I could never relate to people’s sob stories about over-plucking their brows at one of those questionable beauty parlours nestled somewhere in their neighbourhood, simply because I’ve never had brows. They’re sparse and thin, and barely visible if I don’t at least comb five sticky coats of tinted gel through them.

Sure, there are a couple of solutions like tattooing and micro-blading, if you’re more than okay with breaking your bank. Thankfully, before I could resort to such costly methods of obtaining a pair of Brooke Shield-inspired furries, I discovered mother nature’s miracle product: castor oil.

If it sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s discussed heavily in the YouTube beauty community. It’s easy to think of it as a bogus “natural remedy” that WikiHow hypes up way too often as some magical hair growth serum, but you could be dead wrong once you’ve actually given it a shot.

Apparently, it works best when mixed with aloe vera and smeared all over your barren brow area, but it’s taxing enough applying the greasy oil by itself. Plus, castor oil already has plenty of nutritional benefits on its own, as it is enriched with ricinoleic acid and omega-6 fatty acids which aid in increasing blood circulation and improving hair growth. So, really, castor oil on its own is enough.

The verdict, after slightly more than a month of applying it to my brows: it works – albeit rather slowly. My hairs are definitely darker and thicker than they were before I first started out, and while the results aren’t instantaneous – I apologise for being bratty, your gal just wants herself beautiful brows ASAP – I’d definitely recommend it to my fellow brow-baldies out there. The grapevine also says that it works on lashes, too. If you don’t feel too keen on splurging on eyelash extensions or serums that seem to come with polarising opinions, give this a shot. Or rather, give your lashes a castor shot, then tell me how it goes in the comments below.

What To Read Next: A Quick Handbook On The Different Types of Lipstick, So You’ll Never Be Left Wondering Again, Dehydrated Skin And Dry Skin Are Two Very Separate Things and Best of Beauty: Our November Favourites | Text: Katrina Capel, Cover Image: Natalyn Chan