The Eyebrow Thread, all you need to know and ask about your arches

[carysss]

ooh, interesting, let me know how the talika lipocils work out, michyed - i may have to give it a try as it's an affordable option!
Guessgirl96 - is latisse still prescription only? glad to hear it's been successful for you!
and Sav_, i must say i'm a bit wary of the tinter too - i wouldn't mind my eyebrows being slightly darker but i'm not sure how they'd end up looking.. hmm!

 

[Guessgirl96]

it is prescription only but there are a number of places you can order it online without a prescription. Any doctor can give it out so you can just get it at your next check up. It's $120-140 but 1 drop is enough for both lashes and brows and it will last you forever. I've been using my bottle for 4 months even though I've accidentally spilled several times and theres still more left. So I'm guessing it'll last 5-6 months.

 

[classicalbang]

This probably goes without saying, but many people I know do not realize the importance of trimming eyebrows. Mine had been looking weird lately; then I remembered it was because they hadn't been trimmed in awhile.

For some reason I cannot do it on my own, though. I always ask someone else do it for me. Anyone have tips on how to trim them yourself? (Sorry if this is a stupid question. )

 

[Guessgirl96]

This probably goes without saying, but many people I know do not realize the importance of trimming eyebrows. Mine had been looking weird lately; then I remembered it was because they hadn't been trimmed in awhile.

For some reason I cannot do it on my own, though. I always ask someone else do it for me. Anyone have tips on how to trim them yourself? (Sorry if this is a stupid question. )

I agree its hard to do it on your own, I cant angle the scissors properly myself.

 

[Echoes]

For some reason I cannot do it on my own, though. I always ask someone else do it for me. Anyone have tips on how to trim them yourself? (Sorry if this is a stupid question. )

Remember what Ginger Rogers said about dancing with Fred Astaire (paraphrased) -- "I do everything he does, but backwards and in heels".


That's how you trim your brows, backwards and in the mirror.

 

[michyed]

Update on the talika brow lipocils... It's only been half a month and it's made my eyebrows grow WAY longer than I had anticipated. They've made improvements in thickness and fullness... but length DAMN!

I also used some on my eyelashes and holy crap it works better than the lipocils for eyelashes!!!

 

[StellaMare]

I stopped plucking my eyebrows entirely a few months ago, and honestly I like them much better now. I was scared to not care for them in the beginning, but now I know all that plucking was pointless. Mine are quite light anyway.

 

[Sav_]

Okay so update on Ardell: actually made my eyebrows MORE sparse because of the rough mascara-like wand. Stopped using.


Next up I'm trying Damone Roberts Brow Gain. Anyone tried this one? It's gotten pretty good reviews so I'm hopeful.


michyed, I might have to try that for my eyelashes! Update us again if you can

 

[ohoh609]

i am thinking of dying my eyebrows lighter, they were a bit darker than my hair to begin with, but now that i have high lights i think they look kinda weird because now they look wayy darker...i have brown hair and i read that if you have dark hair your eyebrows should be a couple shades lighter than your hair....i dont know if it's worth the trouble tho...

 

[Esperanza]

^ i have that same problem, my hair has streaks through it and is quite light, but my eyebrows are very very dark, i want to dye them too but dont know where to start.

 

[MimiV]

I used to use YSL's eyebrow pencil, but I've learned that it's much easier to create a natural dark brow-look with normal brown eyeshadow . I've been thinking about dying them for a long time, but since they are slightly asymmetrical I'm scared that the dy will will draw attention to the asymmetri..

 

[gius]

i really want a new eyebrow shape ..

my eyebrows are very weird.. they look fine up close but when you see me from a distance, and especially under certain lightings, they look quite angry.. like mariacarla's. pointing down

i want something straighter like anne-catherine's... and pointing slightly upwards

style.com | stylosophy.it


i don't want to just draw them.. i think it will be too obvious it's makeup (and i'm not a girl...). so i've been thinking of getting faux eyebrows like nu-brow.com or headcovers.com
and then just trimming them somehow...

any suggestions?

