Helen Mirren, 72, reveals getting eyebrow tattoos are the secret to her youthful looks

: "I’ll tell you what I had done recently, which I love — I got my eyebrows tattooed.

"I was fed up of my brows barely being there and when one of my girlfriends got it done, I thought that they looked great.

"They’re very lightly and delicately done  - but it means that when I get up in the morning and I have no make-up on, at least I have eyebrows.

"It’s made a huge difference."

Despite her "sex symbol" tag, the actress recently revealed she finds the idea "tacky" and explained how she struggled to accept herself due to image insecurities in her youth.

Dame Helen, who is currently filming an action-packed Luc Besson film next year, told magazine what it was like to be viewed as an object of desire.

And the performer, who has famously played Queen Elizabeth, seemed to regret that men like 50 Cent have lusted after her.

On being a "sex symbol", she said: "I've had to come to terms with it over a long period of time, luckily it's fading now."

Reflecting on how being a pin-up affected her life, she added: "It's rather ghastly isn't it, the thought of all these weird strangers.

"I've always found it a very tacky and unpleasant tag but it's one I had to kind of grit my teeth and bear for a long time."

And she says that she's not anxious about ageing - but she envies the vast array opportunities given to younger actors.

"I do wish I was 30 now, not because I wish I was 30!" she said.

"Not that, but I want to have more of my life in the world we're going to have for the next 40 or 50 years for women.

"I just want to experience this world as a younger person."