The Secrets Behind Behind Brilliant Brows

Is it any wonder we’re eyebrow obsessed? Eyebrows are one of our most important facial features; they not only frame the face and enhance the eyes, but a well-groomed pair adds instant polish to your beauty look. Brows can be tricky to get perfect on your own; doing a DIY job could result in disaster – and worse, over-plucking – so we find it’s best to leave brow taming to the professionals. Thankfully, we’ve got our experts nominated in our?Best Brow Artist category in our Business of Beauty Awards to get the skinny on beautiful brows. Take it from these pros who?pluck, thread, tint and?often?bring your brows back from bald exile – if it doubt, ditch the tweezers and head to the salon.

HD Brows or the “fleek” look has been in season-to-season, are we going to see a break from the trend?

I personally never liked the heavy make-up eyebrow look. I think that brows should improve your overall face shape, not take over, and should really never be noticed. A lot of young girls seem to like this heavy look, but this is still very much alive and well. Initially, we’did this look and what we were trained to do for about six months, but then decided to pair the look right back. Instead of bringing make-up and tint right up over the brow onto the skin, we never go higher then the natural brow now. Instead, we add to where they have lost or over plucked their hair, which is always from the bottom.

Elaine McParland, Up To My Eyes

Bigger brows will most definitely continue to rule the roost for the future. However, I do feel that the whole faded out and painted on look that we see on Instagram will die down, and a less-perfect but well groomed natural brow will be more popular. When the brows are overdone with make-up it can look like there is barely any natural hair underneath. It can be nice to see a little imperfection sometimes!

Claudine King, Claudine King Brows & Beauty

Eyebrow Extensions and Embrowdery – what’s the difference?

Eyebrow extensions and embrowdery can’t really be compared. They both achieve different results, one being short term (approx 3 weeks) the other longer term, about a year to 18 months. Extensions are great if you have a reasonably good eyebrow already but if you have very little, unless you are happy to wear extensions stuck onto the skin, I would definitely recommend embrowdery. It’s interesting actually, a lot of people try the extensions to see if they are going to like having fuller brows before they then get them tattooed. With embrowdery, you don’t need to do that.

If you don’t like what your embrowdery therapist has created after the 1st pass, it will disappear within a matter of months! The same can’t be said for micro-blading or embroidery. During these processes, the skin is opened and the pigment is pushed into the epidermis, creating a stronger look immediately which will not fade easily. Embrowdery therapists never cut the skin at all, they perforate tiny little holes into the first layer of the epidermis which is done without causing as much as a drop of blood. Pigment is then left on top of the perforations and the bodies immune system collects the pigment and carries it down to the 5th layer of the epidermis. The next two treatments are done to add more pigment from layer 4 – 1. It’s a much slower process but causes no trauma, swelling or scabbing. It also allows the client to have much more say in the design as we can make changes at every stage, and allows us more time to observe how the chosen color is working within the skin. All in all, a much better option in my opinion!

Elaine McParland, Up To My Eyes

Bleaching your brows – is it really safe to do this?

?Bleaching is safe once you use a brand designed especially for eyebrows? and you do not bleach open pores.?Also, if a client has hyper sensitive skin, there is a chance they could have a reaction. Protective barrier creams should always be used around the brow bone with the eyes covered with damp cotton disks. The brows will only ever lift 3 to 4 shades lighter than what they were originally.

Claudine King, Claudine King Brows & Beauty

There is nothing unsafe about bleaching your brows, however it can be very high maintenance! What many people forget is that if you’ve get naturally dark hair in your brows and want to bleach them to a lighter shade, your brow roots will start to show after a couple of weeks, meaning that you’ll need to get them bleached again to retain the effect. If brows are bleached too regularly, it can cause damage to the hairs. For this reason, we don’t tend to recommend it as a long-term solution. However, it can be amazingly transformative for a once-off fashion shoot!

Lorna Farrelly, The Brow Artist

I’ve had a home eyebrow disaster and over-plucked – any advice?

I’m afraid the only advice for over-plucking is patience. Don’t attempt to fix it by taking more when they start to regrow. My advice is to draw an imaginary template around where the brows should be and pluck (using a stainless steel angled tweezers) in the direction of the growth one hair at a time, avoiding inside the template where the shape will hopefully grow back. Massage also encourages the follicles to grow faster, and there are great growth serums on the market such as RevitaBrow, which speeds up the process using highly effective peptides and other growth-enhancing ingredients.

Libby Murray, Elysian Brows

Good eyelashes or good brows? Pick one!

I’d have to say good eyelashes, because I’m well able to handle my eyebrows! Every day we help people with little or no eyebrows achieve perfection, and we are confident that whatever the problem it can be rectified with time and care. I wouldn’t know how to help myself if anything happened to my eyelashes!

Lorna Farrelly, The Brow Artist

Threading, waxing, plucking – how do we know which brow route to go down?

When we are shaping brows, we tend to use all three methods of hair removal. The wax is applied very thinly to give a good shape under and over, but close to the brow. All the hairs under this wax line are then either threaded or plucked section by section. Threading is also great for getting rid of all the small downy hair that is impossible to get out with the tweezers.

Elaine McParland, Up To My Eyes

I don’t think any of the techniques are superior to the other, as they can all be done to very high standard. I think the answer is picking the right brow stylist.

Siobhan Macken, Preen Hair & Beauty

Celebrity brow idol: who is your favourite?

Gigi Hadid. I just think this girls brows are fabulous – they are preened to perfection but they look effortless, natural, soft and a great colour. I think sometimes people make the mistake of feeling they need to go darker to have a good brow, this is not the case; just look at Gigi.

Siobhan Macken, Preen Hair & Beauty

For the ‘au natural’ look, I love Sofia Vergara’s brows as she always keeps them untamed and full, staying true to her natural shape.

Libby Murray, Elysian Brows

The Seoige sisters, Grainne and Sile, are definitely of the most mentioned Irish celebs here in Brow HQ. They have both chosen to go for the Semi-Permanent Perfect Shape option with Lorna but had good symmetry and shape to begin with. This treatment will make your brows look perfect all day long and you don’t have to worry about them washing off in the rain.

Liz Farrelly, The Brow Artist

Eyebrow products: Which (if any) should we be using?

Anastasia Beverly Hills products are amazing. There is a massive range of eyebrow products, all of them excellent. Their gel liner for the brows creates a really sharp, sleek look and her pencils create fantastic fullness.?People are always asking which brow stimulater to use. There is no correct answer. I would always advise starting off with a cheaper one to see if it works for you as it’s only branding that makes the difference in the price. Also, BEWARE of brands that advertise thicker brows within 8 weeks. The eyebrow cycle is 4 months and the stimulater doesn’t work on the existing hair, but instead on the hair that hasn’t started to grow yet! Expect to have to wait 4 – 5 months for any real result.

Elaine McParland, Up To My Eyes

Products really depend on the look you wish to achieve. Powders will give a more definite finish and the coloured brow mascaras will bulk the brow up but give a more ‘undone’ finish. I love the HD Brow Palette and also Bobbi Brown’s Natural Brow Shaper and Hair Touch-Up.

Siobhan Macken, Preen Hair & Beauty

Revitabrow is truly a miracle product for anyone hoping to have full, healthy brows. Used daily, it will help avoid the natural decline in growth as women reach their mid-thirties. It can also help you regrow specific areas such as under the arch so that you (and your brow artist!) can redesign your brow shape and help update your style.

Liz Farrelly, The Brow Artist