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Let Anna Speckhart Teach You How To Fill In Your Eyebrows

You don't have to go to beauty school to be an expert in your own eyebrows. (Though the formal education probably doesn't hurt.) You really only need a few things: 1) Eyebrows. 2) A select few grooming tools. And 3) A harrowing experience with your eyebrows during your youth in which you didn't realize what you had 'til it was gone. Anna Speckhart has all of those things—and it doesn't hurt that she's got a good set of Brooke Brows (brows that are as good as Brooke Shields' brows). She just launched her new site, America's Sweethart, filled with educational video guides on beauty, health, and cats. So when we asked her recently, "How'd you get dem brows?" she responded with a handy, dandy video tutorial. For more on her brow journey, and how to get brows like Anna, read below:

Growing up I deemed my eyebrows as social suicide. They were full, untamed, and as far as I was concerned two hairs away from being a unibrow. Instead of consulting my mom who happens to be a cosmetologist, I did what any well-mannered adolescent would do and took matters into my own hands. My logic was: A razor got rid of the hairs on my legs so surely it could get rid of the hair on my eyebrows. Which 100% works if you're going for the half eyebrow look. Needless to say my mom screamed in horror and my sister called me "Powder" for the next six months. 

When they finally grew back, I knew shaving was not the answer. Therefore, tweezing had to be. Not knowing how to tweeze my brows, let alone shape them, I asked my mom to do it for me. Still traumatized by the shaving incident she quickly obliged. My inspiration was Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. Kudos to my mom because she gave me a high arch that would have given Angelina a run for her money.

For years I wouldn't dare to let a hair go un-plucked. However, when I started modeling every makeup artist would fill my eyebrows in. It seemed like a total contradiction. If only they knew the amount of work that went into maintaining their shape. It wasn't until I overheard a person on set talk about Angelina Jolie's "eyebrow evolution" that something in me changed. (The fact that this was even a conversation is still beyond me.) Yet, I listened with ears perked, because Angelina's brows were mine and mine were hers. Somehow I had missed that Ms. Jolie had ditched her tweezed brow from a more natural approach. My eyebrows were so 2003. It was time to start an "eyebrow evolution" of my own.

I now keep them au naturel. The irony is what once was too full is not full enough. Therefore, I get a little help from an eyebrow pencil. To achieve the ultimate full bushy brows:

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Pick your pencil

I love Bobbi Brown's Perfectly Defined Long-Wear Brow Pencil because it’s wide one way and narrow in another, so you have a lot of control to do different things. You’re going to want to pick a product that can help you imitate the look of actual brow hairs, so a stiffer pencil with less color payoff is better.

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Start to fill in your brows

Find the start of your brows, closest to your nose. These are called the "sprouts." Start drawing short, hair-like strokes up near the sprouts and then follow your current shape all the way to the brow tail, paying attention to any places you have holes or sparser hair. If you don't have a lot of hair and want fuller looking brows, continue adding color until you have your desired look/shape. 

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Brush the color in

On the end of my brow pencil is a little brow brush. The bristles in the brush will break up any clumps of color that may have happened during application to make the whole brow look naturally yours. If you’re using a different pencil, an unused mascara wand or toothbrush will work as well.

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Clean it up

If there's any color above or below my brow, I'll use my finger to wipe off. I finish using the same brush and style as desired. I personally prefer a little bushier look so I brush them up a bit. But you're your own person—do your brows as you please and I support you!

—Anna Speckhart

Video shot and edited by Anna Speckhart. If you haven't already, check out her new website here.

Anna also knows her way around a hot roller—let her show you how to use those here. If tweezing is more your thing, we've got that gif guide, too.