Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com
Q My brows are getting quite sparse so I need to give them some shape and definition. They used to be dark, which matched my hair, but that’s gone grey and when I use a dark brow colour it looks a bit dark to me.
A ‘You’ve just got to be brave,’ says Oscar-winning make up artist Valli O’Reilly, who’s in the UK working with her longtime client Michelle Pfeiffer on Maleficent 2. ‘That’s what I tell my friends when they come round to my house for a makeover. Brows are the most important feature for creating the architecture of your face and darker really does look better, whatever your colouring.’
Not, she adds hastily, that she advocates ‘beetling black, stenciled-on brows that walk into the room before you. But do go darker rather than lighter.’
Valli suggests colouring in your brows with a product such as Talika Eyebrow Lipocils Ink, £22, which comes in Brown or Deep Brown. At the same time as filling in the colour, this product claims to encourage pigment and regrowth. (There’s a good YouTube tutorial.)
Alternatively, Valli suggests brushing in colour with a budget brand waterproof mascara in brown or dark brown. Rimmel offers 100% Waterproof Mascara Brown for £5.99 and Collection Lash Surge Mascara Brown/Black 3 is £4.99, find both at Superdrug.com.
A colleague recommends Iconic London Sculpt & Boost Eyebrow Cushion, £26.99, a two-shade liquid brow compact, which comes in Fair, Cool Fair, Medium and Deep. It’s smudge proof and sweat resistant, with a double ended applicator, and gets rave reviews. (Valli went rushing off to try it when she heard this.)
Beauty Bible testers voted Mii Beautifying Brow Wand, £17.50 the biz for a Gold Award, with Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder and the same brand’s Precisely, My Brow Pencil both £21.50, gathering up Silver and Gold. See all the comments here.
At Beauty Bible HQ, we love Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel, £21.50. It really does the biz, providing colour (five shades) plus microfibers that stick to existing hairs and your skin for fuller-looking brows.
Finally, a tip from Valli for conditioning brows, which tend to get drier as you age, along with the rest of your skin. ‘Take a clean mascara brush or small toothbrush and stroke on organic castor oil every night. It helps your brows grow too.’
Beauty Bible loves…
Dr.Hauschka Limited Edition High Spirits Collection, from £18.
You know the world of clean beauty has moved on when Dr. Hauschka launches a limited edition make-up collection. (We remember when their pace of launch was – oh, a couple of new products a decade!)
You know the world of clean beauty has moved on when Dr. Hauschka launches a limited edition make-up collection
These are well worth sleuthing out: a trio of products, with a couple of shade options. The Eye Crayon Duo is a useful double-ended eye crayon with a creamy textured shadow at one end, and a khol eye pencil at the other. (Quite thick, quite rock-star-smoky-eye, quite lovely, actually.) Choose from teal/copper or our choice, emerald/pearl.
There’s a pair of Liquid Lip Shine shades – although to be honest, these are a bit on the bright side for us, in shocking pink and a stop-you-in-your-tracks orange. (Still notable to find these in an all-natural make-up line, though.)
The true hero of the hour, though, is the Bronzing Glow Powder: a brush which swoops sun-kissed and lightly shimmering colour onto the face wherever you want it to glow.
The collection’s called High Spirits. Which definitely covers how we felt when we learned about these seasonal Dr.Hauschka introductions. Glastonbury-worthy, every one.