Can You Use Eyeliner On Eyebrows?
It is often said that eyebrows are the frame to the face, and filling them in with a pencil or any other type of brow product helps to define and shape them, enhancing their overall appearance.
Adding product to your brows, whether dramatically or subtly, will completely lift and transform your eyes and face overall.
Whether you are looking to fill in some gaps or alter your brow shape, filling in the eyebrows has become an essential part of everyone’s makeup routine.
With all the products we have in our makeup bags, it is easy to want to combine products to use them for more than one area.
Most of the time, eyeliner pencils and eyebrow pencils can seem similar, making it easy to want to use one or the other to target multiple parts of the face.
Although they may seem similar, eyebrow pencils and eyeliner pencils have distinct formulas and serve different purposes in enhancing the eyes and face.
So, can you use an eyeliner pencil to fill in your eyebrows?
While you can technically use a neutral-colored eyeliner to fill in your brows, eyebrow pencils are generally the best option. Brow pencils are specifically created to fill in gaps and sparse areas of the brows and have a different texture, formula, and shade range than the average eyeliner pencil.
Below, we discuss the differences between eyebrow pencils and eyeliners, and what is the best product to shape and define your brows.
Eyebrow Pencils Vs. Eyeliner
The primary differences between eyebrow pencils and eyeliner pencils are their varying textures and formulas.
Eyebrow pencils and eyeliners are designed to achieve two distinct looks on the face and are specifically targeted to a particular area.
Eyebrow pencils are designed to fill in and shape the eyebrows, giving a whole, defined appearance.
Whereas eyeliner can be used to define the eyes, create a more sultry look, or balance the eye shape.
As eyebrow pencils are meant to fill in the sparse areas of the brows, they have a waxier texture compared to some eyeliners.
They are intended to work with and grab onto the brow hairs, so the waxy texture helps to build up the color naturally.
Some eyebrow pencils can also have a more powdery feel, which mimics the look of filling in the brows with shadow, to create a softly shaped effect.
As eyebrow pencils generally have a waxy texture, that also makes them firmer and drier compared to an eyeliner pencil.
The firmness of the eyebrow pencil allows for precise control when drawing hair-like strokes, and the drier texture helps the product stay in place.
While eyebrow pencils are firm, they should blend easily with a spoolie brush to ensure the pencil blends seamlessly with the brow hairs.
Eyebrow pencils can deposit a light amount of color pigment, depending on their formula and texture, to prevent the brows from appearing too dark or unnatural.
The color range for brow pencils also stays true to colors that naturally occur in brows and hair, allowing for a natural application.
Eyeliner comes in many different forms, including gels, liquids, pen applicators, and pencils.
Each of these formulas comes in a wide variety of shades, ranging from vibrant and colorful to neutral and basic.
In general, eyeliner pencils have a creamier texture, allowing for easy application and preventing unnecessary tugging of the delicate eyelid skin.
With its creamy texture, you have the opportunity to smudge out the eyeliner pencil to achieve a sultry or smoky eye effect.
In the case of waterproof pencils, most of the time, they set within seconds of application without the chance to smudge or blend out the line.
Depending on the formula, eyeliner pencils can be harder to blend out than eyebrow pencils.
Based on their purpose of lining and defining the eyes, eyeliners are going to deposit more pigment and have a darker color payoff than eyebrow pencils.
While eyeliners are available in neutral colors, such as browns, blacks, and taupes, the shades can be harsher compared to the hair-like shades available in eyebrow pencils.
Eyebrow pencils also offer a matte finish, based on their formula, while eyeliner pencils often leave a satin or demi-matte finish behind.
Can You Use Eyeliner On Eyebrows?
Technically, you could use eyeliner pencil on your eyebrows in a pinch or if you want to condense the makeup products you are using.
However, be mindful that eyeliner pencils can give a different look to the brows and often require some trial and error to find the right eyeliner and technique to achieve natural-looking brows.
As stated above, eyeliners are creamier and more pigmented than eyebrow pencils.
Hence, using a light hand when applying eyeliner to the brow is crucial to prevent excessive product from being deposited.
Using a light application of the eyeliner pencil and blending it out quickly before it sets will help the eyebrows look more natural and achieve closer results to those of an eyebrow pencil.
How To Choose The Right Eyeliner For Eyebrows
If you want to try using an eyeliner pencil for your eyebrows, there are a few key criteria to consider.
Most importantly, you want to choose a color that is going to closely match your brow hair for the sparse brow areas to be naturally filled in (Jane Iredale has a nice shade range of eyeliners that will work for eyebrow shades).
Depending on your hair color, you may be able to find an eyeliner pencil for your brows easily, such as a brown for brunettes or black for those with black hair.
However, other shades, like taupe for light blondes or auburn for redheads, may be more challenging to find.
Eyebrow pencils are designed to have a small, precise tip applicator, allowing for easy filling in of sparse areas and creating hair-like strokes.
Oftentimes, they also have a spoolie on the opposite end of the pencil to allow for easy blending.
If you are using an eyeliner pencil, it is essential to select a pencil that can be sharpened into a precise point, and to have a disposable spoolie handy to blend out any harsh lines.
To further mimic the results of an eyebrow pencil, look for an eyeliner pencil that has a matte finish.
Rather than a creamy, satin finish that most eyeliner pencils leave behind, a matte finish will look more natural in the brows.
If you want to experiment with filling in your brows with eyeliner pencils even more, you can also try an eyeliner pen to achieve the natural, hair-like strokes of an eyebrow pen.
However, the criteria mentioned earlier still apply to find the best eyeliner pen for the results.
Are Eyeliners Or Eyebrow Pencils Better For Eyebrows?
Eyebrow pencils are specifically formulated to fill in and define the eyebrows, so that is the product that will ultimately work the best.
It can fill in the sparse areas seamlessly and add shape to the brows easily.
There are more nuanced shades available to suit your hair color, and the size and shape of the pencil will not overpower your brows.
While you can find an eyeliner pencil that may be able to achieve similar results, eyebrow pencils are created with the formula, texture, and packaging in mind to deliver full, thick, and shaped brows effortlessly.
Whichever you decide to use, if you’re unsure how to fill in your brows, take a look at this tutorial from Tori DeSimone on YouTube.
Conclusion
Although it can work, eyeliner pencils will not consistently achieve the same results in your brows as an eyebrow pencil will.
The differences in their formulas, textures, and shade ranges can make it challenging to find an eyeliner that complements your hair color and applies the product subtly and naturally.
The shape of the pencil, as well, is larger than the point of an eyebrow pencil, which can cause it to be challenging to fill in the sparse areas accurately.
Eyeliners and eyebrow pencils both come in a variety of shades.
Still, eyebrow pencils are specifically developed to match the natural colors of the hair, making it easy and customizable to find tones that suit all hair colors.
The nuance in shades, from cooler taupes to warmer auburns, will help your brows complement your hair color, resulting in a cohesive overall appearance.
While there are various shades of neutrals available in eyeliner pencils, it can be challenging to find the correct undertone that matches your hair color.
There are various types of eyeliner and brow products available, which can seem similar, including pen applicators, gel formulas, pomades, and pencils.
While finding products that can be used for multi-purpose reasons is always a treat, eyeliners and eyebrow pencils are not always interchangeable.
If you want to experiment with using an eyeliner pencil in your brows, look for one that has a matte finish.
It can be sharpened into a precise point, and it is a neutral shade that can be easily blended with a disposable spoolie.
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