Eyebrow Powder: A How-To Guide For Beginners

Eyebrows are tricky. Perfect them, and you’ll look like you could grace magazine covers. Make a mistake, and you could end up looking like an Instagram tutorial gone wrong.

While numerous different eyebrow tools exist, eyebrow powder is the easiest way to create flawless, natural looking eyebrows without a lot of time or effort.

The team at RMS Beauty is brow obsessed. We’ll tell you what you need to know about eyebrow powder, how to use it, and of course how to make sure you’re only using the cleantest, greenest ingredients in your eyebrow powder formula.

What Is Eyebrow Powder?

Eyebrow powder is designed similarly to eye shadow in that it is a pigmented product that you apply to your skin. However, eyebrow powder is slightly different. Because it will be applied to skin where fine eyebrow hairs exist, it contains specialized ingredients that:

Hydrate and moisturize the skin, while helping keep eyebrow hairs groomed and in place.

Allow it to be applied with precision. Eyebrow powders are finely milled; the texture is typically finer than eyeshadow.

When using an eyebrow powder, you’ll be able to define your brows, fill in sparse areas, and add a gentle hint of color.

What Should Eyebrow Powder Be Used For?

Eyebrow powder helps you achieve brows as they were meant to be. Instead of caking on heavy brow products like eyebrow pencils that leave your brows dark and furrowed, brow powder adds a light accent that helps give your brows definition without perfect edges, making your brows look naturally full.

Brow powder lets you create the illusion of individual brow hairs but also allows you to blend and blur, helping your natural brow shape look more defined without looking eerily drawn-on or artificial.

How Is Eyebrow Powder Different from Eyeshadow?

Brow powder and eyeshadow are made with similar base ingredients, but eyeshadows will usually have more color-specific ingredients to produce the variety of pigments we want for our lids.

For instance, most brow powders will fall within a color palette that ranges somewhere between soft honey color to warm rich chocolate. There’s no limit to the shades of colors you’ll find in eyeshadows.

Brow powder is usually more finely milled than eyeshadow, which allows it to easily settle between individual brow hairs and keeps it from looking streaky or heavy.

Can I Use Brow Powder and Eyeshadow Interchangeably?

It’s possible to substitute one for the other, but you shouldn’t do it on a regular basis.

If you’re in a pinch, you can use an angled brush to apply an eyeshadow that is a shade lighter than your normal brow color to your eyebrows, but be careful; eyeshadow is more richly pigmented than brow powder. You only need a little.

Using brow powder for eyeshadow would only work in two scenarios:

You have light brow hairs and a matching eyebrow powder. You could use your brow powder as a highlight shade or all-over base shade eyeshadow.
You have black hair. If you have a dark brow powder, you can use your brow powder in the outer edge of your eye, where you’d apply your darkest color.

Brow powders contain different ingredients which can make them less useful on your lids. For instance, seed oils that are contained in some brow powders may give them less staying power on your lids.

Is Eyebrow Powder Precise?

No, and you don’t want it to be.

Our founder Rose-Marie has this to say:

“Eyebrow powder looks more natural without the harsh lines of gels, and also without the waxy shiny appearance that gels and pencils leave. Pencils can also lift to the surface with hotter temperatures, especially if sweating. For photography, I always prefer powders due to their more natural, realistic appearance!”

Although a beautiful brow is clearly defined, they also retain a natural-looking appearance. That means they shouldn’t have sharp lines or edges. When using eyebrow powder, you want the ability to blur and blend to fill in lines, add a little color where needed, and keep your brows neat.

How Do I Use Eyebrow Powder?

If you’re intimidated by brow products in general, don’t worry, we can help. Creating brows the way they should be is easy with the right tools and a few tips and tricks.

You’ll start with the perfect shade of brow powder, which is usually a shade of light brown or soft black powder, depending on the color of your brow hairs.

Here’s how to create beautiful brows with ease.

Pick the Right Brush

Most of the time, we prefer fingertips for makeup application. Because RMS Beauty products are all made with living, food-grade ingredients, the warmth of your fingers helps heat them and make them exceptionally blendable on your skin.

