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I have a beauty confession to makeI takeentirelytoo much time tofill in my eyebrows.

Brows

Elizabeth Fernandez/Getty Images

The funny part is that whole time I’m trying to achieve that effortless, natural look.

Oh, what we do for beauty!

But let me tell you, it took a long time for me to hone my current technique.

Lets just say, a lot of mistakes were made.

(To be honest, I’m still guilty of some of these, like #7.)

You have to find the product that fits your look and skill level best.

Pencil is great for filling in a few hairs that might be missing.

Pomades are good if you’re looking to create a bold brow look or darken brows.

Our experts suggest using brow products that are a shade lighter than your hair color.

Lighter tones look more natural and are more forgiving, celebrity makeup artist Kimara Ahnert tells SELF.

For blondes andredheads, Soto uses a taupe or dark blonde color.

If you are doing a highlight withconcealer, it cant be too white.

My general rule is that the concealer should be one shade lighter than your skin tone.

Instead of covering the entire brow in product, concentrate your strokes on sparse areas only.

Many of us are guilty offilling in our eyebrowsin shapes that arent exactly natural aka the boxy brow.

Some of us have a more boxy brow, but none of us really have rectangle brows.

By trying to fill in every little space, youll most likely get the look of an overwhelming brow.

Ward recommends revisiting how your eyebrows looked in baby pictures (pre-plucking/waxing/threading, etc.)

to figure out what theyre really supposed to look like, and staying within those unique parameters.

In other words, work with what you already have!

Your brows dont have to be perfect all the time.

I like brows when theyre a little unruly, says Roncal.

Filling in eyebrows is not necessarily a skill that is learned in a day.

Sometimes I still have days when I think, “That did not turn out like I planned.”

Definitely practice makes perfect, Roncal agrees.

The more you do it, the better youll get.