It’s time to stop lusting over the girls with killer brows on Instagram and take matters into your own hands. You’ve seen celebs like Cara Delevingne sporting enviably thick eyebrows, and even though you may not be naturally blessed with big brows, you can totally pretend. We’ve got all the secrets you need, right here:
1. Use coconut oil
Seriously, what doesn’t this stuff work on? Jasmine Fain from Oklahoma State University believes in giving her brows some extra TLC by massaging some coconut oil into them. Coconut oil is packed with vitamins and fatty acids, which gives your brows all they need to grow, grow, grow.
This is a quick stepping stone to thicker eyebrows because you can leave it on overnight and not have to add an extra five minutes to your beauty routine the next morning. Simply dip a cotton swab in coconut oil and apply it generously to your eyebrows. It should sink into your brow hairs overnight, but if it doesn’t, dab with a paper towel in the morning to remove any excess coconut oil.
2. Find a quality brow tint
Brow tints are perfect if you want to go bold without risking over-filling your eyebrows. Amanda Jones, a junior at Western University swears by Etude House Tint My 4-Tip Brow ($11.10 at Etude House) but she recommends it with a warning.
“My top trick is to not use too much,” she says, adding, “The biggest problem girls have is that they use far too much product and end up overdoing their brows.”
How can you practice your brown tinting skills, you may ask? Take your hand and practice your brush stroke so you can get a feel on how heavy or light your hand needs to be to achieve the ideal tint for you.
If an at-home brow tint makes your nervous, plenty of salons offer brow tinting that can last you a couple of weeks.
3. Color ’em in
If you’ve got time in your schedule to color in your brows, Glossier’s Boy Brow product ($16 at Glossier) is a fan favorite.
Isabel Calkins, a junior at New York University, says, “It keeps your natural shape but just adds texture and volume. Basically giving you flawless brows.”
Boy Brow is available in three shades, as well as in clear, and the gel-based formula lets you fake a natural brow thickness while the brush combs through your existing brow hair to make it look more neat and refined. This product is perfect for those no-makeup days because a nice thick brow will still make a statement without all of the fuss other makeup causes.
Related: *This* is the Most Popular Mascara Among Millennials
4. Keep them clean
Some of us are blessed with naturally thick brows, and it’s a beautiful thing. In order to keep them looking full and to keep us from looking like fools, you have to tame them. Lina* has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which causes her hair to grow back quickly. Even if you aren’t dealing with a condition like PCOS, sometimes genetics make your eyebrows grow in faster than normal, which can make salon visits too frequent and costly.
“I use small facial razors to get the hair in between my brows and then I like to tweeze my brow hair because it gives me more control so I can get a more precise arch and try to avoid the ‘brows are sisters, not twins’ saying,” she says.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to your brows, so when you’re taking a razor to them, you have to remember to go slow.
5. Spread on a serum
If your sparse brows are getting you down and you’re too busy to pencil them in, do an overnight treatment. The Benefit BROWVO! Conditioning Primer ($12 at Sephora) can be worn overnight, so it lets you sleep while it does all of the work to condition your brows with keratin and soy proteins. It’s also super easy to keep on your nightstand and apply right before you doze off.
Letting your brows grow in thicker with the help of vitamins will give you the shape that fits your face the best. After all, no one knows better than Mother Nature!
6. Stick to a brow pomade over the traditional pencil
Think about how fast pencil eyeliner can fade and smudge—would you want your brows melting off when you break a sweat running to class? No, we didn’t think so! To make sure your brows look as natural as possible (and stay that way), brow pomade beats an eyebrow pencil any day of the week.
Cult classic DIPBROW Pomade ($18 at Sephora) offers a range of colors and a waterproof formula that makes sure you can count on your brows to be full and fabulous until the end of the day.
7. Stay loyal when it comes to the salon
When it comes to your brows, don’t play any games. A trip to the salon can make your eyebrows look heinous or amazing, so don’t be afraid to spend a little time and money finding a professional who knows what they’re doing. After all, your eyebrows are a very distinct feature! Amber Ellsworth, who works at Swank Hair Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, warns against salon-hopping when it comes to your brows.
“Stay regular with your waxing or threading, and stay loyal once you find someone who does them how you like them,” she says. “Nothing is worse than letting your and your stylist’s hard work go to waste.”
If you keep going to the same salon, you’re going to ease the eyebrow styling experience and you’re never going to be disappointed with the results.
Ellsworth gives one more piece of advice: “Resist the urge to tweeze!”
If you follow these tips, bold brows are certainly in your future. To find the best way to figure out your eyebrow routine, give everything a trial run. If you find out that you’re always waking up 10 minutes before class, an overnight or long-lasting brow treatment is for you. But if you’re an early riser, shaping and filling may be the ticket to gorgeous brows. Find your beauty routine and show the world that with a good brow, you can conquer anything.