I definitely freaked some people out on Facebook and Instagram with this picture yesterday! Some friends actually thought I had shaved my eyebrows off! I get asked for a tutorial on this almost every single year around this time because I pretty much always block out and erase my eyebrows for my Halloween costume. Erasing your eyebrows gives you a completely blank, clean slate with which to work with. You can leave yourself with no eyebrows, draw your own eyebrows in, add face makeup/paint, prosthetics, etc. Many fashion designers also do this for an avant garde look around New York Fashion Week. In the movies, especially in fantasy and adventure films, you will notice that the eyebrows have been erased. Wondering how to do it yourself? It’s incredibly simple, inexpensive, and quick to do at home.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- Glue Stick. Any glue stick will do, just buy the cheapest one you can find at the store!
- A butter knife or spatula stick that has a flat, metal edge. This is my designated butter knife for Halloween effects.
- Makeup sponges. These are super cheap and available at any mass store or drugstore.
- Loose powder. You can purchase any brand you find at the drugstore. I prefer the powder to be loose because it picks up more product, but you can use pressed powder as well.
- Medium to full coverage concealer. You can use any brand, no matter how inexpensive, just make sure it is a medium to full coverage concealer, meaning it has a much more opaque coverage.
STEP ONE: Start with clean, fresh eyebrows and a fresh face that has no foundation, concealer, or product on it. You will always block out your eyebrows first and THEN apply makeup, prosthetics, or effects.
STEP TWO: Using your butter knife, cut off a 1/4 inch slab of your glue stick. You want to make sure you’re using enough of the glue stick. Using too little will cause you not to completely cover your eyebrows, so when in doubt, go a little heavier with the glue stick, as you can always scrape away excess.
STEP THREE: Using the flat sides of the butter knife, spread the glue stick slab over your eyebrows. As it hits your skin, the heat from your body will help it melt and become more pliable. Think of it like buttering toast, except you’re trying to cover your eyebrow completely with the glue stick IN THE DIRECTION OF THE HAIR GROWTH.
STEP FOUR: Keep working with the flat edges of the butter knife to smooth your eyebrow hair out. Always keep it in the direction of the hair growth. Get a nice thick coat of product over your eyebrow hair. As a side note, if you get clumps like you see above, just use the edges of the butter knife to smooth them out or remove them altogether. The glue stick will not damage your eyebrows or brow hair in any way.
STEP FIVE: Once you’ve got a thick coat of product over your eyebrow in the direction of the hair growth, it will look like this. The eyebrow will be tacky and you will try to make sure the edges are as smooth as possible.
STEP SIX: Using your powder, generously apply this to your entire eyebrow. While you are doing this, you are going to get some cakey looking bits. Don’t worry about them as you can smooth them out with your makeup sponge later. The point of this step is to set the glue stick and get rid of the tackiness of the glue.
STEP SEVEN: Using your full-coverage concealer, DAB the concealer over top of your eyebrow. It’s really important not to rub or blend but to just PAT the concealer on. Keep patting the concealer on until you can no longer see your eyebrow hair whatsoever. You may need one to three coats here.
STEP EIGHT: Go back with your powder and re-powder your eyebrow well. Clean up any lumps or bumps with your makeup sponge. You will have a completely blocked out, erased eyebrow at this point. Don’t worry if your powder or concealer doesn’t match your skin perfectly here. You will be applying your face makeup after you get to this step, so you now have a blank slate to apply foundation, face paint, face makeup, prosthetics, etc.
FINISHED PRODUCT: Again, do not worry if the area around your erased eyebrow does not match your skin color. Most of you will be going back with either foundation or face paint of some kind anyway to cover it all up. This year, I am using face paint for my entire face, so I would then apply my face paint at this point (once both brows are erased).
Hopefully this helps some of you out for your Halloween costumes and parties! I love this method because it’s incredibly inexpensive and the supplies can be bought at any store. I’ve had my supplies for years now and I use them time and time again. Once you’re ready to take it all off, just use makeup remover wipes or your regular makeup remover to get rid of the effect. The glue will come right off with absolutely no damage to your eyebrow hair.
[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]
Willow says
Very irrelevant but you have pretty eyes