Back Story: I think the first time I had my brows waxed, it was at a nail salon and I was probably 13.
I remember they were so much thinner than my naturally big, bushy, almost unibrow.
Tweezing was my hair removal choice for most of my teens and early 20's and I remember tweezing every night. I would stare into my little magnifying mirror and get whatever I could.
Eventually, I had weird looking eyebrows.
They were further apart than they should have been and thinner and I was trying to create more of an arch than I naturally had and so I was tweezing so much hair away.
Fast forward to when I'm in beauty school, we had to grow our hair out, so I had brows to spare but of course, you're dealing with newbies, so a few hairs not supposed to be taken off isn't abnormal in the first stages of our learning.
Anyways, I have always done my own brows but tried threading by recommendation of a friend and that wasn't great either. Going to threading bars and nail salons, I've always had bad experiences, because as a bushy brow babe, I actually do like the fullness of my brows, I just want them to be cleaned up, shaped and ready for action.
Honestly, as an esthetician, brows always scared me, because you can easily do a hack job if you're not trained well enough or not paying attention, so I always kept away from it. In opening my studio, I knew I wanted to do brows, but I didn't want to just wax brows, I wanted to customize it for everyone. Kelly Baker Brows, celebrity brow stylist, is someone who's work I really admire. She doesn't do cookie cutter brows and she knows how to fill them in to accentuate them for each client.
I decided to take a brow design course which really helped me understand the steps taken to give clients great results. In school, you're taught to just clean up the brows and not how to understand someone's face shape or seeing where their brows should be going, etc, so this course was such an eye opener to me. I learned a lot from that course and decided to add the service to my menu and since having people in for brow shapings, I LOVE IT! I get excited to do brows now and love big, bushy ones!
Now, the whole point of this blog post was to educate about brow shapings and why it's different than a brow wax and what to expect .
What is a Brow Shaping?
It's a fancy phrase for make my brows pretty, please. The whole point of a Brow Shaping is to wax, trim and tweeze the brows to look great for how they should ideally look. This is based on how your natural hair grows in, your bone structure and what you have to work with. At the end, your brows are filled in with powder or pencil, highlighter is added underneath and finished with brow gel.
A brow wax is just waxing the brows where you need them cleaned up. There's usually no trimming or tweezing involved and if any, it's minor. That's why it's a very cheap and quick service.
With a Brow Shaping, every part of it is intentional. Some hairs are left behind so that we can see where your brows grow in naturally, which is an odd idea for most people to leave some hairs behind, right? In doing so, we are creating a template for hairs to grow in. We're also trimming where we need to trim and with precision. Do you remember lifting your brow hairs and cutting? Most of us were doing it wrong. There are techniques to trimming, because if you do it wrong, you can end up with chunks missing or the brow now laying down great. Your brows are also filled in at the end with makeup. Why? Well, it just finishes the look and gives you an idea of how your eyebrows can look when cleaned up and filled in. It helps you as a client, have a reference point.
How can I grow my natural eyebrows?
You can do a few things. Castor oil is a great, cheap product to use. You just massage it into your brows at night. I carry a natural serum as well, it's the Wisp Brow & Lash Rejuvenator, which is an all natural oil blend that features hemp oil, safflower seed oil, sunflower seed oil, meadow foam oil and linoleic acid. It's $30 for that serum and you can brush it onto your brows at night, then rub it in. Another option is a brow serum, just like a lash serum, this stimulates the follicle to help with hair growth. These are much more expensive but do work well. Some serums start around $65 and go upwards of $190.
I really encourage that clients who have sparse brows or thinning brows, try using a serum in conjunction with brow appointments to see better results. Just remember that growing your natural brows will depend on different aspects. Some of us have scar tissue where no hair will ever grow back. Some of us have damaged our hair follicles from waxing or tweezing when we were younger and killing that follicle where it also won't grow hair. The process of growing your brows could take 4 months or it could take a year or more. Medications, conditions, etc can affect this as well. It's best to leave your brows alone for a few weeks before your initial brow shaping and then continue leaving them alone between appointments as well. Consultation:
Mostly, what I ask is if you want your brows to be cleaned up or if you're looking to completely reshape your brows. It's helpful to know if you fill them in daily, if you like them as full as possible, if you want them thinner, etc.
How often should I get my brows done?
For your initial appointment, try and book it for when you have about 3-4 weeks of hair growth. This gives me the best idea of how your brows grow. After the initial appointment, coming in every 3-5 weeks for Brow Maintenance appointments is ideal. After 3-5 weeks, book for a new Brow Shaping as you'll have more brow growth and we will need extra time. Some clients' hairs don't grow fast, so doing a new brow shaping every time is fine. What does a Brow Tint involve & how long can it last? A brow tint is a great addition to brow appointments. It's a vegetable based dye for your brows and lashes. It tints your hair for up to 2-3 weeks and can stain the skin around the hair for 1-3 days. Most people have the misconception that a brow tint will give them brows, but you have to have hair for the dye to stick to. If you're wanting a more semi permanent brow tint, you should opt for Henna Brows, which is a brow tint with henna that can tint the skin around a week or so, but again it's not permanent. The only permanent option is permanent makeup.
Microblading, Shading, Ombre Brows, Hybrid Brows, etc.
I have some recommendations for artists in the area if you're interested in talking to them. These services typically last 1-3 years with yearly touchups needed to maintain them, so don't be scared that they will be on your face forever. I highly recommend talking to the artist and asking as many questions as you have and then maybe do a consultation and they may be able to do a drawing for you to see what it may look like. I've never had it done, but from seeing clients with them, it does look fairly natural if you go to a reputable artist who knows their stuff. BROW SHAPING $30 (First Appt or after 5 weeks from last appt) BROW MAINTENANCE $20 (Every 3-5 weeks)
TWEEZE ONLY SHAPING $40 (First Appt or after 5 weeks from last appt) TWEEZE ONLY MAINTENANCE $25 (Every 3-5 weeks)
BROW TINT $20 or $15 when added to another service