 

[kissablekae]

this post is for gius

it’s a three post-er because its very long…

1 : Techniques & Tools
this is an updated brow timeline, it's more comprehensive than previous one on post #871, but refer to old post for details on the bleaching process.

from Aug 08 to July 09, I gradually went from my natural dark brown hair to light blonde so i had to lighten my brows. i was in the salon once a month and i did my brows once a month to compliment my hair. i experimented a lot with coloring my brows because i wanted to see what looked best with my hair & face and im always down for change

i don’t consider myself a 'brow girl', im not big on brow makeup because i prefer more natural looking brow texture(i don’t like the made up look on myself). Other than bleaching&tinting them to go with my hair color changes, they are pretty low maintenance. Whatever the change, I like my brows to look good on their own and that flatters my features without the necessity of makeup.

there are four different Techniques i used in order. So as my hair got lighter i had to change my technique so it started at 1 then progressed to 2 then 3 and so on to 4.
1) no bleach and tinted with hair dye
2) bleach and tinted with root touch up color(hair dye)
3) bleach and tinted with semi permanent dye at Salon & Spa
4) bleach and tinted with 'permanent' brow tint

tools / salon or at home?
1) hair dye-salon
2) bleach-home / hair dye-salon
3) bleach-home / semi brow tint-salon&spa
4) bleach-home / perm brow tint-home

the Tools in detail :
* all hair dyes are the same base or root touch up colors my hairdressers used on my hair ex. Light Ash Brown, Dark Ash Blonde etc
* Jolen Creme Bleach (for the best base, bleach past the orange to light blonde)
* Roux Lash & Brow Tint in Brown (for lighter brown, dilute : one drop Roux to four drops water)
* Maybelline Define-A-Brow in Light Blonde (ideal for Ash blondes)
* Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper Creme-Gel in Blonde (Neutral-Ash)
(^ my best advice for Bleaching and Tinting by yourself is to follow the directions provided very carefully. keep an eye on your brows, add more to your time if necessary to get past the orange. don’t be afraid to practice but pleaseeeee listen to your instincts : it shouldn’t hurt! i can answer whatever questions about getting the best color results but it really depends on your hair color/type etc)

product photos sources coincide with where i/you can purchase

Jolen – Walgreens or your local drugstore

Roux – Sally Beauty or your local beauty supply

Maybelline – Maybelline, anywhere they sell Maybelline

Bobbi Brown – Bobbi Brown, Macys, Nordstrom

 

[kissablekae]

POST 2 : Brow Timeline 08

so i started with my natural dark brown hair and soft black brows.
ready for the ch ch ch changes?

August 08
My hair color change(on my head) : light brown with subtle ash blonde highlights
technique : 1
makeup tools : none
my comments : this is not going to give you really a big change. For me, it only showed in some photos depending on if there was good lighting. i have pretty thick straight hair but it dyes fairly easily, I think because it’s not coarse.

September-October 08
My hair color : light brown base with more highlights, this time with golden-strawberry blonde highlights
Technique : 2
Makeup tools : none
my comments : i bleached the night before i went to salon for touch ups, the result matched my golden-strawberry blonde hair.

November-December 08
My hair color : transitioning from Golden Blonde to Ash Blonde
technique : 2 bleach before dye
makeup tools : none
my comments : this what i consider a good base color to bleach for brows before tinting, you don’t have to go as light but leaving brows orangey will give you more orangey results. You can leave it a bit more yellow if you’d like but I like a cool base. It’s like the same advice given on hair color boxes…makes sense, yes?

All photos are of me by me

 

[kissablekae]

POST 3 : Brow Timeline 09

January-February 08
My hair color : dirty ash blonde
technique : 2 and 3
makeup tools : none
my comments : when my base color(im guessing Light Ash Brown) was still dark enough to provide a softly defined brow which i really loved because it was dark enough to frame my face and make my eyes *pop*. Around this time I dabbled in technique 3 semi-permanent vegetable dye brow tint for a short while but because the results were redder(not shown in photos), I much preferred the hair dye because the results were ashier/cooler. ***Plus brow tints are about $20 a session not including a tip(if you tip and you should if you live in the US…) which can add up. its cheaper to tint your self, my Roux brow tint kit that will probably last me forever was about $39 before tax. The Roux kit had better results too, truer brown.

