Tinting your own brows at home has never been easier or cheaper. Photo / Getty Images
Tinting your own brows at home has never been easier or cheaper. Photo / Getty Images
Is there a more affordable way to maintain your brows?
In this era of budget consciousness, there really is nothing better than a tried and true beauty hack. Especially one that saves you money and is arguably more efficient than going pro. My discovery of at-home brow tinting ticks both of those boxes and more.
A regular brow tint is a low-maintenance option for anyone who uses a pencil or tinted brow gel to give shape and colour to their eyebrows, as it’s a semi-permanent way of achieving this look without the daily fuss.
There are a range of at-home brow-tinting kits available on the market, but in my experience, they often throw warm, which doesn’t give the most natural finish.
That’s why many at-home brow aficionados now reach for men’s moustache and beard dye to get the job done — myself included. Not only is the process more straightforward than a specific brow kit, but you get more product in the pack and it’s cheaper too (thanks, pink tax).
Just For Men Moustache & Beard Dye is a tried and true alternative to at-home eyebrow tinting.
Just For Men Moustache & Beard Dye is between $17 — $21 from most chemists and was formulated to help bearded and moustachioed men disguise greys and give the appearance of a fuller beard. The colour base is ammonia-free and a permanent dye, meaning it doesn’t wash out, but instead will fade over the course of a month or so when used on brows.
How to tint your brows with beard dye
Clean the area
Make sure your brows and the skin around them are free from makeup and other skincare products. If you’re nervous about the dye transferring on to your skin, get some Vaseline on a cotton bud and coat the area directly around your brows with a thin layer before you apply any dye.
If you’re using Just For Men dye, you’ll find two tubes in the pack. One is the colour developer and the other is the colour base. In the plastic tray provided, squeeze a pea-sized amount of each (you want the same quantity of both formulas) and mix them together well with the handle of the brush in the kit or a cotton bud.
If you are sensitive to dyes or you’re concerned you haven’t chosen the right shade, do a patch test first. When it comes to the shade, it’s always best to go lighter than you think at first to avoid a dramatic end result. I have medium-brown hair and the “medium-brown” shade is spot-on for me. To patch test, take a tiny amount of the mixed dye and apply it to the very end of your brow. Leave it for five minutes then rinse off.
Apply the dye
Being that you’re using a beard and moustache dye kit, you’ll find that the brush provided is too big for your brows, so apply the dye to your eyebrows using either a disposable spoolie (mascara wand) or a cotton bud. I like to use a cotton bud because I find it’s more precise.
Make sure you coat every hair and then set a timer for five minutes. You will gradually see the colour start to develop and go very dark. Don’t freak out! You’ll need to leave the dye on for the full amount of time for the colour to develop as it’s meant to.
Remove the dye
Once the time is up, take a wet cotton pad or flannel and remove the dye, starting with the eyebrow you applied the dye to first. You can also use a small amount of gentle cleanser or soap to remove all the residue if you need to. And voila! You’re done.
Beard dye v eyebrow dye
If you can get specific eyebrow dying kits, why is beard dye better? For some reason (and I’m not sure why), the application steps in eyebrow kits are far more complicated than beard dye, so the whole process takes more time and effort. The Ardell Eyebrow Kit costs around $27 versus about $17 for Just For Men, and you get much more product in the men’s version.
While the Just For Men packaging proclaims to have a three-month best-before date, I’ve kept one box going strong for around one year with no problems (but use your own judgement here). And as previously mentioned, you’ll get a more natural colour payoff from beard dye too.
A whole year of great brows for $17? It’s a no-brainer if you ask me.
