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In the past six or seven years, my eyebrows have been on a real journey! I love my eyebrows now, but I didn’t used to– in fact they used to make me so insecure! The other day, I shared a throwback photo of what my eyebrows used to look like on Instagram Stories, and so many followers freaked out. I must have gotten about three hundred messages that all said something along the lines of “OMG! Please share how you fixed your eyebrows!” Welp, you ask and I answer, so here we go! Today I’m sharing how I fixed my eyebrows.
My eyebrows used to be severely over-plucked. I used to pluck them myself, and I didn’t particularly have a plan for how I did it. Like most people who end up over-plucking, a few extra hairs turned in to having to “even them out”, and then before I knew it my eyebrows were too thin! And eyebrows take forever to grow back! At least mine do. I finally ended up going to a salon to shape my eyebrows, but they still over-plucked them a bit. Here is what my eyebrows used to look like (I included a no makeup photo, and one all dolled up on the red carpet so you can get a clear idea of how they looked):
The worst part of having over-plucked, thin brows was that they really didn’t compliment my face at all. I could tell that if it was possible to create a bolder, thicker brow that my face would look much more balanced. So I just decided to stop grooming them. I only plucked hairs that were in between my brows, and for about 6 months I let them grow. Then, I got pregnant with Marlowe! And the hormones REALLY made my eyebrows start to grow. During this time, it was soooo hard to not pluck the hairs that were popping up. I was strict with myself, and I didn’t do it no matter how crazy I thought I looked! During this time, I was acting still, so I had to insist that makeup artists I worked with PLEASE not touch my brows. I always had to explain that I was growing them. Finally, after about a year of growing my brows, I went to Benefit and had them shaped. A lot of their locations have Brow Bars in them, where you can get your eyebrows tinted and shaped.
Benefit is in no way sponsoring this post (I wish) but I chose them because I knew that they promoted a more full/natural brow shape. I went in and shared my entire eyebrow history with over-plucking and growing them, etc, before we started to shape. I was SO happy with the result! Now I always get my eyebrows shaped at a Benefit location, and I only pluck strays in between my eyebrows if they pop up between appointments. About a year ago, I started tinting my brows darker as well. I highly recommend this! It makes them appear even thicker. Here is a pic of my brows today without any makeup on them:
When I do my makeup, I still like to fill in my brows with pencil, and then to set them with a tinted gel. I love the Benefit Precisely pencil because the point is so fine, and it’s retractable so you don’t need a sharpener. I fill my brows using short little strokes, almost as if I’m drawing little baby hairs in to my brows. Then, I brush the tinted gel on to my brows using light, upwards strokes.
Below is a picture of my face with only one eyebrow done, so you can see the difference! I always say that eyebrows are something that you don’t really notice unless they’re really good or really bad. LOL. You would never think that my brows would look so much better filled in unless you see them filled in– and they you’re like “OH!” Hahahaha. I have come to think that eyebrows can really elevate the balance of your face when your makeup is done. When my eyebrows are done, they always make me look more pulled together, more awake, and prettier.
Isn’t it crazy what a different a little bit of eyebrow pencil (and some tint) makes?! Insanity. Have you had your own journey to good eyebrows? What did you do to fix them? I’m even thinking about getting some microblading done so that I don’t have to use eyebrow pencil anymore…. If you have any experience with microblading please share in the comments below!
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Photographs by Carter Fish
Thanks for sharing your eyebrow journey! I’ve been trying to find the best approach and brand (there seems to be so many different types out there) to fill in and tint and this post was really helpful!
I had a similar situation with my brows. I worked in cosmetics since I was 18, and had pretty thick brows when I started. A co-worker suggested I “thin” them out a bit, and asked if she could tweeze them. She had already made them pretty thin, but like you, I continued to pluck every little stray hair and it eventually got out of control. Before I knew it, my brows were so thin, you could barely see the ends! It really does take forever for brows to grow back, and some spots never come back at all. After years and years filling in my brows every single day, I had my brows microbladed about a year and a half ago. It was the best thing I could’ve done. It does need to be touched up, but it was totally worth it. I still fill in my brows to make them a little more dramatic when I have on a lot of makeup. (But I really love a great dramatic brow.) And since I will need them touched up pretty soon, I will have her go a little thicker and darker this time so I really won’t need any filling in at all. I highly recommend microblading!