March-April 09
My hair color : still dirty ash blonde but lighter and more solid blonde every month
technique : back to 2 kinda lol...i explain in comments.
makeup tools : Bobbi Brown Brown Gel mainly, Maybelline brow pencil sparingly-only where necessary
my comments : i was still bleaching the night before salon appt and tinting with my root touch up color at the salon...but my base color had gotten even lighter probably a Dark Ash Blonde so sometimes it wouldn’t take very well or at all. so i mainly i used Bobbi Brown Brow gel to deepen and Maybelline pencil occasionally but only where i needed…I don’t think its necessary to pencil in all of my brows since they are fairly full, I find it very easy to go groucho!

May-July 09
My hair color : May, no more dirty blonde but completely blonde - Light Ash Blonde
June - Medium Ash Blonde
July - fade back to Light Ash Blonde
technique : 4
makeup tools : none
my comments : i bleached myself and tinted with Roux in brown. with the ability to tint my brows myself, i could touch up more often than every four weeks at the salon. word of warning, the brown is a dark brown. it was way too dark for my hair so i waited and let my brows rest then rebleached and tinted with the diluted 1:4 ratio(see POST 1) and voila!

July 09
My hair color : back to Dark Ash Brown, fresh out of the salon in first photo so it looks black but it’s brown in the second.
technique : 4
makeup tools : none
my comments : first photo, diluted light brown Roux tint mixed with my natural regrowth. Second photo, tinted with Roux undiluted(no bleaching obviously).

August 09
My hair color : still Dark Ash Brown
Technique : none, no more tint after July
Makeup tools : Maybelline pencil, Bobbi Brown gel
My comments : for a night out with strong eyes, I still use my blonde brow products to soft defined brows.

FIN.

I will gladly answer any questions you guys have regarding the details of the process, the tools etc

All photos are of me by me

 

[kissablekae]

sorry im going to post again but im responding to gius's last post

do you mean point down in the the front of the brow? you can tweeze a bit from the bottom so it doesnt go down as much. i actually like it when brows follow the bridge slightly. i have it if it allow it lol! my sister wants it but her brows dont grow that way.

 

[gius]

thanks so much for this comprehensive post, kissablekae ! so happy to see real results. seems you wrote that the bleach when applied once on black hair does have a yellow/orange tinge to it? so you recommended applying the bleach twice to get rid of it. it would be neat if it turned a little softer black or grey, like some lucky asians get to have...


the question about my eyebrows.. yes they do point down at the front. i think it's also the shape of my eye sockets that when the light hits it and creates a lot of harsh shadows, the shadows join in with my eyebrow at the front and lengthen the eyebrow.. making it look like i'm angry. they are a little more severe than mariacarla's in the photo, so if i were to pluck a little at the bottom, i would have to pluck enough so that it doesn't create that sharp downward dive. in the end i would have a thick eyebrow going to very thin at the front... and that would look a bit weird. so, i'm thinking of somehow adding more hair to the front at the nose but much higher than the original eyebrow
i've actually had many, really terrible experiences with people and my eyebrows so i'm quite desperate in having new ones!

 

[kissablekae]

i don’t find my natural brows hard to bleach even though they are fairly dark/full-enough that i can go without makeup and still have noticeable brows and enough to frame my face.

i haven’t bleached my brows in a while but my guess would be it takes 10-15 mins to reach the desired blonde stage(starting from natural color). i only do one session, it does go orange first then yellow then blonde so you just have to keep it on till it does. multiple sessions all in one time period can irritate skin so its best to wait till the next day or many hours later and clean skin completely before a second session. use a gentle cleanser on the brows after bleaching and before tinting. if you can help it do the bleach the night before, wash skin thoroughly with gentle cleanser like Purpose then the next morning do the tint.

its ideal to start on a fresh canvas-completely natural, or if they have been tinted, the tint is fairly even. if its half natural dark regrowth at the root but ends are still light brown or something then there maybe be problems with getting an even result/good base. but its not impossible but its just a different technique, concentrate the bleach only on the darkest areas by carefully applying on the roots and not the 'ends' where its already light. it takes practice and patience. even if its not perfect, the tint can cover it as long as the base isnt starkly different like black&white.

