I never thought Instagram eyebrows would become a thing, but it seems like there is a certain look that women are supposed to aspire to these days, even if you have to stencil it on. I have fought my naturally full brows for most of my life, trying in vain to create arches where none existed, and all because that has been fashionable for so long. Sparse or full, they had to be arched. Only recently did it dawn on me that I was made to have straight, full brows. And I've stopped striving for something else. Quarantine was the perfect opportunity to let my brows grow back in. I didn't even know if they would, and it's been a slow process. I'm finally starting to see them returning to what they were years ago, and it's kind of a small thrill.

I say go with what you've got. The Instagram eyebrow does not have to be as ubiquitous as it seems to want to be. Buck the trend! 😁

I found this method interesting and will try it: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17861582560872516/

ETA that I don't do much to my brows. I wear bangs and they aren't very visible but occasionally I'll fill in a teeny bit. I also use my eyelash serum on my brows.

Personally, I think the stenciled brows are ugly, usually too dark and heavy-looking, and do not add anything to the wearer's look. Even the shape, which seems to be more or less a universal one, doesn't suit the face of everyone.

I have very light brows, difficult to see them. I use a powder applied with a tiny brush, when I around other folk. Easy and looks more natural to me.

These are Instagram eyebrows, in case anyone wondered.

Whatsayou, what exactly am I supposed to look at? All I see is a lady posing over and over again with no tutorials. There was one but it ended after 15 seconds and had nothing to do with eyebrows.

Jen, the bare spots are too noticeable for me. When I look at a picture of myself I can definitely see it.

Roxanna, powder is definitely an easy way. I need to look to see if they have waterproof powder for eyebrows.

Forgot, I do have one major eyebrow problem and I can't find any product to help. Several hairs on both brows grow straight up. I've used hair spray, wax, that stuff men put on their beards to shape it, which was a pain because you have to melt the stuff. lol I could pluck them but that would thin more hair from the brows. For now I trim them with scizzors so they stick up below the brow line.

I've also noticed I'm getting some black hairs coming in with my natural medium brown hairs. Is that normal? I do get one or two gray hairs that I pluck.

My dad had black hair, but I had blonde to dirty dishwater hair. Those black hairs are stiff!

I did find a half inch long hair on my chin the other day. :)

Have you heard of "soap brows"? I had never heard of such a thing, but I guess it's popular now to groom brows and prep for fill in with a spoolie brush and a bar of clear soap.

. Notice how many are doing that full outlined and filled in eyebrow? Why? Why do your eyebrows knowing they'll look extremely fake a

Well, does your lipstick look natural? I mean really natural, like the color your lips actually are? Does your eyeshadow match the skin on your lid? Or can people "tell its fake?"

A made up face is understood to be made up, and a filled in elaborate brow is just part of the look today. I think it can look nice if done well.

I get my brows tinted and shaped. In Q, I am using tinted gel.

Although my hair is very gray, my eyebrows have remained dark. I use a bit of taupe pencil to help fill in any sparse spots but keep my natural brow shape.

Brow fashion comes and goes.

ETA: Agree with whatsayyou that a little lash serum helps brows.

https://www.sephora.com/product/gimme-brow-P409239

I've tried a bunch of different things and I really like this. It has small fibers and a bit of color. It looks natural and stays put. The brush looks like a small mascara brush. It deposits fiber and color to your existing brows so they look like your natural brows just a bit fuller and darker.

Oakley I know just what you mean about brows thinning and having bare or almost bare spots. I used to use a pencil in a shade a bit darker than my natural brown hair color but when I let my gray grow out brown brows looked off - cool hair color warm brow color, not good. So I tried a variety of charcoal gray pencils. I don't like fake brows so used a light touch but it still wasn't great. Then on a whim a few months ago I grabbed an old tube of waterproof mascara that I had stopped using and was about to toss it. I wrapped a piece of kleenex around the entire spoolie and blotted off most of the mascara, Then with a really light touch I gently brushed the very surface of my brows being careful not to touch my skin, Amazingly there were lots of baby fine hairs in what had looked like a bare spots on both brows and they now had color on them! It was a real eureka! moment for me to see a much more natural brow again without that filled in look. That's all I use now, a light brush through with waterproof mascara mostly blotted off the wand. Then I brush through them again with either a brow comb or one of those disposable spoolies to wipe off any excess if needed and shape before they dry. I've never looked to see if there's a video of this method - might have to do that now and see if there are more tips out there. BTW it's very common for brows to thin and have a bare spot as we age. Some of it is probably genetic as well.

