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The Best Eyebrow Pencil to Cover Gray Hair

The Best Eyebrow Pencil to Cover Gray Hair

To fully cover stubborn gray hairs in aging eyebrows, use a waterproof mechanical eyebrow pencil in a shade matched to your natural hair color that has an ultra-fine angled tip for precision filling of gaps, sparse areas and individual hairs.
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Older woman at a kitchen table reading the side of an eyebrow pencil
Older woman at a kitchen table reading the side of an eyebrow pencil

If you want the short list, these are my top eyebrow pencil picks for covering gray hair, and you’ll find the details on each one further down.

Choosing an Eyebrow Pencil for Gray Hair:

  • Start by choosing a shade that matches your natural hair color to seamlessly blend with your existing brow hairs.
  • Look for mechanical pencils with angled tips that let you draw fine, hair-like strokes.
  • Waterproof, smudge-proof formulas will keep your brows looking neat all day without fading or running.
  • Opt for soft, smooth pencils over hard leads to avoid tugging at or irritating sensitive skin while applying.

The key is finding an ultra-precise pencil that lets you fill even the tiniest gaps while enhancing sparse or thinning sections.

With the right eyebrow pencil, you can get full, natural-looking brows that make grays less noticeable.

Older woman with gray hair leaning toward a bathroom mirror to look at her eyebrows
Lean in close to a mirror with good light, so you can see whether a pencil shade truly matches your gray brows.

The Best Eyebrow Pencils to Cover Gray Hair

Here are five of the best eyebrow pencils to cover gray hair:

Older woman sorting makeup pencils on a bedroom dressing table
Lay your pencils out together and compare the shades side by side, so you can pick the one that blends with your gray.

Eye Embrace Eyebrow Pencils

The Eye Embrace Light Gray Eyebrow Pencil is made for gray, silver, or salt-and-pepper hair.

The product lets you embrace your natural coloring with light and medium-gray eyebrow pencils. The specially formulated gray pigments of the pencil easily blend with your natural coloring.

It’s a double-ended product with a pencil and spoolie brush. The Eye Embrace pencil is water and smudge-proof for brows that last all day long.

It uses the highest quality ingredients and is cruelty, talc, and gluten-free. The diamond wedge applicator offers well-defined brows.

The product comes in two types as the mechanical pencil and the classic wooden pencil. You don’t have to sharpen the mechanical pencil, just twist it to expose the mechanical pencil. The classic wooden pencil includes a sharpener.

Eyebrow pencil, sharpener and smudged tissue on a bathroom counter
A very fine tip needs short, light strokes. Press hard and you get a smudge on the tissue instead of natural hairs.

NYX Micro Brow Pencil

The NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Espresso is a retractable pencil with a very thin tip. It draws extra fine lines, so you can build up the look of natural brow hairs instead of one solid stripe.

That matters when you are covering gray. Thin, light strokes fill in sparse spots and define your shape without looking painted on.

Espresso is a deep brown, so it suits dark brown or black brows best. It comes in 12 shades, and the product is described as vegan and waterproof. If your brows are light or silvery, a softer shade will look more natural.

Because the tip is retractable, there is no sharpener to keep track of. The flip side is that the tip is very fine, so it takes a little patience to fill a wide gap. Short, light strokes work better than pressing hard.

NYX is also certified cruelty free by PETA, if that matters to you.

NYX Micro Brow Pencil

The ultra-thin NYX micro brow pencil lets you create beautiful brows and cover up gray hair at the same time.

The pencil is super precise and a great budget-friendly option for you. You can coat even the finest hairs and tinniest areas of your brows with this pencil.

The product is certified and acknowledged by PETA as a cruelty-free brand.

evpct Eyebrow Stencils Kit

The evpct Eyebrow Stencils Kit is more than a pencil. It is a small set for filling in and shaping your brows, and it comes in the Ebony shade.

In the box you get an eyebrow pencil, a liquid eyeliner, an eyebrow pomade, a dual-ended brush, and 10 eyebrow stencils. The stencils help you draw a matching shape on both sides, which is the hard part for many people.

It is made to fill in brows no matter how much hair you have, which suits brows that have turned gray or gone sparse. The formula is long lasting and water resistant, with a natural finish. It is listed at 16 hours of wear. You can build up the color if you want it stronger.

It comes in 7 shades, from Soft Brown to Dark Chocolate, so you can pick the one closest to your natural brow color. The formula is vegan and cruelty-free.