of course i have to say this. before trying bleach on your brows, do a test on your inner arm or neck or somewhere hairless(i actually dont have hair on my arms lol) just to see if you skin can handle bleach. definitely wouldnt want to allergic reaction while its on your face already. and sit by the mirror and check every minute or so by moving the bleach around or you can scrape it off completely with the plastic spatula provided onto the little handy dandy white palette paper thing that comes with Jolen kit. if your brows arent light enough just put what you have on the palette back on your brows, wait a few mins and take it off again till you get to the desired color.

if you are starting from either lightened brows already or half regrowth brows/half lightened&tinted brows that blend well and arent super calico then it might not take long to bleach, probably 5 mins to 'lift'. the Ash toned root touch ups/Roux tint(not as red as Semi-permanent Veggie dye) lift very nicely, i hardly have problems with going red/orangey because the colors are Cool to begin with.

hmm i wouldnt recommend straight bleach if you want softer black or grey(my sisters have soft grey brows naturally, im the odd ball) because hair typically doesnt lighten that way. all Brunettes have red bases even if your hair doesnt appear reddish at all. Roux makes a black tint as well, i think best would be to bleach to blonde then dilute the Roux black with the 1:4 ratio. remember you can always add more tint later. its a pain in the a** to go too dark and have to 'lift' again and redo the whole process. too many trial and error steps can lead to irritated skin even if temporary i would avoid the headache.

i think it depends on how high maintenance a person. i dont consider myself to be but being a Light Blonde is inherently high maintenance(if you are naturally dark haired)! if you arent then of course the results arent pretty like when you wait past four weeks to touch up roots or are lazy about touching up bleach/tint. so if you guys wanna go lighter, i suggest not go too extreme because regrowth will be a real pain!

i think tweezing&trimming is great if you want to change you shape a little. i never waxed before, every little hair makes a huge difference so im not about to let some stranger near my face. looking back at old pictures of myself as a kid au naturelle, my brows are very different but its the same general idea... but i really think gradually tweezing can train the brows how to grow/fall perfectly. i agree it may look weird if the front of your brows get too thin.

i dont have problem with guys wearing makeup at all but like girls they have to be very dedicated to it. the one day you dont wear makeup, people will notice. thats why i strive brows that will look good when i wakeup in the morning when i go swimming, when it rains, or having lazy days. bleach&tint can seem high maintenance but one session can last a month versus makeup you have to wear daily.

gius, your description of your brows remind me of Wes Bentley whose brows are so distinct and unique to me but i love them on him. it makes him stand out in a good way.

source of Wes photo : brocknyla.typepad

 

[gius]

thank you for the advice.. the bleach technique i'll save for part #2 of my plan to change the eyebrows.. i will most likely not go the makeup route as there's too much maintenance i agree (even my own hair on the top of my head i don't give a lot of attention to lol)

there was a show on Rachael Ray called Human Lab: Faux hair. it aired jan 20 2009. if anyone had seen it, please let me know.. One of the products they were testing/reviewing were the nu-brow faux eyebrows with adhesive. The only thing I don't like is that it's a full brow, as opposed to mine where the hairs are a bit sparse


i think wes bentley's eyes match really well with his brows.. they look very good. mine are even more severe than that.. more like this girl's

it's shocking^ when i see myself in photos and i am not in a bad mood, and then i look like her in the second photo.

and here's a shot of her where the eyebrows don't look as severe (bottom).. it's like that with mine too. it's a little sad that they only get scary when you are a little far away or looking down at me (like all tall people have to do)... they are a bit unpredictable, i don't always know when i look mad. so... if i were to change the shape and straighten them, when a person sees me up close, my eyebrows will even higher than usual ...but hopefully it won't look all that weird.

(pmst)

 

[kissablekae]

oh no problem

i still think tweezing and/or trimming is the best option but just not a lot. do it very gradually over a period of weeks or longer and see how it looks in photos. then you will know when to stop and not to the point where it gets too thin. it looks like hers has been trimmed in the front. gius, have you tried that?

actually there are quite a few videos on brow extentions on youtube, you should check that out