Growing out your brows takes two things: patience and accepting things might look a lot worse before they get a lot better. After abandoning the pruning and putting down the tweezers to let them – finally – breathe, enough is enough.
Knowing what to do with your brows can be exhausting, especially now that they are all grown out. With no foreseeable eyebrow appointment in the future, Voir Fashion has pinned down and grilled Leeds brow specialist, founder of Badgal Brows Academy and Salon, Natalie Della-Verde, with our burning questions on how to achieve the best brows we can.
Whether you want your brows fluffy and feathered or lengthened and thicker, Natalie shares helpful tips to hold us down until further notice.
1). What are the do’s and don’ts for growing out your brows?
If you’re growing out your brows to create a fuller shape or want a bushier brow, my advice is to leave the brows alone. No plucking just groom with a spoolie or clear brow gel. This will help shape the brows into the desired position. If you want to make the brows appear thicker use a brow mascara/brow gel. This will apply a coat just like mascara does with our lashes on each of the brow hairs.
A great way of hiding the regrowth without removing it yourself is concealing underneath the brows. Not only does it make the arch more defined, it also conceals the pesky little hairs that you are tempted to pluck.
2). There are many myths that household products that can help growth, are any of these true? Should we be using products to help speed up growth? Is this even possible?!
There is scientific evidence that some household products can help with growth. Some of the main ones are castor oil, rosemary oil, and other organic butters.
Research has found that Ricinoleic Acid (which makes up 90% of castor oil) can promote hair growth! Studies have found that Rosemary oil can treat hair loss and aid in hair growth. BADGAL brows also has brow balm which has been specifically formulated for eyebrows available to buy online. This organic botanical formula includes castor oil, rosemary oil and other botanical oils and butters. This formula provides conditioning, nourishment and promotes hair growth for brows.
3). How can we avoid ingrown eyebrow hairs?
I don’t recommend waxing at home. It’s too risky and removing even a few hairs accidentally from the bulb, arch or tail could end up in a brow disaster! Always get a qualified brow tech to do it. If done correctly, you won’t get ingrown hairs on your brow area. At BADGAL Brows we use a 10-step method to give you your dream brows. This includes exfoliation before waxing which removes dead skin cells. To avoid ingrown hairs after waxing you may gently exfoliate the area twice a week. This removes dead skin cells from the epidermis and clears the way to expose the hairs, to avoid making them ingrown.
4). After growing out your brows, would you recommend threading, waxing or simply home plucking them yourself to keep maximum growth?
I don’t recommend waxing or threading at home – unless you are trained to do so! I would simply advise to pluck underneath the brow following the natural shape of the brow and leave the top of your brows alone! Pencil or powder your brow in the way you like them and use that as the shape. You may then pluck one hair at a time from outside the shape.
5). Opinions on trimming brows?
Currently, at BADGAL Brows we hardly ever trim brows. This is because the fluffy brow is a major high fashion at the moment. It’s more about the fluff and carefree look rather than perfectly preened look, but it’s a personal preference. If you have always trimmed your brows but love the fluffy brow look, leave them to grow and style with a spoolie.
Images taken from the @badgal.brows Instagram account
6). How long is a good time to wait when attempting to grow out your brows?
The brow growth cycle can take up to four months, so I suggest to leave them alone as long as possible! You can still attend your brow appointments in between this to maintain shape. You will need to consider that hairs do not grow uniformly, and various factors can affect hair growth such as hormonal changes, age, health, diet and stress. So, keeping a healthy lifestyle is important to maintain good brows.
7). Can tinting also help to make brows appear thicker?
Tinting or Henna is great for making brows appear to be thicker. It grabs on to tiny vellus hairs and puts pigment into the hair lasting up to six weeks with some brands. Henna is more popular as it lasts longer on the hairs. I don’t recommend tinting at home, but if you must tint your brows at home, always do a patch test and read the instructions fully.
8). Advice for the over-pluckers amongst us who are struggling to grow back what we once had?
I would advise put the tweezers down and step away from your eyebrows. Don’t pluck for at least four months and apply castor oil (or BADGAL Brows Brow Balm) every night. You can also consider permanent makeup for results that can last between 12 -24 months. The permanent makeup industry has evolved massively in the last few years and there are many different options to choose from depending on your taste.
Two of the more popular choices are: microblading if you prefer the hair strokes look; or ombre brows if you prefer the powdered make-up look. Make sure you look for a fully qualified brow technician to perform any treatments – check reviews and previous work on social media. Before you book in with anyone, always ask to see pictures of their healed results!
9). Are there any tips or tricks for helping with dimensions when trying to shape your own brows?
As a brow expert, I teach and use a brow mapping technique. If you are shaping brows at home, my tip is to always work out where a brow should start, arch and end. A quick and easy way to do this is to grab a ruler, a piece of pre-inked mapping string – which you can get hold of on our website – and follow these steps:
1). Take a ruler /mapping string and hold from your cupids bow straight up to the centre of your brow and make a mark. You will use this as a guide to ensure that your brows are equal in length.
2). Take the ruler/mapping string and hold from the centre of your nostril to the inner corner of your eye and make a mark. This should be where your brows start. Use the centre line that you have made to ensure that the start of each brow is equally distanced from the centre and make any adjustments if needed.
3). Next, you need to mark where your arch should be. Look straight ahead in a mirror and hold the ruler/ mapping string from the outside nostril through the centre of your eye. Make a mark on your brows as this will be where the arch should be.
4). Lastly, you take the ruler/ mapping string – again from the outer nostril, but this time hold up to the outer corner of your eye. This is where the tail of the brow should be.
These marks will be the template for brows that will start, arch and end in the right place. They will be in proportion to your face and help you shape your eyebrows perfectly until you can next visit your brow technician.
Use this as a guide:
To have a look at Natalie Della-Verde’s amazing transformations and even more tips and tricks, be sure to follow her on Instagram at @badgal.brows.
Words by Amy Arfi
Graphics by Katie Janes
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