I don’t have a need to fill mine in. I never was a big eyebrow plucker so maybe that has something to do with the fact I have good eyebrows now.

My brows are dark and have thinned, so it's noticeable. While I do wear make-up, I go for a natural look, although a brighter lip looks best with my coloring. That said, I do not like the heavily made up, un-real looking shaped brows that are popular today, particularly with the younger generation.

I do think the right pencil looks more realistic than powder. There are newer pencils with little pronged thingies or teeny tiny points that let you add pencil that looks like little hairs, if that makes sense. Also what Dee mentioned! Although if you have totally bare spots I don't think it will work too well as the fibers/gel needs something to adhere to. I started using a serum for brows also.

One last note, thyroid issues can cause loss of eyebrows. Not the only cause of course, but might want to have yours checked.

I have a brow product made by Bobbi Brown that I have used in the past, when I worked. It doesn't have the fibers the one dee linked from Sephora but it is very similar and is long wear. I still have some of it but don't use it very often. It really does work pretty well. I find if I use a little pencil first and then sort of touch up over it with the gel brush I get the more natural results I like. I use a dark-ish gray pencil as anything else turns sort of orange-brown on me or is too dark.

I've had this Clinique Brow Shaper powder for years. I eventually had to replace the brush. It works well for me, and stays on.

https://m.clinique.com/product/1595/5634/Makeup/Brows/Brow-Shaper?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInf2HyZ286QIV1iCtBh0PNAilEAQYASABEgKqW_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&shade=Soft_Brown

<<Powder with a brush, not a pencil.>>

This link should work: You can fast forward to 1:08.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nfKtcjxti/

Ugh, I have the opposite problem with my eyebrow hairs growing ever longer until I'm afraid I'll need to trim them - like some old geezer 😕

Funny, my mom always told the story of the nurse in the maternity ward telling her I would never need to pluck my eyebrows when I grew up. I did anyway, but never too much, and barely at all now. I haven't used any makeup at all on or around my eyes for months now - no need to, since I don't go anywhere.

And I was also going to suggest having a thyroid checkup, if it hasn't happened yet. I understand thinning/loss of the outer eyebrows is a symptom of thyroid problems.

I find that even though spots on my brows look bare, I still have a little barely visible peach fuzz. The product I use grabs on to it and I can make my brows look reasonably full.

Ida, I vaguely remember soap on brows when I was reading something about putting some type of glue on them. Glue sounds good. :)

Mtn, you know what I'm talking about, there's no comparison to makeup. Put two women side by side wearing the same makeup and we won't notice. Put them side by side with the same brows and oh yes, it's noticeable, even if they're different colors. Our lips have different shapes but not those brows.

I strive for the French woman's au naturel look I won't even wear red lipstick.

Terez, I have the same brush, but does the powder wear off?

Outside, my pencil comes with a spoolie and it really helps blending. I'm wondering if maybe I'm using too dark of a color?

To be honest, I blame the lash serum on the hairs that come in coarse and won't lay down. In fact, I also blame the serum for causing some of my eyelashes to grow down. Now I have to curl them everyday so they won't bug my eye's.

Tina, I don't have complete bare spots, there are stray hairs in the line which helps a bit. I had my thyroid checked in January, came back good.

3katz, I didn't pluck mine either, except those little stay hairs under the brow line. This comes with aging. I don't need to shave my legs but once a month. love that!

DLM, using mascara like that sounds like a good idea. I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Oakley, I don't believe Whatsayyou is spamming. Her latest link is probably what she meant to post originally, and it's a lovely lady demonstrating her make-up routine. She uses a certain product line. Her demonstration is helpful, and toward the end, she darkens her eyebrows. I don't see anything wrong with it outside of other posts in this forum that recommend certain products.

Thank you, Feathers. Spamming was the last thing on my mind. Wow!!

Actually, the more I think about your accusation, Oakley, the more upsetting it becomes. What are you even referring to? How is that video spam? Educate me, please.