One trade-off: with this many pieces, it takes a little practice, and it is more than you need if all you want is a quick touch-up with one pencil. Water resistant is also not the same as waterproof, so a good cry or a hard scrub may smudge it.

L'Oreal Faux Brow Eyebrow Pen

The L’Oreal Paris Faux Brow is a pen rather than a pencil. It has a double-brush tip made to draw thin, hair-like strokes, so the result looks like real brow hairs and not a solid line. This one is the Dark Brunette shade.

It works well for filling sparse spots and adding shape. Start at the inner brow and use light, gentle strokes angled upward toward the arch. Then tilt the pen slightly to define the tail.

The ink formula is smudge, transfer and heat resistant, and it’s waterproof. It’s made to last up to 2 days.

The trade-off is that it’s an ink, so you need to shake it well before use and keep a light hand. Strokes go on more precisely than a soft pencil, which leaves less room to blend away a mistake. If you want a smudgy, shaded look, a pencil may suit you better.

Dark Brunette is also a fairly specific shade. It’s a better match if your brows were dark brown before the gray came in.

How to Choose an Eyebrow Pencil for Gray Hair

Anyone can use an eyebrow pencil since the range of applications for eyebrow pencils is quite diverse.

An eyebrow pencil can be used to trace the contours of the entire eyebrow and cover up gray eyebrow hair.

Consider Hair and Eye Color

Eyebrow pencils are suitable for both men and women who want to hide their eyebrow grays. The type of pencil most suitable for you will depend on your hair and skin color, as well as the volume of your eyebrow hair.

Make sure to consider your hair color when opting for the right eyebrow pencil. The color of your eyes also plays an important role when purchasing the best eyebrow pencil.

Choose Your Preferred Type

You have three options to choose from when shopping for the best eyebrow pencil to cover gray hair.

  • Eyebrow pencil with felt tip
  • Twist-out eyebrow pencil
  • Sharpenable eyebrow pencil

All these types of products have their own advantages and disadvantages. The eyebrow pencil with felt tips is a popular product on the market today. You will find several variations of the tips when buying this kind of product.

Most felt eyebrow pencils come with three or four tips. These products are waterproof and quite durable. One disadvantage is the pencil can dry out very quickly. The felt tip pencil is ideal on hot and sweaty days since it is waterproof.

The sharpenable pencil is great when it comes to highlighting your eyebrows. The lead is quite hard, and the application is easy. You should sharpen the pencil before each application since it’s easy to do so.

The twist-out eyebrow pencil can be twisted out as the name suggests. The lead is unscrewed via a thread at the middle or the end of the pencil.

The pencil has two different ends such as a fine tip and brush. The tip helps fill even small gaps with precise hair-like strokes. The disadvantage is there is little product in the pencil which can run out quickly.

Go for Precision

The pencil should be as soft as possible for better precision. A hard pencil can be irritating on the skin and difficult to apply. For example, the pencil with a felt tip is particularly precise.

On the other hand, the classic eyebrow pencil is very precise at the beginning but not guaranteed once the lead wears out.

Older woman at a kitchen table reading the side of an eyebrow pencil
Read the fine print on the pencil itself. Look for waterproof, a soft lead and no parabens before you buy.

Other Features

The hardness of the eyebrow pencil and water resistance are two important features to consider when shopping for the best eyebrow pencil to cover gray hair. If the pencil isn’t waterproof, the makeup on the brows could quickly run.

The ingredients of the pencil are also important when shopping for the best pencil on the market. Some pencils contain critical ingredients like parabens.

Parabens are preservatives that some people prefer to avoid. If they concern you, check the ingredient list, and ask your doctor if you have questions.

Wrapping Up

If you are shopping for the best eyebrow pencil for gray hair, you have come to the right place. With a host of eyebrow pencils for gray hair, choosing the best product isn’t easy.

There are many factors to consider. We looked at some eyebrow pencils for gray hair so you do not have to.

This guide provides information on some of the most important features to look for when choosing an eyebrow pencil and reviews 5 of the best products to facilitate your purchasing decision.

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Scott Grant, Certified Senior Advisor®, SHSS®

Scott Grant, Certified Senior Advisor®, SHSS®

With over 20 years of experience and certifications as a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® and Senior Home Safety Specialist (SHSS)®, Scott Grant provides reliable recommendations to help seniors maintain independence through informed product and service choices for safe, comfortable living.

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2 thoughts on “The Best Eyebrow Pencil to Cover Gray Hair”

  1. Evelena Carter

    Loved this article it gave me the answer and solution about how to fix my gray and thinning eyebrows.

    • Scott Grant

      So glad we could help!

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