Have you been thinking about taking care of your eyebrows at home? We know that some beauty routines like your regular eyebrow waxing and trim have been sacrificed because of physical distancing. Eyebrow maintenance is an important step to any beauty routine and if you have been feeling like Frida Kahlo, we want to help. When it comes to grooming, we went to the expert to find out how you can maintain your brows without creating a disaster. Brittni Alexandra is the owner of Toronto’s B.Beautiful Studio. She is a certified aesthetician in both Canada and the U.S. with five certifications for brows. Here are her guidelines on where you should and shouldn’t tweeze.
The Green Zone
For the best results, start with sharp, clean tweezers. If your tweezers are getting dull on the ends, it is time to replace them. You can sterilize your tweezers using rubbing alcohol.
Hair that grows at least 3 cm above your natural brow line is in the green zone to pluck. For the middle hairs, located close to the bridge of your nose, start right at the centre and then move your way towards your brows. Pluck one hair, stand back, assess and then go back for another. Plucking the wrong hair can make a big difference.
The hairs that lead past the side of your eyes are in the green zone to pluck. When in doubt, leave them. This is the perfect time to work on growing back brows that you may have over-tweezed. It usually takes 6-8 weeks of growth for the hair to fill in.
The Red Zone
The hairs that are part of the tail of your brows are definitely in the red zone. These are the hairs that people usually need to grow in. You may be tempted to thin this area out, but don’t do it! Your brow stylist will need these to work with once you are able to go to the salon or brow bar again.
The hairs just below your arch are also in the red zone. You may not understand where your eyebrow arch should start. If you over-tweeze the arch, you will end up with a surprised expression which is not the look that you are going for. Again, when in doubt, don’t pluck.
Even if you are tempted to use wax – don’t! Unless you are a professional, you can get wax on the wrong hairs and it will take weeks, if not months for them to grow back.
If you want to trim using brow scissors – make sure you are slanting them toward the middle of your brow, so that the hair is cut on an angle and not straight edge. Otherwise, you will have a blank space in your brow. Instead, try to use a brow gel to keep longer brow hairs in place. It is much safer this way. Brittni’s favourite brow gel is Kelley Baker Clear Brow Gel. It also comes tinted for sparser brows and it retails for $26.00- $36.00.