The Clinique brow powder has some sort of waxy substance in it that keeps it in place.

I hear you about not having to shave legs much any more. I rarely ever have to pluck any eyebrow hairs either, and I used to always have to pluck between my brows. Unfortunately, I still get the odd stray chin hair that needs plucking. But fortunately the hair on my head is healthy and growing.

I use a Benefit brow pencil, and I really like it. Brows thin due to aging, over-plucking/waxing, and thyroid disorders. So, I've got the trifecta here. But I really like the Benefit brow pencil. A little pricey, but I feel it's worth it. Last time I was at Belk I bought two so I am good for awhile. If I have to appear on Zoom or Teams meetings, I will put some makeup on and fill in my brows. If the individual hairs get too long, I brush them straight up and trim them along the top of the browline with manicure scissors.

Benefit link from Belk.com

Oak, whatsayyou is a valuable contributor to these forums, not a spammer. :-)

My eyebrows use to be thin and sparse, but for the last 4-5 years now, I put the leftover Latisse on them after putting it on my lashes, and they are totally filled in now. I get them tinted when I get my eyebrows and lip waxed, so just if I want them to look "perfect", I will fill them in with Benefit gel, in Taupe, since I'm a blonde.

whatsayyou, thank you for that instagram account! I am now following her. Since I have decided to embrace my gray, I thought she would be good to follow. I have not watched the make-up video, but I will. I want to check out that line of products she shares, because even though her make-up is pretty natural, there is a big difference between her with and without makeup.

I'm another who did not do much plucking. I attribute my thinning to age. There is a benefit product with the little fibers (not sure if that was the brand in the link above), that is good, but I am going to also check out the benefit pencil someone mentioned. Also that clinique product. I wore strictly clinique products for years!

Oh no, I'm so sorry Whatsayou! Will you forgive me? With both links all I got was the lady with many pictures and no turtorials. I thought you were trying to get us to follow her. lol Mea Culpa. :( I don't read all the topics here, and I was a bit familiar with your name, but it was the second post with the same result as the first that made me think you're a spammer. I feel awful.

Oakley, you can edit your post.

My brows are so light you can’t even see them. I agree with DLM - brow gel made me have eyebrows again! I believe this is available in clear but use the Blonde color and am going to try a shade a bit darker next time. This is what I use and it’s very inexpensive.

Tanna, I like the idea of gels. Thanks.

Brow gel it is!

I was never a big brow plucker in my youth, but my eyebrows have been disappearing anyway. About 1 1/2 years ago I got microblading done -- basically like tattooing hairs on my brows. It was expensive but I don't buy fancy cosmetics or do fillers/Botox or even get my nails done, so it wasn't what some people can spend on beauty. It's not completely permanent and I'll need a touch-up sometime but I will definitely keep it up.

Deegw, that method you linked to looks really good. I might try that product.

Oakley, that NYX gel looks like a really good and inexpensive way to experiment. It also appears similar in size to the Bobbi Brown wand I have (and much cheaper). I would try something light if you are blonde. She uses a heavier hand than I would but if you have a dry eyebrow brush or spoolie, you can always brush out some of it when dry. You will get the hang of it after a time or two.

I use the Clinique brow shaper (like an eyeshadow) with a angled brow brush and spoolie. I need to shape, fill in and make my brows larger, longer than they really are. I use a qtip with a little bit of lotion to clean up or take off anywhere there's too much or I went too high or too low etc. Powder helps tone them down too. (I have black eyebrows) I've used the Clinique brow shaper for 20+ years...I've recently bought a brow pencil by Benefits, it's a thick angled retractable tip, it's a hit n miss, I need more time when I use the pencil...I can get consistently good results with the brow shaper compared to the pencil. I can only compare to this particular pencil, but the powder type stays better for me. The pencil rubs off more easily.

I have some sparse patches in my brows and I find it helps to powder with translucent face powder before filling them in with pencil. I think my daily face lotion makes the skin too oily for pencil to stick, so it works better to start with a matte surface.

I dye mine at home with a semi permanent color. It’s super quick, the dye only stays on about 30 seconds before it’s wiped off . My hair salon is not fancy enough for eyebrows so around here it‘s DIY. Thankfully it is practically idiot proof so the results do not scream DIY!