Tinted gels do the lift and the fill in one pass, which is why I always have one in my bag. Benefit Gimme Brow launched in 2013, and Gimme Brow+ still works the same way: tiny microfibers cling to the hairs and the skin so sparse spots look fuller. MILK MAKEUP took a different route with KUSH when it launched in June 2018. The brand is fully vegan, so it said it could not use beeswax, the usual binder in brow gels, and built the formula around heart-shaped fibers and hemp-derived cannabis seed oil instead. Glossier Boy Brow goes the other way on purpose, a gel-pomade held together with beeswax and carnauba wax for a soft, groomed hold.

The rest of the row is about shade and finish. Kosas Air Brow Tinted comes in 10 shades from a cool blonde to black and adds volume with castor oil and provitamin B5. Victoria Beckham Beauty FeatherFix has a comb-like applicator for a neat, defined look. REFY Brow Tint is water based and not permanent, MERIT Brow 1980 is a fluffy tinted pomade with light hold, and the Anastasia Beverly Hills Volumizing Tinted Brow Gel has a dual-action brush and a mousse-like texture.

How I choose a shade: one step lighter than your hair if it is dark, one step deeper if you are blonde.

What I would skip: a tinted gel on brows that already look full. A clear gel gives the same lift without making them read heavy.

Once the hairs are standing up, the gaps show, and this row fills them. Westman Atelier Bonne Brow Pencil is a small, careful tool: an angled retractable pencil made with naturally derived pigments at one end and a detachable dry spoolie at the other, so you can draw a few strokes and soften them straight away. BOB BEAUTE The Brow Pencil has a 1.7mm tip for fine, hair-like lines, and Charlotte Tilbury Brow Cheat is another fine pencil for the same job. For more definition, Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Pomade is waterproof and smudge-proof, and Surratt Expressioniste Brow Pomade is the creamier choice in a pot.

The serums are the long game. Rye Beauty Brow Grooming Serum comes from the San Francisco brow specialist Michele Holmes and doubles as a light grooming gel, with biotin and green tea. GrandeBROW says to expect fuller-looking brows in six to eight weeks and the full result in about four months. The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum is a lightweight peptide serum that the brand says can show a difference in as little as four weeks.

Order of operations: serum at night on clean brows, pencil or pomade in the morning, then a clear gel from the first row on top.

What I would skip: pomade all the way through the front of the brow. Keep the first few millimeters bare or just brushed with gel so the lift still looks like your own hair.

Start with clean, dry brows, because moisturizer or oil left on the hairs makes any gel slip. Brush up first, then press the hairs flat with a clean fingertip so they set in place. If your brows are long and stubborn, a clear wax like Brow Freeze does more than a gel, and if they are sparse, a tinted fiber gel does more than a wax. At night, take everything off with an oil cleanser instead of rubbing with a wipe, and give a serum a few weeks before you judge it. A good eyebrow lift at home should look like brushed brows on a very good day, not like a treatment.