Over the past couple of years bold brows have become a beauty must-have. Thick, defined and face-framing, the new eye brow shapes are full and luscious. Unfortunately, the trend that preceded bold brows was thin barely-there brows, and many of us are still paying the price of having overplucked our brows in the late 90s and early noughties.
If you’ve well and truly bungled your brows, there’s a few things you can do to minimise the damage until you can get them back on track.
1. Step away from the mirror
Turn off the lights and put your tweezers away. If your brows are already in bad shape no amount of plucking is going to make the situation better. The best thing you can do now is to cleanse your face, moisturise, pop on a nourishing oil and avoid touching your eye brows at all costs.
2. Let them grow back in
Although every one is different, eye brows generally take around six to eight weeks to grow back. However, there are many brow growth products on the market that you can applying while you wait for the hairs to grow back in. Look for products that have amino acids, peptides and biotin which encourage the follicle to produce hair.
3. In the meantime…
Find some brow products that you’re comfortable using, such as a pencil, brow gel, or powder, to fill in the sparse hair while you wait for more to grow in. remember to use light, feathered strokes to get a natural looking finish.
4. Pick a shape
Do some research on the kinds of brows you would like to have, and work out what shape would best complement your features, and that you’re happy to maintain. People with long face shapes should choose wide square brows that will soften and widen the face. Those with round face shapes should go with a high arch that helps elongate and soften the face; those with a square face can sport a dramatic brow that complements their features. Heart-shaped faces should keep their brows no more than one inch apart to lengthen the face; and finally, those with diamond face shapes should keep brows rounded at the front and tapered at the end.
5. See a professional
Now that your brows have grown back in and you’ve become somewhat of an expert at disguising your distressed face-framers, it’s time to see the help of a professional. A professional brow shaper can advise you on the best shape of brow to suit your face, and put together a plan for you to follow in order to achieve, and maintain, that shape.
6. If you really don’t have the money or time to see a professional
Keep at-home maintenance to an absolute minimum. Avoid waxing yourself as you’ll likely end up right back where you started, and waxed hair takes longer o grow back than plucked hair. Instead, try to work with the natural shape you have, and only pluck stray hairs that appear beneath the brow, and between your brows towards the bride of your nose.
You might also like:
Things you need to know before you get your brows done
Pro tips for shaping your brows yourself
How to grow your eyebrows back faster