However, eyebrows are the clear exception. You’ll want a brush to apply them, and a dual-end brush is a great investment. The RMS Beauty Back2Brow brush is perfect for applying brow powder.

The dense brush allows you to sweep brow powder through your eyebrow easily. The rounder edges give the perfect, soft-rounded brow without the harsh squared-off sternness that is unavoidable with the typical angled eye brow brush, which also leaves obvious lines in the brow.

And all of this is exactly why Rose-Marie designed her own RMS Beauty Back2Brow brush. Its firm packed bristles deliver powder right to the skin, easily blending perfect color to the root without fighting with the brow hairs, while the spoolie end helps to diffuse the powder evenly through the brows, give them shape, help keep them in place.

Perfection.

Use a Small Amount of Powder

You don’t need much powder to start. Even very thin brows don’t need a massive quantity of product. Using your brush, gently pick up a small amount of powder. Sweep the powder upward through your arch and out to the end of the brow.

Fill in Sparse Patches

Not many of us have perfectly even brows. For patches that need a little help, add in brow powder with the brush, being careful to use smooth, upward strokes. Don’t add too much powder to one area, even if you are missing brow hair. It will end up looking painted on.

Define the Arch of Your Brow

Your brows’ natural arch is usually best defined by a professional through waxing, threading, or tweezing, with tweezing being our founder’s technique of choice. You can also do this on your own if you’re so inclined and have the skills to make it work.

To add brow powder to your arches, sweep upward through the arch and use the spoolie-brush end of your brush to comb the powder through, being careful the powder doesn’t end up above your natural brow line.

Use a Light Hand at the Front of the Brow for a Natural Look

If you use too much pressure at the front of your brow, you’ll end up with eyebrows that have an awkward teardrop shape of heavy color at the front of the brow. This also pulls the eyes together and gives a stern heavy appearance. If you use too much powder, a cotton swab can help you lift away excess powder and soften to a more rounded edge.

Can I Create a Dramatic Look Using Eyebrow Powder?

Let’s be honest; the words “dramatic” and “eyebrow” belong on a drawing board for evil villains.

Rose-Marie Pro Tip: “If you like to extend and elongate the brow with a dramatic slim extension to the outer corner, simply use a damp, tiny brush with the Back2Brow powder to achieve the perfect elongated tail of the brow.”

A natural, yet polished brow is achievable by simply following the steps above and using an eyebrow powder that is one shade lighter than your natural brow.

If you have extremely light brows and would like to make them more prominent, use a color that is one shade darker than your natural brows. For instance, if you have blonde brows, choose a warm taupe color to gently bring out the natural color in your brows without making them look too dark.

What About Eyebrow Gel?

Your natural brows aren’t gooey, slick, or stiff. Eyebrow gel creates brows that look matted into place. Not to mention, they can harbor some scary ingredients:

Triethoxycaprylylsilane. This chemical is a silicate that is often added to products as an emulsifier. There is limited data available on the safety of this ingredient, so it’s best to avoid it.

Talc. Talc is a known carcinogen and skin irritant. Its use in cosmetics isn’t necessary, which is why you’ll never find it in any RMS Beauty product. Instead, we use natural mica.

Synthetic colors. Some color additives are dangerous. RMS Beauty uses non-nano titanium dioxide and iron oxides to color our brow powders.

You can trust RMS Beauty to deliver the cleanest, greenest, and most effective eyebrow powder available to help you get exceptional brows without exposing your body or skin to harsh chemicals.

The Bottom Line

Eyebrows should look natural and effortless. Using an eyebrow powder can help you define your brows, fill in gaps, and help them look naturally full and not overly done up.

For stunning brows that always look perfectly groomed, trust the brow powerful ingredients in RMS Beauty’s Back2Brow Powder. This product also makes for a perfect fool-proof, user-friendly brow that anyone can do with the combo or back2brow, and the newly designed brow brush that works synergistically with the powder.

For more tips on how to create a perfect brow, check out our how-to videos which give you step-by-step guided instruction and answer some of your FAQs about eyebrow styling.

Sources:

Triethoxycaprylylsilane|Truth in Aging.com

Talcum Powder and Cancer|Cancer.org

Clean cosmetics: The science behind the trend - Harvard Health