How to Use Beard Dye to Tint Your Brows, According to Pros

Fact checked by Anna HarrisReviewed by Julia A. Siegel, MD

If you're looking for ways to enhance the look of your eyebrows, tinting is a solid option to make them thicker and darker, especially if you're having trouble growing them out after tweezing them too thin. Tinting helps target "invisible" blonde hairs around your brows—which you might have even if your hair is naturally dark—to create an instantly thicker look that just might achieve your ideal brow shape without makeup. While you can have your brows tinted at a salon, it's also possible to do at home—although it can be expensive, and many at-home brow tinting kits have limited shades and lean warm in tone. But many beauty fans have repurposed beard dye for eyebrows, so I decided to give it a try, and the results are game-changing. Keep reading to learn how to use beard dye for eyebrow tinting, complete with insights from a brow specialist.

Meet the Expert

• Joey Healy is a celebrity eyebrow specialist and the founder of Joey Healy Eyebrow Studio.

How to Prepare for Tinting Your Eyebrows with Beard Dye

Start with a Clean Slate

Before using beard dye to tint your eyebrows, be sure to wash the area and let it dry. "You want to apply the dye to clean, dry skin that’s free of sunscreen and skincare," Healy says. "The key is that the skin is clean and dry for the dye to properly work." After washing the brows and surrounding skin, let everything dry thoroughly so dye can't seep off the hair.

Choose the Right Beard Dye

Next, you'll want to invest in a high-quality beard dye. Healy recommends using a "vegetable-based brown dye," and specifically favors the brand Refectocil, but I went for Just for Men's Mustache & Beard Dye ($11), which has a large variety of shades and is extremely wallet-friendly (I'm still on my first kit and have several uses left). I also appreciate the conditioning agents in the formula, which leave my brows with a glossy sheen. This dye also only takes a grand total of five minutes to apply, which too many of my colleagues witnessed firsthand when I dyed my brows in our office bathroom for this story.

Do a Patch Test

If you're anything like me, you might be nervous at the prospect of combing a foreign substance into the brows you so painstakingly nursed back to life. That is why I highly recommend a patch test: After mixing the dye according to the instructions, I brushed a tiny bit onto the tail end of my right brow to see how it would turn out. This is also helpful to check if you chose the correct shade, though Healy has a tip on that, too: "If you’re not sure about your color, go one shade lighter," he says. "You can always leave it on longer, but the biggest issue I see is that people’s brows get tinted too dark and they’re unhappy with how dark they are."

How to Use Beard Dye for Eyebrow Tinting

Besides our previous disclaimers, the rest of the eyebrow tinting process is incredibly straightforward, even with an alternative product like beard dye. Simply follow the below steps:

1. Protect the surrounding area: Start by using a Q-tip (or a coffee stirrer stick for a recyclable alternative) to spread either Vaseline or an oil-based salve on the skin around your clean, makeup-free brows. This prevents the dye from staining your skin, which can be hard to wash off. "A barrier cream—something as simple as Chapstick, Aquaphor, or Vaseline traced around the eyebrow—ensures the dye doesn’t end up staining the skin and making a mess," Healy notes.

2. Prep the dye: Per the box's instructions, squeeze equal amounts of the dye and the color developer into the provided tray. If your dye doesn't come with developer, Healy recommends using volume 10 developer and no higher. "It's what you want to use for the eye area because it's gentle," he says. I mixed them quickly but thoroughly using the handle side of the provided brush.

3. Brush the dye onto brows: Since the provided brush is intended for facial hair, I used a clean spoolie brush to carefully brush the mixture into my brows. Healy recommends applying the dye in sections, to allow it to work in a uniform fashion. "Maybe leave the dye on the areas that need the most help, longer," he says. "Usually, that’s the very fronts and the very tails. Don’t feel like you have to apply it throughout the entire brow for the same amount of time." Though I tried to stick to my desired shape and natural arch as much as possible, I was pretty liberal, especially near the tails of my brows—I wanted to be thorough and decided I could always pluck strays later.

4. Wait a few minutes: I set my phone timer for five minutes. If you estimate that it took you about a minute to finish brushing the product on, set your timer for four minutes—the longer you wait, the darker the end product will be. It's better to be cautious at first so you can decide if you like the results.

5. Wash off the dye: After your timer goes off, wash off the dye thoroughly with lukewarm water and a gentle shampoo. If you applied the dye to your right brow first, wash your right brow first (and vice versa)—that way, you'll ensure the product developed evenly.

Byrdie Tip

To prolong your tint, avoid using oil-based eye makeup remover or cleanser around the eyebrow area.

The Results

As you can see, the change I achieved in tinting my eyebrows with beard dye was subtle and natural-looking yet pretty dramatic. While my brows were dark before, the hairs were sparse in sections. After application, my brows are much more uniform in color, which helps them look thicker. I don't look altogether different, but certainly a little more put-together.

Byrdie Tip

You may notice that your brows are especially dark at first, but that's likely due to dye residue on your skin beneath the hair. Try to wait a day or two before doing any reshaping or plucking anything beyond obvious strays.

The Final Takeaway

Tinting your brows is a straightforward way to make them appear darker and more full, and it's a pretty quick and easy process to DIY. While dedicated eyebrow tinting kits exist, beard dye is a suitable (and often preferable) alternative, and it's safe to use since it's already intended for hair on your face. Enjoy your newly thickened arches—and the extra cash you're pocketing with this handy DIY approach.

Learn More: The 12 Best Eyebrow Fillers of 2023

Read the original article on Byrdie.