Brow Tip....

Can't do a brow post without Brooke!

Obviously the Strong Brow is in this year. As my daughter observed, they're always in style. Anytime I catch an photo of me from the 90s with thin brows I shudder. What was I thinking? When someone (often a friend) has plucked their brows into near nothingness, don't you want to stage a brow intervention? Anyways I hope we all know now to back away from the tweezers, and let those babies grow in. Sure, keep a nice shape- there are professionals for that if you are arch-challenged- and tweeze the runaways that stray from the basic brow shape. And, if they are super fair or sparse, get a good shadow or pencil ( I love the Benefit Brow Pencil in Light) and fill them in, lightly, with little hair-like brush strokes. I say lightly to avoid Angry Man (think Bert of Sesame Street) look.

Not good.

There are alternatives- you can dye your brows. I did that at a salon- twice. See Angry Man reference above. My daughters nearly keeled over they were laughing so hard. I went back weeks later after they had grown out and asked for a lighter version. Angry Man again.

My brows circa 1982

My brows circa this month- need a better pic with shape.

I'm not sure where it came from, but for some reason I was struck with inspiration at the drug store, in the hair dye aisle. In front of the, ahem, men's hair dye section. Stop laughing. The Touch of Grey product looked interesting because a) it came in a tiny tube and b) it is sheer and temporary. So I took the plunge and took Medium Brown home and gave it a try. I was a bit over-cautious as Medium Brown was so minimally darker than my natural brow that it hardly showed up. If there were greys though, and I was trying to match a colour, it would be dead on. So I carefully bought Dark Brown and found the perfect colour. 

Soft & natural- strong brow with soft bare make up (Maybelline Spring 2012 collection)

I apply it very lightly, almost painting on top of my brows, with a toothbrush I have deigned my brow brush. It goes on around 5 minutes (or less) before I step in the shower, where I close my eyes as soon as I jump in and rinse it all out. It is the brow colour of my youth. It lasts around 4 weeks, give or take a week. My tube of Touch of Grey barely has a dent in it and I've had it since last March. And I would not be without. Funny, I'll think, I'm looking tired/mousy/washed out and then I realize that my brows are disappearing into my face. A light touch up and I'm back to glowing and rested looking. One neat benefit is if you use a tiny brush, hairs along the outside of the arch that are fair come back with the dye and ta-da you have an arch!

Wide awake & bubbly vs tired & possibly ill.

Oy.

Yes, there is the blonde bleached out brow trend that comes and goes. My opinion? Unless you are Gwyneth Paltrow, and even then its a stretch, the bleached out brow does absolutely nothing for your features. It makes everything else stand out even more- the nose, the crows feet, forehead lines, spots (aka zits). Blech. Do not do. You look weird.

One last shot of our Eyebrow Goddess, Brooke....

Edit: A savvy reader on Twitter pointed out the Touch Of Gray disclaimer- do not use on facial hair. They have a beard dye that comes in a smaller tube, with a smaller brush, and which is a stronger formula for coarser beard hair. I would not use that one, we don't need stronger as our brows are not like beard hair. That said, do a patch test on your arm first to be sure you don't react. Use caution as you would with any product you are using on your face.