I was really blessed in having perfected (to MY satisfaction, anyway) my eyebrow drawing skills before my breast cancer diagnosis. So when my eyebrows fell out from chemotherapy, drawing them on was easy, since I was already doing it.
The whole thing actually began a few years prior, when I noticed my brows were getting sparse in a few places, so I wanted to find a brow pencil to make it look a little more full and even on both sides. It began a search to find the right pencil. This was the hard part. I had no idea it would be so hard to find the right color brow pencil for me!
I have naturally dark brown, almost black hair, and somewhat olive skin. I wasn’t sure what color brow pencil I would need. I didn’t want super black eyebrows, to give me a look that was harsh and mean. I wanted a somewhat full eyebrow, with a nice arched shape, so I needed a color that was lighter than black to achieve that.
I really liked the eyebrows that seemed to be popular at the time, or at least I when I was watching the show Once Upon a Time on Netflix. Have you seen Snow White’s eyebrows on this show? I found her eyebrow look to be really cute, and I wanted to duplicate that. (I also really love the show Once Upon A Time, and I love Snow White’s character, so inspiring to me!)
I tried, or at least looked at, many of the inexpensive brands of brow pencil ($4 – $10), and even one rather expensive one ($20) to try to find the right color. First I tried browns, but most brown eyebrow pencils have warm orange-y undertones that looked just awful on my hair and skin color combination. I was looking for a brown that had more of a cool grey undertone. It was hard to find. In fact, I never found it.
I also looked for a taupe color, and tried one (the $20 one), and I really almost liked it, but it was still a bit too warm. It also was a bit too hard, and felt like I was trying to draw on my face with a crayon.
So, FINALLY after looking for 2 years or so, I found one that has been working quite well and served me nicely during my 6 months of having no eyebrows from chemo.
It is the NYX Eyebrow Pencil in Charcoal.
It costs from around $4.75 to $6. It is soft enough to draw on without having to press hard. It has a retractable lead, so no sharpening is needed, and has a handy brush on the cap to soften the color when you draw it on too darkly.
I had a hard time finding it at first, but I see NYX Cosmetics being sold in more places now. ULTA has them, as well as Nordstrom Rack in my area. Target and CVS in my area also sell NYX, but I have not seen the Charcoal color in these stores. And of course you can get it online.
It will come off if you accidentally swipe it, and I do plan to switch all my cosmetics to ones that have more safe and natural ingredients, but this one is just right for me right now.
I’m not sure that I actually duplicated Snow White’s brows, but I have achieved brows that I am very happy with. And definitely an improvement to my naturally sparse eyebrows and chemo caused browlessness.
For anyone going through chemo that causes your hair to fall out, may you be blessed with happy eyebrow experiences. And everyone reading this, may you be very happy with how you look.
Much love and happy countenances to you!
To see Day 4: Fighting Cancer With Rainbows click HERE
