While not all of us are blessed with the naturally thick brows seen on Arizona Muse, there are many ways to fake the grown-in look. “Makeup is a wonderful thing,” says Mary Dang, owner of Eye Love Brow and Beauty Bar in Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood. While there are ample tools to make up for thin or over-tweezed brows, we listed Dang’s five best strategies for re-adjusting your grooming, and how you can
achieve a fuller brow yourself.

1. Lighten up on brow maintenance

“First off, it’s important not to maintain brows too often,” says Dang. Keep visits at least four-to-six weeks apart, to allow for some regrowth. And avoid tweezing eyebrows on a daily basis. At the two or three-week point, tweeze any overgrown or stray hairs closer to the eyelid—nothing above the brow, otherwise you risk tampering with the natural shape.

If you have fallen victim to over-tweezed eyebrows, give yourself time for proper regrowth, which means avoid scheduling visits to your brow artist during this time. “They will send you back on your way home to grow them out anyway,” she says. If you have over-shaped your brows, it will take at least two months to see any significant growth (although the fine hairs below the brow tend to grow in faster).

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2. Fill in the gaps

In the meantime, shift your focus to daily grooming and filling in those sparse areas on your eyebrows. “Brows are like hair,” says Dang. “They need to be groomed and tamed.” Brush your brows daily to stimulate growth and train them to grow in one direction, instead of all over the place. Then use a brow gel or pomade to keep them in control. “Brows tend to fall throughout the day and look sad on the bone.”

The first month of regrowth is the most painful, as hairs tend to grow in sporadically and not evenly in the areas where needed most. Use a soft pencil (avoid dark, Sharpie-like brow fillers). “They blend in well and look natural,” she explains. Use short, feathery strokes to fill in sparse areas and mimic hair growth, without creating a harsh line. Or try a brow mousse, which dries matte and will hold in place all day.

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More ways to shape brows on the next page…

3. Think full, not bushy
“The way that brows sit on the bone, they look better bigger than thinner,” says Dang. And while Cara D’s full brows are in, there’s still a fine line between thick and natural looking (bold) and just plain bushy (unkempt, and not cool). “Brows grow in unevenly,” says Dang. So even if you’re blessed with full brows, they still require some form of maintenance.

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4. Follow the natural brow line
Your best brow is determined by your face shape. Ask your brow artist to follow the curvature of your brow bone. “Once you establish a line, then it’s easier to maintain yourself,” says Dang. When it comes to brow grooming, “It should be less is more,” she says.

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A well-groomed brow is shaped minimally, and the hairs aren’t exact but sit neatly. With daily maintenance and regular visits to a brow artist, “Hairs gradually fall in line with each other,” says Dang.

5. Consider tinting eyebrows
If you have fair hair (blonde, red) and don’t want to spend your mornings filling in your brows, try tinting the hair. “It lasts one month and your brow artist will strategically fill in each hair so it doesn’t look unnatural,” says Dang. In the end, it all comes back to regular grooming anyway to avoid letting brows roam freely all over your face. “Brows are the fundamental feature you need to perfect before applying anything else,” she says.

Read more:
Makeup tips: How to fake full brows
8 best eyebrow shaping kits
6 eyebrow grooming tips
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