The Cheap, Fast, and Easy Way to Tint Your Eyebrows

• Use beard and mustache dye, which is thicker and formulated for facial skin, to tint your brows.^[1]
• Outline your eyebrows with petroleum jelly to control drips.
• Apply the dye with a spoolie to one eyebrow at a time so you can make sure they match.
• Leave the dye on for just 1 minute to start, then wipe it off with a damp cotton pad and check the shade. Reapply the dye if they're too light or use clarifying shampoo if they're too dark.

Choosing the Right Dye

Use dye designed for facial hair rather than hair dye. Never use hair dye on your eyebrows. A beard and mustache dye is specially formulated for the delicate skin on the face, so it'll be less likely to cause irritation. It's also a thicker product that's easier to control and less likely to drip into your eyes. Vegetable-based dyes are the safest, although they can still potentially injure your eyes. Outside the US, you can buy products that are specifically marketed as eyebrow dye or tint—but expect them to be a bit pricier than facial hair kits.

Find a dye within 2 shades of your natural eyebrow color. If you want to dye your eyebrows darker, don't go more than 2 shades darker than your natural eyebrow shade. To lighten your eyebrows, look for a color no more than 2 shades lighter. When in doubt, go with a lighter shade than you think you need—these dyes tend to be darker than you'd expect. It's normal for people's eyebrows not to perfectly match the shade of the hair on their head, so you'll be fine if you're a shade lighter or darker. If you've recently dyed your hair and you want your eyebrows to match, look at pictures of people who have hair naturally that color for inspiration.

Do a patch test at least a couple of days before you dye your brows. Mix a tiny amount of the dye and dab it on your wrist or the inside of your elbow. If you break out in a rash or feel burning or itching on the spot, don't use the dye on your eyebrows. No reaction after 2 days? You're in the clear! The dye will leave a tiny stain on your skin, but you can easily clean that off with soap and water if you don't want to wait a week or two for it to fade on its own.

Prepping Your Eyebrows

Wash your face and remove your makeup as you normally would. Take particular care around your eyes and eyebrows. If there's any makeup on your eyebrows, your dye won't be consistent. If you have bangs, pin them back so they won't get in the way. Use a clean spoolie to fluff your eyebrows so it's easier to paint each strand with the dye.

Shape your eyebrows by waxing or tweezing them. Define the shape you want so you know exactly where you need to put the dye to accentuate that shape. Otherwise, you could end up with a thicker brow than you actually want since the dye also stains the skin underneath your brows. You can also wait until after you've dyed your brows to shape them, which can be helpful if you've got a lot of fine, light-colored hairs.

Outline your brows with petroleum jelly. The petroleum jelly stops the dye on your eyebrows from running into your eyes, which is a serious concern. Without petroleum jelly, drips from the dye could cause irritation or even blindness, so don't skip this step! Set 2 bottles of sterile eye irrigation solution nearby. If any of the dye does drip in your eye, immediately irrigate it with an entire bottle of solution. You've got the second one as a backup.

Mix your dye according to the package instructions. Package instructions might vary depending on the brand and type of dye, but typically, you mix color and developer cream in a tray. Don't mix the whole package—you'll only need a small amount to dye your eyebrows (start with a pea-sized amount of color and developer). Once you've mixed the dye, you have to use it immediately—so if you mix the entire package, you'll end up throwing a lot of it away.

Applying the Dye

Paint the dye on one eyebrow using a spoolie. Roll the spoolie in the dye to cover it, then brush it slowly across your eyebrows. Start closest to your nose, where the hair is usually thickest, and brush outward to the end. Use feathery strokes to paint the hair from root to tip. The dye package usually comes with a brush, but it was designed for use on a beard or mustache and is probably going to be too big for your eyebrows. If you accidentally get the dye anywhere you don't want it, wipe it away quickly with a cotton swab dipped in warm water.

Set a timer for 1 minute. This might not sound like a lot of time, especially when the package probably says 10-15 minutes, but short increments keep you from getting your brows too dark. Eyebrow hair is a different texture than beard and mustache hair and tends to absorb dye more quickly. The dye starts to process as soon as you paint it on your brows, so it's actually going for more than 1 minute if you include the time it took you to apply it. If your eyebrows are gray, go ahead and leave the dye on for 2 minutes. Gray hair is coarser and thicker, which makes it harder to dye.

Wipe off the dye with a damp cotton pad. You can use a damp cotton swab to get the excess dye first, then wipe the rest of it off with a cotton pad or washcloth. You might also use a little soap—if you do, be sure to give your brows a final rinse with water.

Assess the shade and reapply the dye if your brows aren't dark enough. Wait until your brows have dried, and you'll have an idea of what shade they're going to be. If they're too light, re-apply the dye and let it sit for another minute. You'll get a better result if you add color gradually rather than trying to do it all at once, especially if you're trying to go darker. The dye does temporarily stain the skin under your brows, so they'll appear like they're already filled in. The dye fades a little every day, so before you freak out that you've gotten them too dark, let them go for a couple of days—then see what you think.

Remove the dye with clarifying shampoo if you're not satisfied. If you just hate the result and want a do-over, a little clarifying shampoo and some warm water will take the dye right out of your eyebrows. You might have to do this more than once to get your brows back to their original color. Just remember—the dye fades a little every day, so you're not stuck with it forever.

Repeat the entire process with the other eyebrow. Wait to start on your second eyebrow until you're satisfied with the result on the first—that way, you'll know exactly how long to leave the dye on. Doing them separately also helps you guarantee that they match.