The quest for perfect eyebrows is a common pursuit in today's beauty landscape. With countless brow gels, powders, pomades, and waxes available in a wide array of colors and shades, navigating the options can feel overwhelming. While personal preference ultimately dictates your eyebrow style, understanding how to choose the right eyebrow pencil color for your skin tone and hair can significantly enhance your overall look. This guide, incorporating expert advice and practical tips, will help you find your ideal brow shade.
Eyebrows are not a one-size-fits-all feature. Considering your unique hair color and skin tone is crucial when selecting brow makeup. When choosing an eyebrow color, it is important to consider your unique hair color and skin tone. Look to the root color of your hair. If you have light skin and hair, a pitch-black brow pomade might be overwhelming. Conversely, a light-colored powder may not be visible on a deep skin tone. It's more complex than simply matching brown hair with brown eyebrow makeup.
Critically assessing the depth and undertone of your skin and hair helps determine the appropriate lightness, darkness, coolness, or warmth of your eyebrow makeup. Observing the texture of your hair can also inform how intense or soft to go with your brow color. For example, those with naturally dark and dense hair might suit equally dark and dense eyebrows. Lighter or finer hair, on the other hand, might pair better with a less intense brow in a lighter tone. Even general facial structure can determine brow color. If the forehead is smaller, a softer fill might be more suitable, enhancing the brow without overwhelming the face.
Once you have a good understanding of your hair color and skin tone, it's time to select the right brow makeup shade. After determining a client's root hair color, Tommy will almost always select a color that is one shade lighter than their hair. The ideal color will mimic the shadow already there that is created by eyebrow hair. The goal is to mimic the color of the shadow-cast skin that lies between each of your brow hairs, which can help "camouflage" brow makeup into your hairs.
If the brow shade is too blonde or dark and you're looking to fill in gaps, brows will appear to have pigment on them but they don't look any filler - or they just look drawn on. Brow color should create density or more depth but not change the brow's tone. The contrast between darker brow hair and lighter brow makeup creates the illusion of fuller brows. Filling in brows with a color that's an exact match to (or darker than) your brow hair eliminates that illusion and can make brows appear flat or blocky. If your brow makeup is easily noticeable, consider switching to lighter shades.
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Here's where your skin depth comes into play. The fairer the skin, the less warm you would like the brow pencil to be. Skin undertone can also help when determining how much warmth or coolness will complement a person's brows. If someone has more yellow in their skin tone, the eyebrow pencil might need a touch of warmth, otherwise, it might read ashy or gray or artificial.
The biggest exception to that rule, is redheads. That is the time to lean towards a warm pencil. The goal is to mimic a shadow rather than actual hair, so it's generally better to lean toward shades on the cooler side. Generally, eyebrow colors look best when they are colder, without red or orange, like a shadow. Some great examples of cooler-toned eyebrow products include Iope Eyebrow Auto Pencil in Khaki Gray, Anastasia Beverly Hill's Dipbrow Pomade in Taupe, or MAC Coquette eye shadow, which Tommy uses on his fair, blonde-haired clients.
If you're looking at your brow makeup and can't tell warm from cool, it's safest to lean toward neutral-toned, lighter browns; if it still looks strange to you, you can account for that after the fact. Go taupe, then after you have built your density and length, you can pat another tone on top to match it to your hair color at the end of your application, like a cake topper.
When people talk about color-matching makeup, it usually refers to foundation or concealer. Equally important for a seamless makeup look, however, is matching your eyebrow color to your hair color. You don’t need to dye your brows if you color your hair-eyebrow pencils or pens are more than enough to get the job done.
If you plan on filling in your brows, you’ll need an eyebrow pencil or pen that complements your skin tone and hair color. As a general rule, it’s best to stay within a few shades of your natural brow color for a flattering look. Dark brown eyebrows, for example, may look too harsh on someone with fair skin and pale lashes, even if their hair is dyed darker. The reverse is also true: lighter eyebrow colors often look unnatural on those with darker skin tones. That’s fine if you’re going for a bleached brow look, but not ideal if you want your makeup to look natural. It’s also important to take your undertones into account, as colors that lean too warm or too cool will clash with, rather than enhance, your features.
