"Believe it or not, we're all born with the brow shape that best suits our face," says make-up artist Bobbi Brown. That might be so, but I've been plucking mine for so long that I can't remember what their natural shape is. This season, though, I'll be giving my brows a break, as fashion has finally dictated that thick brows are back.

The only problem is that, while trying to grow them back, my brows look a bit of a mess. I've tried to thicken them with pencils, but the blacks are too harsh and the browns just the wrong colour. On the advice of a friend, I've been filling them in using powders (usually eyeshadows) rather than pencils, with varying results.

Now the make-up company Brenda Christian has come up with the Universal Brow Definer (available in the UK from Sylvia Lewis, 020-7491 4919), which, it claims, is the perfect colour match for anyone, "ranging from Swedish Blond to African Ebony". So, with one eyebrow raised in disbelief, I tried it out. Grey in colour, it looks much like a normal eyebrow pencil, but Christian says that it will "mix with the natural pH of your skin to give you your own natural colour eyebrows". Quite what pH has to do with hair colour, I don't know, but I'll give anything that promises to be "universal" a go.

The pencil "has been designed to make the hair strokes fatter at the base, thinning to the end, just like natural brow hair", and it really does work. Rather than going on as a colour, it seems to emphasise the hairs that are already there, leaving you with thicker-looking brows, instead of an obvious black line. And if you think £11.50 is too much for a pencil, try powders instead. The effect is much softer, and though many black women have very dark hair, it's not necessarily jet black. Don't try to draw a line, however: just fill in the gaps with an eyebrow brush and set with a quick press of face powder.

Alternatively, buy a special eyebrow kit, most of which come with a compact mirror, several shades of browns and a black. The brow powder duo by Laura Mercier in brunette has a good dark brown and a black, but the best all-rounder is the Dark brow kit from Prescriptives, which has three shades and comes with a brush and tweezers.