ALL The Ways to Make Your Brows Fuller

Main Image – Drobot Dean/Adobe

Gone are the days of pencil-thin brows that barely make a statement (well, sort of, Bella Hadid is still sporting her 90s skinny brows.)

But this article is *all* about embracing the power of fuller eyebrows to frame and define your face better than that contour stick lurking in your makeup bag.

Whether you’re a natural arch enthusiast or have been pluck-happy in the past, Live That Glow HQ spoke with Doctor of Nursing Practice and Family Nurse Practitioner certified in Family Medicine and Dermatology, Dr Jodi LoGerfo, and leading permanent makeup expert and founder of Laura Kay London, Laura Kay, to get the lowdown on *exactly* how to get fuller brows.

From tried-and-true traditional methods to innovative and natural beauty hacks, we’re spilling the beans on every technique that can take your eyebrow game to the next level.

Think brow serums that encourage growth, expert brow hygiene tips, foolproof makeup for instant fullness, and all the goss on microblading for a semi-permanent solution.

Get ready to transform those barely-there arches into a stunning, envy-inducing feature that truly defines you – Fuller brows, here you come!

 

 

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Why your eyebrows are thin or patchy

There are a multitude of reasons why your eyebrows might be thinning or becoming patchy:

• Ageing
• Skin diseases
• Thyroid issues
• Alopecia
• Stress
• Medication
• Trauma
• Over-tweezing
• Nutrient deficiency

If you are worried about your thinning brows, we suggest heading to the doctor to find out whether there is an underlying cause such as stress or alopecia areata. However, there are quite a few things that could be causing hair loss, many of which are not serious enough for medical treatment! We take a look at the top possible causes of thinning brows here.

But, don’t worry, because we are going to tell you all of the BEST ways to encourage brow growth, as well as the best ways to make your eyebrows appear fuller.

 

 

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Eyebrow treatments

Hair loss medications

Some of us may need a little help from the medical world on this one.

Dr LoGerfo says, “We use medications to grow eyebrows. They include LATISSE^® (bimatoprost), a prescription medication that was originally used for glaucoma but is also used to treat thinning eyelashes and eyebrows (off-label).”

And according to Medical News Today, “Several studies have found that applying bimatoprost once per day can bring very promising results. One case study describes a woman who achieved ‘excellent and sustained growth of her eyebrows’ after applying bimatoprost 0.03% solution every day.”

“Rogaine (minoxidil) is used to treat hair loss, but we use it for eyebrows (off-label) too,” adds Dr LoGerfo.

 

Castor oil

Now, some people SWEAR by using castor oil to encourage brow growth, but this one has slightly less scientific evidence to back it.

Healthline says, “Some people use castor oil to grow longer hair or to treat hair loss, also known as alopecia. It’s marketed as a treatment for dry scalp and other scalp conditions as well.

“While the average human hair follicle grows just over a centimeter a month, some claim anecdotally that using castor oil once a month can spur growth three to five times the normal rate. There is no clinical evidence to support this, however.”

Others swear by natural remedies like coconut oil for conditioning the skin around the brows, which in turn can enhance hair growth. Olive oil also contains fatty acids along with vitamins E and K, which can help in repairing and protecting the hair follicles.

Rich in vitamins E and B, which are known to nourish and strengthen hair follicles, many people also use jojoba oil for their eyebrows. Aloe vera is also pretty popular, known for its hair and follicle-strengthening effects.

 

Moisturise

Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!

Dr LoGerfo says, “We have to remember that scalp skin is a variant of normal skin – it has an epidermis and a dermis (an extension of our facial skin)” – do you massage your scalp when you shampoo your hair? And do you add hydrating conditioners, oils, and serums? The same can be said for the brows, my friends!

Massaging oils and moisturisers into the brows can help keep those teeny hairs healthy and stop them from breaking. Simply massage the oil, serum, or moisturiser into your brows in circular motions to help stimulate healthy hair growth.

And don’t forget the SPF! Dr LoGerfo says the UV rays of that big ball in the sky (something the UK doesn’t see too much, unfortunately,) “can cause thinning of the epidermis and the dermis of the skin and can affect hair quality and growth.”

SPF should be massaged onto your brows with your fingertips, then brushed through with a clean spoolie to disperse and spread the product through the strands.