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Most of the time, your hair and brows aren’t the exact same color. Hair is frequently exposed to sunlight, which can make it lighten in some areas, especially during the warmer months. For a seamless look, we suggest opting for a brow pencil or pen in a color one to two shades darker than your natural hair color. Every rule has its exception, of course, and for this, it’s for those with black hair. If you’re sporting onyx tresses, you’ll want to opt for a deep brown brow pencil or pen to complement your hair. If you’re having trouble identifying your skin’s undertones, select a neutral brow pencil or pen. These are neither overly warm nor obviously cool in tone, so they tend to be a safe bet for almost any complexion. Those with medium brown or darker strands can reap natural-looking results with the L’Oréal Paris Brow Stylist Definer Mechanical Waterproof Eyebrow Pencil in Brunette.
When it comes to your brows, less is definitely more-a heavy-handed approach can result in blocky-looking arches (which is rarely, if ever, flattering). Start by using your brow pen or pencil to lightly fill in any obvious sparse areas. Once you’re done, reassess: If you’d like more definition, you can go back in with your brow makeup to emphasize your arches or the tail of your brow. If you have trouble making your brow makeup look natural, you’ll love the precise application of the L’Oréal Paris Faux Brow Hair-Like Brow Filling Pen. If you’re not sure how to use a brow pencil and achieve natural-looking results, consider using a tinted brow mascara, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Volumizing 24H Wear Brow Mascara, instead. The easy-to-apply brow gel comes in seven shades, ranging from light blonde to soft black, and features a 3D micro-grip brush to coat each and every brow hair.
If you undergo a dramatic hair color transformation, several elements of your makeup routine might change. Your brow color is one of them. We’re not saying you need to rock pink colored eyebrows if you decide to go from black to rose gold hair, but your brows should coordinate somewhat with your hair color. A neutral medium-to-dark brown is generally a safe bet for those with colorful strands.
Brows are smaller, more subtle and generally just a bit tougher to target in terms of what your actual shade is. What’s more, there isn’t really a vast array of shades your brows might be, and while that seems like it may be more helpful, it can sometimes make it harder to find your perfect shade. Typically, brows range in color from black to dark brown, dark brown to light brown, auburn, blonde, or even more of a brown-gray as opposed to a chocolate brown. While considering your hair color is a key factor in choosing your shade, your skin tone plays a role, too. Some brow shades will simply complement your face better depending upon your skin tone. Generally, highly pigmented and dark eyebrow products will appear too bold on fairer skin tones, and lighter shades in the brown and blonde family won’t necessarily show up on darker skin tones.
To achieve the most natural look, choose a brow shade with a similar undertone to your skin tone. If you’re totally in doubt about undertones, go for a brow color with a neutral undertone, as these shades are typically the most flattering and natural-looking on the widest range of skin tones. If you’ve never known your true skin tone and its corresponding undertone, take a brow shade quiz to get shade matched and you’ll get a better sense of what brow products will most compliment your skin tone and hair color.
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The simple and easy hack to avoid crazy caterpillar brows is to test shades out in natural lighting. Yes, this can be tough if you’re in a Target or Ulta, but bring a little compact mirror and walk towards the front of the store to check out your brows in natural light. Seeing brows shaded in with a pencil or gel in the most natural of lighting (e.g. outside or near a window!) is the easiest way to find a match that looks genuine and natural.
The guiding principle for natural-looking brows is to start light and build-it’s always easier to build up color than to take it away. If you’re still unsure if you’ve selected the right shade for your brows, choose a lighter one and layer the color to get a darker effect and a closer match. If you feel like your brows are still a little bit too light or don’t have that full and filled-in look you’re going for, gradually darken your shade until you’ve nailed your desired look.
Before you go in with your new brow shade, it’s best to start with groomed eyebrows to get the most out of your look. Start by grabbing a clean spoolie eyebrow brush and brush your arches directly up. If you see any hairs that are particularly longer than the others, gently trim them so that they fall in line with the rest of your brows and achieve more of an even, streamlined shape. If you’re going for a laminated look, use a Brow Laminating Gel to get lifted, sculpted, laminated brows that won’t budge. If the laminated look isn’t for you, skip this step and go straight to filling in brows with your desired makeup product.
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