MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 23: Cara Delevigne is seen backstage at the Boss fashion show on February 23, 2020 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images)

I am pedantic about my brows. It comes from years of rehabilitation (like everyone else I severely over-tweezed them in my teenage years), and the fact that naturally I have a really uneven shape — my brows are neither twins nor sisters, but discount cousins.

For this reason I hardly ever touch them myself. I’ll pluck the odd stray hair but outside of this, I leave them solely to the professionals (the expert team at Kristen Fisher, if you’re curious).

But now in week 12 of Sydney lockdown, my brows look terrible. They’re uneven, gappy and melding into one (cute). In the scheme of things it’s a very minor issue, but when Brow Codes Brow Tint Kit landed on my desk, it seemed like the opportune time to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at DIY beauty — also tinting, unlike over-plucking, fades with time, and with 5 weeks left until freedom day, I had time to ride out any potential disasters.

READ MORE: DO IT YOURSELF (AT A DISTANCE): AT-HOME MANICURES

So I waited for a rainy Saturday and got to work. The Brow Code kit comes with everything you need: the tint itself, activator cream, an aftercare oil, applicator brush and mixing bowl. I started with dry brows free from all product, mixed up the solution and carefully painted it on, using a dry q-tip to clean up around the edges. I noticed it wasn’t that dark as it developed, unlike the tints I usually receive in a professional setting. The instructions say you can let it develop for up to 10 minutes, but I decided to err on the side of caution and remove after four.

When the time was up I wiped it off with a damp cotton round and, much to my relief, the difference was really subtle. My brows have quite a thin tail but the tint managed to capture all the baby hairs and add back in some much-needed bulk. They also looked cleaner, fuller and just more… healthy? My newfound confidence also saw me trim some of the outliers with a pair of nail scissors, and I think the finished result speaks for itself.

My brows before and after

Going forward I’d probably leave the product on for a few extra minutes, because as far as the depth of colour goes I think the difference was quite minimal. I used shade light brown, but given my brows are naturally quite dark I could have probably used natural brown instead (there’s only two shades in the range).

I’m thinking I could try lamination next (Brow Coder also have a DIY kit for this) but given my good luck so far, I might just wait until salons open again.

READ MORE: DO IT YOURSELF (AT A DISTANCE): AT-HOME HAIRCUTS

Shop the Brow Code Tint Kit via Mecca Cosmetica below:   

Brow Code Brow Tint Kit, $50. SHOP NOW