Chemo make-up for quick party faux eyebrows

If you are undergoing treatment or have just completed treatment your eyebrows maybe looking a little thinner, or patchy with the loss of individual eyebrow hairs. Here are some easy make-up tips for faking those lush, gorgeous eyebrows you always had or maybe always wanted to have! Top tip number 1 is to build on what you’ve got. Most of us can’t remember what we looked like in such detail! So if you’ve got a picture of yourself close up, place it by the mirror and look closely at the dimensions of your brows. Think painting by numbers and here’s how to do it.

i) If you’ve still got eyebrows then you have a clear line to follow. If there isn’t too much to follow take a mid/light brown eyebrow pencil (NOT BLACK) and place it alongside your nose, gently pressing a dot where the pencil meets your brow. Then pivot the pencil at the corner of your nostril, across your cheek, across your eye and press a dot in the far corner. This gives you the length dimension of your eyebrow, based on the dimensions of your face. Repeat process for the other eye.

ii) So there should now be 4 dots – 2 either side of your nose spanning your eyes. Now take a moment to see what suits your skin tone. Select a base eye shadow slightly lighter than your hair colour, because you will be adding more colour over the top in a moment. There are some excellent kits available. Once again if you have eyebrows apply colour with a tapered ‘chisel end’ eyebrow brush, as this will help with accuracy as you apply the colour and ensure it blends it with your eyebrows. If you have no eyebrows use an eye make-up ‘puff’ brush to lightly but evenly distribute colour along the brow line. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you can always adjust with a cotton bud later. Powder eyeshadow is good because is not only adds depth but the powder adds a little volume. Pencil lines on their own can appear very harsh.

iii) Then see if you can match up on the other side. Remember our own bio-brows are not absolutely symmetrical.

iv) Take a pencil sharpener to your eyebrow pencil, and create a super ‘sharp’ point to individually pencil in the eyebrow hairs. Once again consider your skin tone here, if you are a natural blonde even mid-brown eyebrow hairs may look too dark on you. If you have some eyebrows left then find a pencil that blends in with them – dark, mid-brown are softer options than black. Rimmel are probably one of the cheapest brands going – they can be a bit crumbly but pop them in the fridge or invest in a good cosmetic pencil sharpner and your problem should be solved. Bobbi Brown stock a wider range of brown colours at £15.00. . If you are looking for an organic or super sensitive alternative take a look at the link here – Good range of colours and prices start around £8.50.

v) Then draw the hairs in over one eye (see pic) – you only need a few to create the illusion. Don’t try and draw in as many as you would see in your own bio-brow, you’ll never get out of the bathroom. Step back from the mirror and take a moment to get use to it. Does it look light enough?

vi) Width here is important and where you place the arch of the brow over your eye (just off centre over the pupil towards the outer brow edge is good) – take a look at your picture. You’ll soon see what suits your eye shape. It probably won’t be perfect first time but very quickly you will see what works for you. The combination of the right colours (shadow and pencil) and number of drawn hairs will suddenly have your eyebrows looking good again.

vii) If you’re happy with the result on one eye, try and match the other eye. If you’ve gone too heavy take a cotton bud and smudge/blend in. Or simply wipe off with some moisturiser and start again. Be careful to make sure the area is dry and grease free before starting again – you want the eyebrow to stay in place and not get ‘absorbed’ into the skin and fade.

viii) This takes a little practise and the old make-up adage ‘less is more’ certainly rings true here. Approach eyebrow make-up as if you are drawing a picture of one on a piece of paper i.e flat in 2 dimensions – infact great practise is to have a go on the back of your hand first. Don’t think in terms of trying to create the exact replica of your own three dimensional brows – this is what you will achieve but it is an illusion.

ix) Once happy with shape and design, and if all your eyebrow hairs have truly gone, you can fix them in place with a clear varnish such as Grimas Eyebrow Fixer @ £6.25 or Ben Nye Final Seal HP @£6.64 (I’m not sure how matt (or sensitive) either of these varnishes are on the skin once it dries, but retailing at around £6.50 it’s gotta be worth a try!) This will prevent you smudging your faux brows when inadvertently rubbing them, and help them to last all day.

x) If you have a few existing eyebrows or they are starting to come back but are sprouting in all directions. Top tip no. 2 would be to find a clean mascara brush and apply a very small amount of hair wax to the bristles. Lightly combed through your eyebrows, any hairs will lie down and stay there!

So these are our top tips for beautifully contoured party brows to impress! Do practise before the big night to avoid any last minute festive ‘Denis Healeys’!