Growing Out Your Brows
Stop tweezing, waxing, and threading. Most people's eyebrows grow in a 3-4 month cycle, so hide your tweezers and get comfortable with the idea that your eyebrows might look a bit strange for several months. This is a fairly lengthy process and you're going to have to be patient. Leave all those random looking baby hairs alone, even if they seem nowhere near your brow. If you have hairs that grow in odd directions or straight out, it could be due to damage from tweezing or waxing. If the regrowth really bothers you, you can try taming them with brow gel or cover them with a little concealer.
Use a serum on your brows to promote faster growth. Most serums will prolong the first stage of hair growth, the anagen phase, which is when your hair is actively growing. This results in longer, fuller hair. Some will also stimulate more follicles to enter this stage so you actually grow more hair. Most of these serums require daily (sometimes twice-daily) application, and don't provide a permanent boost in hair growth: you have to continuously use them to keep seeing results. It usually takes a minimum six weeks of diligent use to start seeing results from a growth serum. Look for products with prostaglandin, a hormone-like compound that occurs naturally in the body and can increase hair growth. There is no guarantee that growth serums will work on everyone--sometimes hair follicles are damaged or made dormant by long-term tweezing, which makes it difficult to regrow hair.
Eat a diet rich in protein and vitamins that promote hair health. Vitamins B and E, biotin and zinc are all linked to hair growth and health. Your hair is made from proteins, so make sure your diet contains foods like greek yogurt, nuts, and lean meats like chicken and turkey. Biotin nourishes hair and helps it grow and can be found in eggs, another source of protein. Zinc is found in oysters, beef, crab, spinach, and tofu, and keeps your hair from falling out by repairing cells and keeping them healthy. Vitamin E helps with circulation, which aids in hair growth. Find it in almonds, kale, avocado, and kiwi.
Massage your brows once or twice a day. Massage improves blood circulation around your brows, which will promote hair growth. Start in the center of your face. Tap and rub your fingers in circular motions, moving out towards your temples. Each massage session should last about 1-3 minutes. EXPERT TIP "When massaging, use tea tree or mint essential oils to help encourage active follicles." Laura Martin Laura Martin Licensed Cosmetologist Laura Martin is a Licensed Cosmetologist based in Milledgeville, Georgia. She has been working as a hair stylist since 2007, and began a career as a cosmetology teacher in 2013. She worked as a teacher at Arrojo Cosmetology School, teaching cosmetology practices, hairstyling, and hair color application. She also brought her cosmetology expertise to her work as a staff writer for fashion blog Style Noted, writing pieces related to hair and fashion. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Georgia College & State University, where she was also an English Teaching Fellow. Additionally, she received a BA in Creative Writing and Literature from New York University. Laura Martin Laura MartinLicensed Cosmetologist
Exfoliate your brows. Like massage, exfoliation stimulates blood flow and can help your brows grow more quickly. Use a clean tooth brush. Scrub each brow, starting in the center of your forehead and working out towards the temples. Do this once a day. Do not use the same toothbrush that you use on your teeth. Keep a clean toothbrush for this purpose.
Begin tweezing only those hairs closest to your eyelid and lash line after letting your hair grow for four months. You will still have hair that is growing not quite at your brow line, but don't start shaping or plucking them yet. Even at this point, your hair may still be growing back at unruly angles. Don't give up on these hairs--as your follicle becomes healthier and your hair goes through a few growth cycles, they will begin to come in at the right direction.
Give your new brow hair at least four to six months to grow in around your actual eyebrow. It can take up to 12 months for your brows to reach their full potential. Once this happens, don't go crazy with the tweezer, and definitely don't wax. Plucking gives you control to do maintenance (you want bushy brows, not a unibrow) and leave a full brow. It's far too easy to ruin all your hard work with a waxing mistake. Don't use a magnifying mirror or super bright lights when tweezing. It is easy to lose perspective and over pluck.
Getting Salon or Surgical Procedures
Get your brows tinted. Your sparse-looking brows may actually be full of little white baby hairs, and tinting them a darker shade will reveal a bolder, thicker eyebrow. Tinting lasts between three and five weeks. Tinting can easily go wrong if the shade is too dark, the chemicals too harsh, or you stain your skin, so make sure you go to a professional with a good reputation.
Get extensions for special occasions. Visit a brow bar or salon for this procedure, where they will glue individual synthetic or natural hairs to your brow hair, creating the (temporary) full brow of your dreams. Unlike eyelash extensions, brow extensions will not damage your existing hair as they fall off, so they won't interrupt your progress if you're growing yours out. If you don't have eyebrows, the extensions can be glued directly to your skin, but they will only last a few days. Extensions only last a few weeks at the most, and touching, washing, or exercising can make them fall off even faster.
Talk to a plastic surgeon about a brow transplant. If your eyebrow hair will no longer grow, a plastic surgeon can carefully design a brow that best fits your face and build it using your own hair. The finished look should be natural, with the new hair blending into your brow. A brow transplant is irreversible, so make sure you are thinking about what looks best on you, not what is most popular right now. Do some research and find a reputable surgeon who has experience with the procedure. Ask to see before and after pictures from their other clients.
Filling Out Your Brows with Makeup
Choose a brow pencil and powder that is the right shade. If your brows are dark, look for a product that is 1-2 shades lighter than your brow color. If your eyebrows are light, find a product that is the same color or 1 shade darker than your brows.
Fill your brows with short, upward strokes from the pencil. Use a light hand when applying the pencil so the shading looks natural. Focus the color on the arch of your brow and areas where growth is sparse. If you feel the color isn't blended or looks to harsh, run a spoolie brush (or a clean mascara wand) through your brows to soften and distribute the color.
Use an angled brush to coat your eyebrows with powder. The powder is meant to cling to your existing hair and really make your brows look thick and full. Use a light stroke so the pigment doesn't stick to your skin and follow the natural arch of your brow. To keep your brow looking natural, apply the powder from the beginning of your arch down to the end of your brow. Then use the brush to blend the powder toward the inner 1/3 of your brow. If desired, finish the look by applying brow gel to your brows with an angled brush or a spoolie brush.
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