DIY... tinted brows

Tinted brows are a necessity for me.

I am a natural brunette with full natural brows. However, they look more mousey than deep chocolate like my locks. Without my eyebrows tinted I look like a thumb - bland. I'm not into making my brows bigger, changing the shape or colouring darker than my hair. But they do need to match my hair.

In the week I am all about minimal effort. The longer I get to lay in bed in the mornings, the better. Frankly leaving the house at 6:30 am KILLS ME. There is no way on Gods green earth I am getting up at 5:30 or even earlier to slap on a full face and curl my hair. I'm a shower and go kinda girl. Don't get it twisted, when it comes to drinks after work or the weekend I am dressed up like a drag queen. Every thing is ON. But, Monday to Friday I let my skin rest and keep my beating for the weekend.

As I am O'natural I need a way to look alive. Of course I always cleanse, tone, serum, moisturise and eye cream. I still look shit rather than chic. That's where mascara comes in. Ping! My eyes are awake. A little balm for my lips. But to frame my face its all about the brows.

More often than not I will go to my local salon and have them done. If  I don't have the time or the cash I do them at home.

Here is how:

Firstly prepare your brows in your chosen method. I tend to tweeze my eyebrows as waxing and threading always brings me out in a rash.

Then put Vaseline all around the skin surrounding the brows. The worst thing is to stain the skin and come out with slugs. Remember Charlie from Busted... Nuff said.

Get your eyebrow colouring kit. You can get these from Boots and Superdrug. They are not as strong as the ones in the salon but I would suggest getting your colour from a shop rather than some where like eBay. You never know quite what you are getting.

If you haven't used the product before I recommend doing a skin test behind the ear. Just put a little bit of the colour behind your ear the day before. If it becomes irritated don't put it on your brows.

Always, always read the instructions.

Once you have mixed your colour according to the manufacturers guidelines put the colour on to your brow. I like to use an angled eyeliner brush. I find that I get good control of colour placement. Some people use a wooden orange stick and some kits come with a little plastic paint brush. I prefer something firmer.

Leave it on for the designated length of time. You can remove a small amount of the colour to check its developing if you like.

I wouldn't go over the developing time that's recommended. Its highly unlikely that an extra 5 minutes will cause any harm. However, its better to be safe than sorry.

Once the time is up wipe away the colour with cotton pads and then cleanse your skin.

Your brows should be the colour you chose.

I will add when choosing a colour don't automatically go for black. Even if you're a brunette, black can look harsh and on more mature faces, ageing.

I go for a dark brown and find this works well. If in doubt go for the lighter shade unless you are looking at a bleaching kit.

Do not use any other type of colourant. Hair colour is not suitable and not designed to be so close to your eyes. It could cause irritation.

The kits you can buy in the shops are not the same as what you get in the salon. Sometimes the strengths they use in salons are stronger. They are not as strong to prevent accidents at home.

You will usually get several applications from one kit and at a cost of £7 you really do get more brow for your buck.

Give it a go and good luck!