How to fill in thin eyebrows for beginners

A few years ago, I shared the eyebrow routine I followed to fill in my very thin brows and it’s been one of the most popular posts on Midlife Rambler ever since. I’m obviously not the only person dealing with the consequences of over-plucking my brows in the 80s and 90s.

And, of course, as I’ve gotten older my brows have continued to get thinner. Plus, now I have very light hairs in my brows and even some gray hairs.

So, I’ve started filling in my eyebrows so they don’t look quite so harsh and scary. I’m not going for thick Cara Delevingne style brows, just full, natural brows that fit my face shape.

I’ve recently refined how I groom my brows when I do my makeup. Now, it’s a quick and easy three-step process that actually gives me better results than my previous method. So I wanted to share it with you guys today!

Step-By-Step Eyebrow Tutorial – My Quick and Easy Method

I created this video to explain my process in detail. Or keep reading for a complete explanation of my process.

Before You Get Started

I tint my eyebrows every 4-6 weeks and that really helps speed up my daily eyebrow grooming. I tint my brows because I have a lot of really light brow hairs and also some gray hairs. By tinting my brows, I make these brow hairs more visible and so I don’t need to work as hard filling in my brows on a day-to-day basis.

I’ve started tinting my brows at home and I honestly can’t believe I ever went to a salon because it’s so easy! I use Just for Men Beard and Mustache Dye in Medium Brown and the whole process takes about 15 minutes.

I’ll be adding a tutorial on dying your brows at home soon!

Eyebrow Products I Use

I recently picked up the Morphe Arch Obsession Brow Kit (in Hazelnut) from Ulta and I’ve been using the products in the kit to fill in my brows. It’s a good value – $18.00 for everything you need.

However, you don’t need to go out and buy an entire kit if you don’t need to. You may already have what you need.

I used one brow brush and three brow products:

• A Brow Brush
• Brow Pencil
• Brow Setting Gel
• Brow Stick Concealer

Eyebrow Brush

You don’t need to spend a lot on your brow brush. I really like the Morphe Brush in the kit because it’s nice and fluffy and the bristles aren’t too soft. It’s Morphe M158 Angle Liner/Spoolie Brush (only $5.00 if you want to buy it separately.)

E.L.F. Cosmetics also makes a good brow brush and it’s only $4.00!

Brow Pencil

I like to use a brow pencil to fill in my brows. You could also use a brow cream to fill in your brows, but I find that look is a little too intense for every day. Brow powders give a nice finish, but then I have to deal with fallout below my brows and it’s harder to correct any mistakes I make.

Some good choices for brow pencils are:

Brow Setting Gel

I’m going to take a moment to rave about the Morphe Brow Setting Gel. It holds your brows in place beautifully for as long as you keep it on and it makes your brows look thicker and fuller. I personally think it’s the best brow gel I’ve used.

There are two cult favorite brow setting gels that I’ve also tried and liked: the NYX Brow Glue, which works great, and Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Gel (also great, but a little expensive at $20.00)

Concealer

You could easily decide this step is optional for you, but I like to carve out my brows and cover redness with concealer after I’ve filled them in.

I had my brows microbladed in 2019, but I never followed up on the yearly touch-up you need to keep microbladed brows looking good because of the pandemic. As a result, I have a lot of redness around my eyebrows caused by my faded microbladed brows. (You can see what I mean in the picture below.)

I like to cover this redness once I’ve filled in my brows. Adding concealer above and below my brows also subtly emphasizes them and makes them look crisper and more polished.

I used to use regular concealer and a tiny brush to highlight my brows, but the Morphe Brow Highlighter stick makes it so much easier to carve out my brows. All I have to do is draw a line around my brows using the highlighter stick and then smooth it out with my fingers.

L’Oreal also makes a brow highlighter stick that I’ve tried, but it’s not as creamy as the Morphe product and it’s more sparkly than I like.

How to Fill in Your Brows

Step 1: Create a Template for Your Brow Shape and Fill Them In

I start my brow routine by brushing my brows up with my eyebrow brush and then using my brow pencil to place dots at three points on the lower side of my brow.

This helps me identify the perfect shape for my brows.

The inner corner of your eyebrow should be in a straight line from the inner corner of your eye. You can use a brow brush or your eye pencil to help line up your brow with your eye. Then place a dot just under the brow at that spot.

The highest point of your brow should be on a diagonal line from the outside of your nose though the pupil of your eye. Place another dot under your brow here.

The final dot needs to go under your brow following a diagonal line from your nose to the outside of your eye.

After I mark the placement for my brows, I use the brow pencil to connect the dots on a line just under my brows.

Use short hairlike strokes to create this line.

I know this looks intense and messy right now, but I promise we’ll smooth all this out in just a minute.

Now, use your brow pencil to draw a line just above your natural brow and connect it to the bottom line at the end of your brow.

Now, again using short hair-like strokes, fill in the sparse areas of your brow with your brow pencil.

Make your strokes in the direction of your hair growth. For me, that means drawing the back brow hairs from side-to-side and the hairs at the front of my brow are drawn straight up and down.

Finally, take your brow brush and brush through your brow to soften the lines and blend everything together.

Step 2: Set Your Brows with Brow Gel

Use a brow gel to keep your brows in place. Brush your brows into place with the gel brush.

Step 3: Carve out your brows and cover any mistakes with a Brow Highlighter

Once you’ve filled in your brows and set them with brow gel, it’s time to really make them pop with a brow highlighter. You can use concealer for this step as well.

Trace your brows with the highlighter pencil and then blend the highlighter into your skin with your finger, concealer brush or blending sponge.

The Finished Look

Here’s the completed look. What a difference!

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