Trichotillomania Top Tips: Eyebrow Make-Up

Throughout my struggle with trichotillomania, the hardest part of my make-up routine has been my eyebrows, or lack of. Putting on false eyelashes and drawing on subtle eyeliner was fairly easy to master in comparison to drawing on eyebrows from scratch. It still isn't a part of my trichotillomania covering-up make-up practice which I have totally gotten my head around, but I have picked up some tips and tricks over the past 5 or so years which may help others. Here are my top 10:

1. Once you realise how difficult it is to draw them on, use this as an incentive to stop pulling. Do you really want to spend an hour of your morning routine each day drawing a set of caterpillars onto your face? Thought not. It's monotonous, frustrating and time-consuming. If that doesn't put you of pulling I don't know what will.

 

My TTM gaps (eyelashes and eyebrows)

2. Work with what you have. Even if it's a small patch here and there, use it as a guideline to draw the rest of the shape on. Having a little bit to work with goes a long way in trying to get that natural shape. 

Close up of my TTM gaps

3. Learn from your mistakes. I look back at old pictures and cringe so much it makes me want to cry. I have gone through stages where my eyebrows have looked so bad, but use it as a learning curve. That shape didn't look natural or suit your face? Don't do it again and try a different shape. Each bad eyebrow is something to learn from.

4. Spend time trying different shapes. I have spent entire days before drawing and re-drawing my eyebrows on to try and find a natural look that suits me. Don't expect to draw them on first time and for them to be perfect (and if they do, well, you lucky sod). The old eyebrow guide below is an OK start to finding a natural shape (although my natural shape is nothing like this). It's all trial and error.

5. Watch YouTube tutorials or study celebrities' eyebrows; that sounds incredibly stalker-ish but when you have an image in your mind or a picture in front of you, they might be easier to draw on.

No7's eyebrow pencil: my current favourite

6. Invest in good products. I received Benefit's Brow Zings as a birthday gift and played around with it until I'd learnt how to use it properly and knew how to create natural shapes with it. MUA and Mac also do excellent brow kits, depending on how much you are willing to spend. These kits are fantastic for if you have no eyebrows at all. 

7. Use an eyebrow pencil if your brows are just patchy. I've managed to grow my brows so that there are only a couple of patches now. The general, natural shape is there, meaning there is no need to draw them on from scratch. Don't be tempted to go and draw on big brows when you have enough to create a natural shape. I use Boots No7 eyebrow pencil to create light strokes which look like hairs to simply fill the gaps in, and sometimes to define the natural shape outline a bit more if I'm going out at night. The more natural, the better. 

Harder and lighter strokes with the brow pencil

8. Eyebrow pencils must be sharpened. The sharper the pencil is, the more natural the look. You cannot replicate hairs with a blunt pencil. Soft eyebrow pencils are also no good; MUA's brow pencil feels more like kohl and is too smudgy to draw of natural looking hairs.

One eyebrow done!

9. What about kohl? In my bad eyebrow days, I used black kohl eyeliner to draw my brows on. I had (and still have) very dark, almost black, hair, so thought it'd be acceptable. If you can get the shape right and use light strokes instead of using it like a 3 year old with a crayon and a pad of paper, then fine- you could probably pull it off! It is very tricky though. If you have to use kohl, go for a dark brown if you have dark hair. Even those with naturally dark hair don't have black brows.

10. Go make-up free for a bit. By letting your eyebrows breathe, you are preventing the make-up from clogging up your skin and boosting the growth of new eyebrows. If there's no need to put make-up on, then don't! You'll appreciate it when you eyebrows come through quicker!

Eyebrow make-up complete!

What are your tips for TTM eyebrow make-up?

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