As much as beauty trends come and go, it's hard to imagine a time in the future when scrawny eyebrows will be back in fashion. We'll try any gel, powder, cream, or pencil that promises fuller, lusher eyebrows. But it's so easy to go overboard. Our attempts at perfect symmetry often end in Instagram eyebrows—the slang for two opaque, severe, and unnaturally sharp shapes—when all we really wanted was a subtle boost in density.

Everything we thought we knew about filling-in our brows was changed backstage at Christian Dior's fall 2017 couture show. Make-up artist and Dior Beauty's Creative and Image Director Peter Philips walked us through the look for the show, which was inspired by female travelers and fearless adventurers like Amelia Earhart. In the make-up realm, that translated to semi-matte flawless skin and boyish brows...and not much else. The eyebrows looked strong but not sharp, dark but not severe. Essentially, the models' eyebrows were what we want ours to look like everyday: naturally and perfectly full.

instagramView full post on Instagram

Philips used the new Diorshow Brow Styler, an ultra-thin twist-up pencil that comes in four ashy shades, to create hair-like strokes only where the models needed them. He cautions against filling-in your entire eyebrow. "Don't start where the hair or eyebrow starts, you want a natural beginning," advises Philips. Start a few centimeters inward to get the most natural look, and then flick your pencil from the middle of your brow in the direction of hair growth. If you want to fill-in any sparse areas along the bottom-half of your brows, Philips has a genius trick: "If you want to have a natural feel, draw downward, so you get the thin end of the line at the bottom," he says. Drawing brow lines downward might seem strange at first, but the precise and super-thin lines will look way more convincing than what you're use to.

Once Philips was happy with the fullness of the brows, he brushed through them quickly with the new Dior Diorshow Bold Brow, a tinted gel out later this month, to lend an "untamed" effect. With any brow gel, Philips says to give the formula a minute to dry. Only then should you finish the look by brushing, fluffing, and styling your brows in any direction you choose.

Dior Diorshow Brow Styler, £22, dior.com.

From: Harper's BAZAAR US