 

Brow hygiene

Cleansing and grooming the brows properly helps to avoid product and dead skin build-up. This build-up hinders growth and makes it difficult for the delicate hairs to push through all of that grime.

According to Dr LoGerfo, cleansing, having a solid skincare routine and making sure to moisturise is also the cornerstone to great brows and hair health. Any dirt, oils, and dead skin should be cleansed away to promote hair growth through the skin.

 

 

Natural growth

We’ve all been there, getting tweezer happy and plucking away too many hairs, or applying too much wax and *nearly* stripping all of them off – nightmare.

Patience is key with this one, dear readers, put the tweezers and wax strips down and let your brows do their thing. To help them along the way, you can use lash and eyebrow serums that contain very similar ingredients that add fullness and promote hair growth.

The most common ingredients in lash growth serums and brow serums are botanicals, vitamins, peptides, and prostaglandin analogs.

 

 

Microblading

Dr LoGerfo says that “there are ways to make thinning eyebrows look thicker and better,” and I’m a *big* fan of microblading. Some of the results I’ve witnessed have literally made me raise my eyebrows in shock – in a good way!

Tons of people use this type of eyebrow architecture to create the illusion of thicker, fuller brows. This semipermanent solution to faking bushier eyebrows that look super natural might just be the easiest solution to spending hours pencilling in your eyebrows only to get the shape completely wrong.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ll have heard of microblading – but here’s a quick explaination.

Your brow specialist will use a precise tool that looks a bit like a pen, the nib is a sloped blade with 10 – 12 needles at the end. Unlike tattoos, these needles DON’T penetrate the skin but delicately scratch the surface.

The fine needle uses feather-like strokes, using medical-grade pigment on the epidermis layer, to create realistic and natural-looking hair strokes.

 

Tinting and lamination

I’m also a huge advocate for a bit of tint, simply adding some tint to your brows helps them to at least *look* fuller and more defined (always do a patch test, though!).

A professional aesthetician will generally be able to custom blend a tint to your exact needs too, and you may be amazed how much a more pronounced shade can really give the appearance of bushier brows (especially if you have any patches of missing hair).

Brow lamination is another one of our favourite treatments.  A bit like a perm for your brows (except without the curling!), brow lamination uses chemicals to relax and reset hairs into a more upright position.  The results can be impressive since the swept up brow look can make eyebrows look dramatically thicker.

Although there are at home kits you can use, we *really* recommend going to a professional for this one, since you’re using a lot of chemicals near your eyes.  Although brow lamination can be expensive (at anything from £60/$75 per treatment), the results last up to 6 weeks.

 

 

Makeup

Laura tells us, “Brow tools offer great application techniques that can help fill in, help define and even give natural brows a fuller and brushed-up appearance,” and we wholeheartedly agree!

If you are looking for a completely temporary way to fill in your brows, you’re in luck! There are tons of products on the shelves these days to help eyebrows look thicker and more defined, including powders, pomades, gels, pencils, and mascaras.

Some of our *fave* products include Benefit’s Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel (£24.50/$26.00 on the Benefit website), and Charlotte Tilbury’s Legendary Brows Tinted Brow Gel (£24.00/$26.00 on the Charlotte Tilbury website.)

 

 

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The takeaway

Bare brows? No worries, you’ll have arches to rival Cara Delevingne in no time.

There are *so* many ways you can make your eyebrows look thicker, fuller, and more defined simply by using makeup techniques or visiting a professional for microblading.

If you haven’t given up on your natural brows and want to try and make them naturally thicker, it’s important to carry out a solid skincare routine to make sure your brows are free of debris, dirt and oil, promoting healthy growth.

A final word – put the tweezers down and let those hairs grow! You can always keep any unruly hairs in their place by using a transparent eyebrow gel or petroleum jelly, and add some definition using a tint or brow powder.

Ready to raise some brows??

 

 

Meet the experts

Dr Jodi LoGerfo is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Family Nurse Practitioner certified in Family Medicine and Dermatology. She is considered an authority on hair loss and her years of research and clinical work on patients with various types of alopecia enable her to diagnose the various patterns of hair loss, identify the causes and offer the latest treatment options.

 

Laura Kay is a leading permanent makeup expert and the founder of Laura Kay London. With over 20 years of experience in the cosmetic industry, Laura opened her academy training programme in 2015, teaching her world-class skills to the next generation of permanent makeup artists.