Beauty
3 Easy Ways to Color Grey Eyebrows
Beauty
3 Easy Ways to Color Grey Eyebrows
Tired of unruly grey or white eyebrow hairs? Whether you opt for makeup or a more permanent solution, such as tinting or lamination, we’ve got you covered! Here are three proven techniques for naturally beautiful brows.
Makeup
Don’t have the time—or the inclination— to make an appointment at a salon? Of all the makeup options available, tinted and fibre-enriched brow gels win the prize for the most effective product to temporarily colour your brows and add density (and without a doubt, they’re the easiest to apply). Even better are the multi-use versions you can use to control those hairs that can become more coarse and rebel-lious with age. (Don’t pull out bothersome hairs!) Just fill in the brows, then brush outward to give them the desired shape.
Another option is more traditional fine-tipped pencil. It can help fill in any sparse areas in your brows, or even subtly correct the arch. This is an essential step for those of us who tweezed too much in the ’90s and early 2000s! To create the illusion of hair, draw small lines with a light touch.
Photography, Bruno Petrozza
L’ORÉAL PARIS Brow Artist Plump & Set Volumizing Eyebrow Gel, $15, shoppers drugmart.ca.
MAYBELLINE NEW YORK Tattoo Brow Peel Off Tint, $15, well.ca.
KOSAS Air Brow Tinted Volumizing Treatment Gel, $28, thedetox market.ca.
REVLON ColorStay Semi-Permanent Brow Ink, $20, shoppersdrugmart.ca.
Tinting
If you’re not inclined to do your eyebrows every morning, semi-permanent colouring remains a good solution. One option is henna. The advantages? In addition to being organic, eyebrow henna is formulated specifically for the delicate eye area—it’s not the same type of henna used for colouring head hair or tattoos. And since both the hair and skin are dyed, it also improves the look of sparse eyebrows while conditioning the hair.
Whether you opt for henna or classic tinting, the procedures don’t differ very much. After analyzing the shape of your eyebrows, technicians determine the ideal arch of your brows accord-ing to your facial structure. Then they use a tracing guide that allows for symmetri-cal application of the tint. (It’s best to avoid stencil applications, which are faster but run the risk of smudging.) The treatment itself takes about 30 to 45 minutes, including up to 15 minutes for the dye to sit depending on the formula and the richness of the desired colour. Tinting gradually fades in three to six weeks. Regardless of the chosen technique, this treatment usually runs about $50.
BENEFIT COSMETICS Dual-Ended Angled Eyebrow Brush, $24, sephora.ca.
E.L.F. COSMETICS Ultra Precise Brow Pencil, $7, elfcosmetics.com.
BENEFIT COSMETICS POWmade Brow Pomade, $27, sephora.ca.
Pro trick
“Whether using makeup or tinting, the shade should match your hair and complexion. As a general rule, a colour that is one shade lighter than your hair offers the most natural effect.”
- Amélie Bruneau Longpré, makeup artist
Lamination
Lamination, often likened to a perm for the eyebrows, is used to give brows a fuller, more uniform look while enhancing their shape and taming stubborn hairs. The result? Denser and darker brows that are perfectly shaped, and an effect that lasts up to eight weeks. It’s the perfect solution for those with a good base, but it works well on less dense eyebrows, too. Much like an eyebrow tint, the technician will do a full analysis before brushing your brows and applying the alkaline solution that makes the hairs more manageable—like a perm, except here, we want to stiffen rather than curl the hairs. After about 10 minutes, a neutralizing product is applied, then the brows are coloured, if desired. This treatment takes about one hour and costs approximately $100.
What about microblading?
Microblading, another popular procedure, falls into the category of semi-permanent makeup. This type of treatment is more invasive and expensive (about $650, including retouching). The technique consists of penetrating pigments into the upper layer of the skin: it’s not the hair that’s dyed, but the skin, by drawing fine lines as we would do with a pencil. The effect lasts up to two years. For flawless results, be sure to go to a microblading professional—ask for references or look into their past work and make sure the results are what you want
for your brows.
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