Half of us us have been living life in lockdown for months. The other half are probably making the most of their time out in the sun, and are finding themselves consistently time poor. Whatever your situation is, professional brow appointments are not always easy to get to and, we can all do with some at-home brow care advice
Kim Evans is a verified brow expert. She's a celebrity brow stylist and also the founder of Lux Brows & Lashes - and she was kind enough to share her expertise with those of us looking for ways to tame or trim our eyebrows at home. Her key take away: "If you are up for growing your brows out, now is the perfect time to do it." But if that's not for you, find her tips to tweezing and shaping below.
Should we even be trying to maintain our brows right now? Or best to let them grow until we can get back to our aestheticians?
If you are up for growing your brows out, now is the perfect time to do it. Don't try and recreate your own brow shape, leave brow sculpting to the professionals. The best thing you can do for your brows right now is grow them out and use minimal tweezing only when absolutely necessary.
Is there a particular guide, trick or shape to follow if you are someone that does want to maintain brows at home? Is there a shape that is easiest to maintain?
Everyone's brow shape is slightly different, you may have a small patch of hair that doesn't grow quite as well as the rest of your brows, so it's really important no matter what brow shape you are you don't become tweezer happy and end up back with brows representative of the 60s!
If you're absolutely insistent on maintaining your brows at home, you MUST map out your brows with a white pencil first. Inside that white line is a no go zone, you do not cross that mapped out white line with your tweezers. Do not go overboard!
If you are maintaining your brows at home, is it better to use wax or tweezer? Or even a face epilator?
I would recommend tweezing, making sure your tweezers are on an angle and you pull the hair in the direction of the hair growth. If you don't follow this golden rule, you will be breaking and damaging your delicate brow hairs . Home brow waxing is fraught with danger, a slip of the wax and it ends in tears, same said for the epilator.
Where is best to do this? Natural light? In the bathroom? With a magnifying mirror?
Good natural light is essential when you're attempting to maintain your brows at home. Again, I stress YOU MUST map and outline your brows with a white pencil. A magnifying mirror is a fabulous addition if you have one.
Would you say tweeze sparingly or tweeze regularly? I've heard both sets of advice in the past.
Do not tweeze regularly, if you tweeze your unwanted hair growth every few days, the hair will be at all different growth stages and the idea is to get all the unwanted hair into the same growth cycle the reason, so you've not got hair growing through every day and the need to tweeze every few days. Your brows will be a lot cleaner, without new hairs poking through daily as will your skin.
Do you have any major no-nos? Things we definitely shouldn't be doing right now? How do you feel about at-home tinting kits or lamination kits?
I would definitely not recommend home brow lamination kits, brow lamination is a professional only in salon service. Breakage and weakening of the brow hairs occurs when you over stretch and over process the delicate brow hairs. If you damage the hair follicle there's a chance it might not grow back for quite some time or if at all.
Home tinting is less risky to be performed at home ensuring you follow the safety measures, the main risk with eyebrow tinting is an allergic reaction (as the skin is thinner around the eye). Tinting doesn't damage the hairs or the follicles when performed correctly. BUT if you can, again my advice is leave it to the professionals, in my experience most people will choose a tint colour darker than required and you're a long time with slugs for eyebrows.
If you’re after the look of brow lamination at home, instead opt for using a brow soap which will give you beautiful fluffy brows, without any risk factors.
What's your best tip to at-home brow care?
Brow care starts with daily brow health. Begin by wiping clean your brows daily giving your delicate brow hairs the best chance to grow. Brush your eyebrows daily with a brush and spoolie and don't forget brow hairs need conditioner too - apply a hydrating, natural brow serum regularly. For serious brow health, apply a Brow Styling Soap daily which contains the added goodness of Coconut, Castor, Olive and Jojobo oil. Brow health is compromised by many factors: nutrient deficiencies, Eczema/psoriasis/dermatitis, Thyriod issues, stress/anxiety, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, alopecia, trichotillomania, chemotherapy, ageing. Love and look after your brows by giving them the best chance possible.