Hi Eva! Looking beautiful as always but I LOVE microblading. My eyebrows are blond naturally and it has changed my life!!! I’ve done it 3 times in the last 4 years. It fades after a year or so but it’s so worth it. I feel way less insecure now. It doesn’t hurt either. They put on numbing cream and then it’s over pretty fast. I see someone in Brooklyn but I’ve also had it done in SF and in Thailand! The woman is Thailand was incredibly professional and had a great website so I wasn’t concerned. Follow eyebrowking on Instagram too! Good luck 🙂
Not plucking your eyebrows for a year, that is some WILLPOWER!!! You’re absolutely right that one doesn’t notice eyebrows unless they’re bad. They really do balance out the face.
In my college days I had a few eyebrow horror stories. These are the worst: One time my roommate – who claimed to have gone to beauty school- asked if she could clean up my brows. I let her because I was starting to look like a Mountain Goat Princess but also she was having a bad day. She gave me a bald spot! Another time I went to a beauty school to get them done because it was cheap and I figured they’d have the teacher right there making sure everything was good. Wrong. They ripped off a strip of my skin, about half a centimeter long. BAD times!
Now I go to a brow bar or have my hair stylist do them.
I always wondered why your brows are so much, and why one looks like it’s longer than your other (might be the way you film your videos), and why they look like they’re starting to grown down your nose.
LOLLLLL way to troll a post about eyebrows!! Knock that one off your bucket list!
Eva, your eyebrows are effing awesome.
Was that supposed to be a nice comment?
Hello!
I love your eyebrow journey! I can completely relate, however I just wanted to advocate for microblading. It seriously changed my face in the best way.
I’ve never really been able to regrow my brows after or during any of my 3 pregnancies & Now to be able to wake up and go is a total game changer! I Highly recommend!!
Thanks for all you do, I love reading your blogs/emails and listening to your stories!♥️?
I have always been insecure about my light- colored, patchy brows so I finally bit the bullet and went for microblading last month with The Eyebrow Doctor in NYC. It was painful, but SO worth it. I can now wake up in the AM and spend less than 30 seconds just touching up a tiny spot or two where the ink didn’t take, versus a good 5 minutes creating a full brow, and my brows are seriously on fleek. I am so happy I did it – go for it!
I’ve been waiting to read this post!!!
I’m currently in the process of growing my brows out.
If I’m being honest, I was hoping you had a secret tip that was anything other than TIME! Hahah ?
Thanks for the post 🙂
I’ll be here waiting oh so impatiently for my little caterpillars to transform into something beautiful.
Love this! 🙂
Thanks for writing this piece! I seriously always see pics on the blog and love your eyebrows! I have been looking for a good microblading person please let us know who you use on East coast ?
I’m so jealous that your eyebrows actually grow back. Mine are very similar to how yours used to look. I haven’t touched them in years, and they just won’t come back — other than the occasional stray in the middle. ☹️ Thank goodness for the Benefit products, though! I use the Goof Proof pencil and used to use the Gimme Brow gel before they recalled it. Gotta find something else after my current tube runs out. Also, my cousin recently did microblading, and it looks amazing! Go for it! ??
I went to the Eyebrow Doctor for micro-blading. She is based in NY, but makes trips to Miami and LA. Look for her on Instagram. Her work is stellar, and so much more natural than I’ve seen from anyone else. It only lasts a year or so, but I loved what she did. It hurts, so insist that she wait until the numbing creme works!! My eyebrows never grew back from plucking, so it was a real saving grace for me. Her name is Piret.
Oh, cool, thanks for the heads up! I will look in to her for sure!
I got my eyebrows microbladed in the fall of last year. Best decision EVER! Makes lofe so mich easier and I feel pit together when I have no makeup on at all! Do it Eva, you won’t regret it.
Amazing! def looking in to it!
Thank you for sharing! I am in process of growing my eyebrows out and it is such a long, tedious process! Currently ising a serum that is “suppose” to promote growth but so far I haven’t seen much progress after a month. I am considering microblading as well.
ugh it takes forever!
Can I ask how you get your eyelashes so curled??? Have you done anything to improve/maintain your eyelashes as well? They always look great! Mine are always droopy no matter how much curling I do.
I hold the curler for 10 seconds on each eye! I find it really helps! I also have friends who blast their eyelash curler with heat for five seconds before curling their lashes and they find the heat helps make the curl last. I haven’t tried that trick myself!
