Ask The Expert: Overplucked Eyebrows
This month we’ve asked the lovely Chloe from Woodlands Woolton to be our Expert. Chloe is a beauty therapist AND makeup artist, so we think she’s pretty well equipped to give advice on an eyebrow incident...
Help! I attempted to shape my eyebrows myself using tweezers but I’ve done a terrible job and now they’re too thin and quite uneven, what do I do???
Chloe: Argh, nightmare! Shaping your own brows can be a tricky business and I’ve seen lots of clients who have ended up with skinny or misshapen brows after being a bit too heavy handed with the tweezers. Don’t worry though, all is not lost!
The first thing to do is to step away from the tweezers! It’s so tempting to keep trying to even out your brows but you’ll never get them looking identical and the more you try, the thinner they’ll get and the longer it will take for them to grow back. Instead, be patient - they will grow, eventually. If they’re dramatically different and you don’t want to leave them as they are, the best option is to see a professional. Pop in to Woodlands and myself or another member of the team should be able to even them out using tweezers or wax and a bit of tint. But remember, your eyebrows are meant to be sisters, not twins, so don’t worry if they aren’t exactly the same.
Tinting can really help when you’re trying to bulk up thin brows as the tint will cling to not just the brow hairs, but also any of the little light hairs in the area, which will help to make your brows look a bit fuller. At Woodlands, we also sometimes apply a tiny bit of tint to the skin at the edges of the eyebrow, which will just help to make the shape a bit more defined. Don’t worry, it won’t look weird!
While you’re waiting for the hairs to grow back in, a brow product can be used to fill in any gaps and add definition. Eyebrows are big business right now, so a visit to your nearest Boots or Superdrug should give you plenty of options when it comes to powders, pomades and pencils designed especially for the eyebrows. For very thin brows, it’s best to apply product with a light hand, as a lot of heavy dark powder or thick pencil strokes will look obvious and unnatural. Anastasia Beverly Hills is the makeup brand for brows and their Brow Wiz is a cult product, with a tiny pencil tip at one end to create precise hair strokes, and a spoolie (eyebrow brush) at the other end to brush your own brow hairs into place. For a dupe that’s just a fraction of the price of the Brow Wiz, try the Precise Brow Pencil from Revolution, which is extremely similar but nearly £20 cheaper!
If it feels like it’s taking forever for the hairs to grow back, you can help them along a bit by investing in a lash and brow enhancing serum. There are a number of these on the market, including Elizabeth Arden Prevage and LiLash/LiBrow. They’re usually fairly pricey as they contain various active ingredients to condition and boost the hairs, but they do make a big difference to the hair growth.
While the hairs grow back in, you'll probably find that the re-growth is quite random with hairs popping up all over the eyebrow area. At this point, you might might start itching to get those tweezers out to tidy things up, but don’t! It obviously depends on your hair and how quickly it grows, but I would recommend leaving the brows for at least a couple of months. If you really can’t leave them alone, again, let a professional tidy them up instead of attempting to do it yourself. If you explain that you’re trying to grow your eyebrows out, your beauty therapist will know to just take those outermost “straggly” hairs and leave the bulk of the hairs to grow back in. Again, they can also use tint to help give more shape and definition, and make sure everything’s looking a bit more uniform. Once you’ve got a good amount of re-growth, regular shaping sessions with a beauty therapist will help to get everything back in order. Gradually you’ll see your eyebrows return to their former glory, and with the help of a professional, they’ll probably look even better than they did before!
