If my brows and I were stranded on a desert island, this is the only product we’d take

Shortly after I’d resigned myself to my slightly wonky-looking fate, celebrity eyebrow artist Joey Healy introduced me to his namesake Brow Lacquer ($28), and the game was changed forever. Healy has worked on the brows of A-listers like Hilaria Baldwin and Vanessa Hudgens (and, on two of the best days of my life, Z-lister me), and has his own line of products to keep their (and everyone else’s) brows on fleek between appointments. I like to refer to the lacquer as my “triple-threat” brow product, because with one swipe it does all of the things that I normally need three different products to use. It slicks my rogue cowlick hairs in the right direction while defining each hair, and actually holds them in place all day long. Plus, it fills in the bald spot with the perfect amount of pigment. Healy recently assured me that when my brows eventually start to go grey (which, apparently, is a thing), the color is opaque enough to keep me covered.

I have brows so dark they’re almost black, and one of the most important tricks that Healy taught me during our time together (that I will also carry with me to a desert island) was to opt for a shade slightly lighter than my natural one in order to lighten things up. So, I’ve been filling them in with the “Fawn” colored lacquer, which is one of four shades in the collection, And, in the words of my fellow beauty editor Rachel, “they look out-of-control amazing.” (Thanks, Rach!).

The product may pack a lot of punch, but using it is just about as easy as it gets. “Sweep it through your brows, focusing on front wisps and end of tails,” Healy says of the right way to apply. “Gently graze individual hairs to coat; apply more pressure where you want to fill. A little goes a long way. Brush upward at a 45-degree angle, and use the edge of your finger or a slightly moistened Q-tip to fix any mistakes.” And voilà—perfect brows all day long, whether you’re stranded on a desert island, or, you know, at your desk.

Here are five tricks for how to get gorgeous, natural brows. Plus, what happened when one W+G editor got hers microbladed.