How to Fill In Your Eyebrows, According to Brow Experts

Perhaps your brows were sacrificed in the Great Thinning of the early 2000s and still haven’t recovered (same), or you were born with fluffy caterpillars you’re unsure how to rock. Or, maybe you’re not sure which brow products are best for your arches and are looking for advice from the pros. Whatever brought you here, we’ve got the (practically) universal guide to feeling totally unintimidated by filling in your brows.

“Your natural brow—the brows you were born with before tweezers and wax came into the picture—is probably pretty close to your ‘perfect’ brow,” Joey Healy, a New York City-based eyebrow specialist, tells InStyle.

Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to achieving the arches of your dreams, both instantly and for the long haul. 

1. Figure out your natural shape

Don’t hate us, but the first step to mastering your brows is actually taking a step back. “The first thing to do is to wait six to eight weeks to let them fully grow in,” says Healy. “Don’t do anything to them; this will show you their growth potential and natural shape.” So put down the tweezers and let your brows grow out so that when you fill them in, they look as natural as possible.

Of course, while you’re letting ‘em grow, you’ll probably still want to fill them in. Healy recommends seeing a brow specialist to analyze your face shape and advise you on your natural shape. If that’s not an option, he recommends feeling for your brow bone, as that’s a great built-in guide. “Your brows should be centered on your brow bone and generally covering it,” he says. 

2. Start with a clean slate

Next, make sure your brows are squeaky clean. “When filling in your brows, ensure they are clean of any oils or skincare products, as it’ll help with application,” says celebrity makeup artist Amber Amos. “If you put concealer around your brows, make sure to blend it out beforehand.” Keeping your brows free of skin care and makeup creates a smoother canvas for pencils and pens to glide, keeping brow gels from clumping up.

3. Know your products

Welcome to Brow Products 101! Our experts recommend four types to fill in your arches: powders, pencils, pens, and gels. “Deciding which tool to use truly depends on personal preference,” says Amos. Healy’s top pick is a brow powder, like the Anastasia Beverly Hills Ombre Effect Long Wearing Brow Powder Duo. “If you feel that your brow shape is pretty good but you’re lacking uniform density, powder is great because it just sits like a little whisper on the skin behind the brow,” he says. Brow gels, which gained popularity with Glossier’s inimitable Boy Brow, are great for the fluffy or laminated look. “If you have fuller brows naturally, I’d suggest sticking to brow gels to tame and groom,” Amos tells InStyle. 

Pencils are the most popular, well-known, and enduring products. “They’re ideal if you have a sparse patch, gap, scar, or if you have to work on the perimeter of the brow shape, like lengthening the tail or heightening the peak,” says Amos. She adds that pencils are excellent for beginners because they offer a forgiving and controlled application. “A pen will take some getting used to, but if true hair-like strokes are what you’re looking for, the pen will be your best bet,” she says.

4. Using a pencil or pen? Create short, hair-like strokes.

If you opt for a pencil or pen, avoid the over-filled “Instagram Brow” of the early 2010s by creating small, short strokes instead of filling in the sparse patches like a coloring page. “Keep the tool light in your hands, especially when using a pen,” says Amos. “Light, delicate strokes will save you a headache.” You can practice on your hand if you’re a beginner, too.

Healy recommends finding a pencil with a wedge or triangular-shaped pigment stick, such as the NYX Precision Eyebrow Pencil Brow Definer. “This shape is the best because you can use all three sides differently,” he says. “The broadside is great for filling in, the edge is good for nice little strokes, and that little pointy tip of the wedge is good for small details.” 

5. Play against the angles of your face

As you’re filling in your eyebrows, take a look at the shape and angles of your face. This can be a natural guide to the sharpness and shape of your brows. “If you have a face that is very angular, a brow that has a softer arch, like Kim Kardashian, plays against those angles and looks really nice,” says Healy. “If your face is particularly round, a sharper brow helps to give the face some really tight geometry.” Opting for brow gels helps to soften your brow shape, too, as it fluffs up the hairs.

6. Go North to South

Another way to use your face as a guide is thinking of the top and bottom halves as northern and southern hemispheres, and using your brows to balance them. “If you have a very small mouth and a very petite chin, and your brows are very big and fluffy, it looks like your head’s going to topple because all the visual weight is on the top,” says Healy. In that case, using a brow powder or a lighter hand with your pencil or pen is your best bet. (You might want to ask a pro for shaping and tweezing advice, too.) The same idea goes if you have a strong jawline and full lips but super thin brows, he adds.”The goal is for those northern and southern hemispheres to feel balanced.”

7. Don’t overdo it

The old adage, “eyebrows are sisters, not twins,” is still one to live by. “Don’t stress yourself out trying to make them match perfectly,” says Amos. The more you try to match your brows, the higher your likelihood of over-filling ‘em to the point where they no longer look natural.

8. Finish with a spoolie

To soften your filled-in brows, finish by combing through the hairs with a spoolie, which will often come on one side of a brow pencil (but you can easily buy them separately). “You really want to use a blending spoolie,” says Healthy. “It will ensure that the pigment of your brow product is distributed through.” He suggests looking at the pigmented product as “addition” and the spoolie as “subtraction.”

Brow trends come and go, but a full and natural brow is always in style for us and the pros. Lean into the arches you were born with, and instead of using products to create an entirely new shape, try using them to perfect what you already have.