I feel like I’m always having change-your-life eyebrow episodes (eyebrow epiphanies, if you will).
Buuuuuut any time someone who’s known you for years — in my case, like-minded beauty lovers like my friend Alis, who cuts my hair, and Kim here on the blog (haaaay, Kim!) — and they notice something different about your look, it says something.
The very first thing Alis said to me when I saw her last week was, “Did you do something different to your brows?”
Why, yes, I have. 🙂
I’ve been doing more of an ombre brow lately, and I have to say, it’s been kind of — YES! Life changing.
Soft and subtle, yet bold at the same time, ombre brows are perfect for spring and summer because they can look really full and lush but not overdone.
The ombre effect comes from using two different brow colors, one lighter than the other. I learned about the technique from MAC Senior Artist Victor Cembellin at the MAC Pro Store a couple months back, and I use the same approach he showed me, with a slight brush modification.
For the inner part of my brows (the side closer to my nose, as opposed to the outer part toward the ear), I apply the lighter color, in this case MAC Cork, a neutral matte brown, with a MAC 214 Short Shader Brush (Victor likes to use a pencil brush for this instead), filling from the far inside end of the brow to just about the peak of the arch.
Next, I fill in my arch and outer tail area of the brow using a dark brown eyeshadow, in this case MAC Brun, and the MAC 266, an angled eyeshadow brush.
After that, I brush through my brows using a small amount of Antastasia Clear Brow Gel to mellow out the powder a little, and set the brow hairs so that they don’t go dancing in the wind!
The idea is for your brows to be a little lighter on the inside and gradually darken toward the arch and outer tail for natural, lush-looking brows.
For the lighter color you use on the inner portion of your brow, aim for a color close to your natural brow color, because if you go too light or dark, the gradient transition may look less natural.
So, yeah! Give it a try sometime if you like the look of bold brows but don’t want your fuzzy li’l caterpillars to look too harsh or severe. 🙂
Ombre brows 4-life, girlfriend! (Or boyfriend, if you’re one of the five dudes reading this.)
Your friendly neighborhood (brow) addict,
Karen
P.S. Happy Thursday, BTW.
sarahc says
April 17th, 2014 at 10:01 amMuchas gracias Karen! I really like this! I’m giving it a try when I get home tonight. 🙂
Kristina Vieweg says
April 17th, 2014 at 11:14 amI like this tip Karen! And I also love your natural looking brows..none of that pencil line mess 😉
Jacklyn says
April 17th, 2014 at 11:32 amLove the brows, Karen! I’ve been doing this technique recently, too. I use Smashbox Brow Tech to Go in Brunette for the front part (great pencil, but a bit too light), and Anastasia Dipbrow pomade in Ebony (love it, but a bit too dark for all over) to fill in the tail.
Vanessa says
April 17th, 2014 at 11:35 amI do this too!
But only because I have the anastasia brow duo… I just want to use them up fairly evenly, I actually don’t notice a difference in the shades.
Allison C says
April 17th, 2014 at 11:40 amWhat a cool idea, Karen! I am brows-challenged and must make more of an effort to do something with mine. I wear bangs, and have red hair. So #1, you can’t always see my brows and #2, finding shades that work is super difficult. But the ombre thing makes sense to me for brows. Great idea
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Icequeen81 says
April 17th, 2014 at 12:14 pmSounds good then I have been doing that for 2 moths I use 2 different things to fill my brows, I started doing my brows 3 moths ago for the first time in my life. I am pleased
gio says
April 17th, 2014 at 12:16 pmI had never thought of this! How cool! I’ll definitely try it tomorrow. Thanks, Karen.
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BETSY C. says
April 17th, 2014 at 12:40 pmI’ve been doing this as well since reading your original post about Victor’s advice. It works wonderfully!
Erin says
April 17th, 2014 at 1:15 pmWhoa! I love this! That’s one of my main complaints with brow filling is it looks to harsh and not very natural when done one whole tone all the way! LURVE THIS!
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Vineetha says
April 17th, 2014 at 3:01 pmFrom here on out, its ombre eyebrows! Lovely tip Karen! 🙂
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Sylirael says
April 17th, 2014 at 4:21 pmThis is such a fabulous idea! I’m trying it out as soon as I can find something in my stash that’s the right colour and doesn’t have shimmer in it, LOL!
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Cindy says
April 17th, 2014 at 9:55 pmGreat idea for ombre eyebrows this spring <3
http://www.cindyslittleblackbook.com
Liz says
April 18th, 2014 at 5:24 amOmbré brows are really popular in the Philippines right now. Another technique they do there is to use a darker brow color in a powder and blend/add definition using a lighter colored pencil. I went to Manila a few weeks ago and learned this from an SA at a makeup counter. She called the lighter colored pencil a blending color for the brows and it confused me ha ha.
Kai says
April 19th, 2014 at 12:43 pmI love your brows, Karen!!!
Danielle Rivera says
June 16th, 2014 at 10:34 amcan anyone recommend a light and dark eye brow powder/eyeshadow for blondes to use to get the ombre look?! I usually go for a taupe eyebrow pencil, but would like to try this look with powders instead. Thanks in advance, open to any suggestions 😀