I looooove finding microblading Insta accounts and just poring over their before/after pictures. I’m extremely needle phobic, though, so the thought of getting it done on myself makes me super squeamish. I’m a red-head, though, and have pretty light eyebrows so I know it would look great on me. Maybe one day I’ll get the courage… until then, I’ll just stalk Instagram accounts. 🙂
ha! Love it! share that research with us! 🙂
I think growing them was obviously the right direction. They look more current when full and all trends point towards fuller brows now. I hope that trend sticks for our children! I, too over plucked and was left with not much. I am in the process of growing, tinting and re-shaping right now. Like you said, it’s so bloody hard not to pluck. I loved looking in my magnifying mirror before bed and getting stray hairs. It’s been a good lesson discipline. I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner, but I have always been able to fill them in so well and got compliments. The perks of having worked with make-up in my 20s. However, we spend a lot of time in Palm Springs now and when I don’t have make-up on…well…it looks like I have none after a day in the pool! Not good! I needed something to help them appear fuller even with nothing one them.
As someone who is has been in the industry and worked with make-up my whole life, I just have a couple tiny tips for filling in and the shape. Where your brows meet near the nose are a bit uneven. Not drastically, but they need to start a little farther back. One is particularly too far down the nose. When you have them naked…that’s a better reference for where they should start. If they do creep down, they should be waxed back a bit. A great shaping place should be using a template as a reference every single trip. They should wax and shape that particular template shape every single time to grow in (or wax back) uneven areas. You can make your peak a little more defined too so as not to get too round a brow. I, also would recommend the Anastasia Brow Whiz. It’s far superior product to the Benefit (I’ve tried both – no comparison). Anastasia is brow bad ass (I’m sure you know about her). She has some great videos on how to measure where to start with your eyebrow pencil. It’s a great guideline for people who don’t have lost of experience and works. Her products took me to the holy grail of brows (I was using M.A.C for years and they looked good, but now they are fantastic)! I Hope you find this helpful. Here is a good video by Anastasia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U7of1uQxBo
Love Anastasia Brow Wiz too ! Def better then anything else . I have tried them all . If I lived in LA that’s where I would go . Eva does a great job with her eyebrows . She frames her face beautifully. She is naturally gorgeous ?
Yes, she is very beautiful. Not doubting that at all. I love the fuller brows too! Just some tips and tricks of the trade from someone who is trained with a razor sharp eye! ?
Me again!
Your 4th pic down shows a gorgeous shape. That brow is the one that is pretty much perfection. Use that shape as reference for other side and don’t round out that gorgeous arch or bring it too far down the nose.
I used to see my great grandmother fill in her brows and thought, “how weird”. Now I cannot be without a brow pencil haha. Your brow game is A+
Eva! I think you wrote this just for me. I had thick, Brooke Shields eyebrows in high school… I was super self-conscious about them even though my Mom raved about them. I should have listened. On my senior trip, I let a “friend” pluck them… they’ve been a thin mess ever since and I’m now 43. I love your insta and your blog so much! I feel like you are a friend I just don’t ever get to see! Your children are magical, and you are a fantastic inspiration. Thanks for doing what you do, and keeping it real. I have 2 girls, and your posts are always super relatable. Oh, and you look just like your mom in that top photo! Thanks for this post, I’m going to try this and see how it works for me!
Hey, I bought the benefit pencil too with the brush on the end and I love it! I can’t wait to ask about tinting. I have light brows but not too light. My issue is with consistency! Sometimes they are darker than other days. One time my daughter asked me, “Mom, did you put makeup on your eyebrows?” Isn’t the whole point for people to not notice!!! Lol!
Take some time to let your eyebrows grow back without being plucked or waxed. Once they’re back to their natural shape, go see a brow professional to get advice on where to go from there.
Its really very good post related to beauty which guides everyone that before using any products or applying anywhere, it gives such a great information which is very helpful.thanks for sharing such great ideas.
Your eyebrows are beautiful both with and without makeup! Great job!!!
However, as a cosmetologist once told me—Chickens are plucked. Eyebrows are tweezed. ?
your eyebrows are looking so sexy.
I wanna have the same ones. They are so natural and fit perfectly to your face.
xoxo
franziska from powder brows
I had permanent eyebrows 3 years ago. they are still there and looking so awful. the color is green now and I had my 2 pigment wiper appointment this week. I hope that the color will dissapear. After that I will just draw my eyebrows like you telling us. thank you for sharing honey 🙂
xoxo
tina