How to get fuller and healthier brows, pronto

Where the eyes are the windows to the face, our eyebrows are the drapes framing them

dua lipa lily collins brows
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Confession: I’ve been trying to grow my brows out for a good four months now. I haven’t been entirely successful, with some areas of my brows remaining “dead zones”, those damaged follicles a consequence of overzealous plucking back in my teenage years. While those hairs probably won’t ever grow back, I have found more success in growing out my brows over the last four months than any prior attempts over the last seven years.

The trick to getting them full and healthy is 70 percent discipline and maybe 30 percent luck and genetics. If you’re exploring brow growth serums, you have to remember to apply them religiously for the best results. You’ll also need to keep your hands off those tweezers – you’ll find yourself itching to reach for ‘em as the weeks go by (the hardest part of the whole ordeal for me, to be honest).

Sure, your brows may begin to look a little unkempt or unruly, but the whole point in growing out your brows is to have them grow beyond your existing brow shape. So naturally, it’s going to get a little messy. Grit your teeth and bear with it for a bit. Of course, if it all gets a little too overwhelming, you can groom them yourself, but again, discipline is required.

If you're looking for more tips to grow out your brows, then you've come to the right place. To achieve fluffy but still healthy looking brows, here, we've turned to brow influencer Jess Hunt and Blink Brow Bar founder Vanita Parti — some of the best beauty experts from Net-A-Porter — to answer your most burning questions for you to keep your brows looking its best!

The fastest way to grow sparse and overplucked brows

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Condition, condition, condition! Applying castor oil every evening not only nourishes brows, it conditions and strengthens, allowing for healthy and fast regrowth. Avoid plucking or touching your brows until it’s really needed, to give them time to grow.

How to instantly thicken brows

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Make sure you shape – but don’t thin the brows. Follow strict guidelines when shaping at home and avoid removing hair from the core shape. Then use products that give your brows lift and volume, such as a brow-enhancer gel or volumizing pomade. These contain microfibers that mimic individual brow hairs, creating the illusion of thicker, fuller-looking brows.

The trick to shaping contemporary brows

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Find where the brows should begin by holding a brow pencil vertically at the side of the nose, up to where the brow should start. Keeping the end of the pencil at your nose, pivot to where it hits your iris – the pencil will now point to your arch. To find the tail end of your arch, swing the pencil until it grazes the outer corner of your eye, and now the pencil will point to where your brow should finish. Use a pencil concealer to make the points that will create your perfect brow and stick to the shape, not going beyond it.

 

How to mimic hairs that I don’t have

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Draw in small, gentle strokes, starting from where the ‘root’ of the hair would be, and continue to draw upwards and outwards to fill in any sparse areas. Start with the ‘tail’ first, assess, and then add a finishing few strokes at the inner corner until you achieve the desired thickness.
It is perfect to use a super-slim pencil for this as it is easy to control and mimic the hairs perfectly, creating precise 3D hair-like strokes.

The best brow pencil that suits my skin type

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If you struggle with dry skin, avoid dry products, such as powders, and instead focus on something with a wet base, such as a pomade, which works really well for a defined, powerful brow, or a gel if you prefer a more natural look. Oilier skin types might prefer the staying power of pencils with a waxy base. Look for products that emphasize their staying power and are designed with waxes and emollients to be long-lasting, weightless and sweat- and humidity-proof.

 

 

Specific brow tools to use

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A setting gel is a makeup-bag essential. It is also one of the easiest and most versatile brow products out there. Not only can it be used on its own to tame brows and lock them in place for a no-makeup, natural look, it can also be used as the finishing step in any brow routine, adding gloss and staying power to other makeup.

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