If your brows aren’t naturally bringing the heat when it comes to boldness, you’ve probably looked into many different ways to get the look you're after. And lucky for all of us, there are so many options!
Depending on what your lifestyle is like and what brow look you’re going for, whether you’re into structured brows or ombre brows, having a thicker, fuller canvas to work with is always clutch. And there are many different ways you can go about achieving that.
Some increasingly common options include microblading and even brow tattoos. Microblading and tattoos are great options if you’re looking for something super profesh and totally low maintenance—while you, as per the usual, will need to shell out a bit more for a professional treatment, these choices can give you long term results with minimal effort.
If commitment isn’t for you, there’s also a long list of cosmetic products, from Micro Precision Pens to makeup that imitates the appearance of microblading with none of the pain or expense. Getting the appearance of bold brows even when you aren’t naturally blessed with an abundance of brow hair follicles is actually easier than ever. Because bold, structured or fluffy brows have been the prevailing look for several years now, you have no shortage of options.
But what if you don’t want to have to devote a chunk of your already busy mornings to doing an elaborate brow-filling routine? And what if, on the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to go through the pain and price tag of more long-term options?
That might have led you here: to eyebrow growth serum. Given that there are serums on the market that promise to do everything from curing your depression to overhauling your complexion, you might have some understandable suspicion when it comes to another type of serum. Especially one that offers you seemingly miraculous results like helping your brows to grow back thicker and bolder naturally!
So does eyebrow growth serum really work? And is it worth working it into your routine?
What Keeps Your Eyebrow From Being Full and Bold in the First Place?
As with most problems, it’s worth wrapping your head around the issue before you try to tackle it. If you’ve had thin eyebrows your entire life, you might be wondering why! Unfortunately, the answer to that question often isn’t really something you can change—one of the biggest causes of thin or sparse eyebrows is genetics (thanks, Mom and Dad). Especially if you have fair or thin hair, bold brows might just not automatically be in the cards for you which isn’t to say you can’t stack the deck, but we’ll get to that.
If you haven’t always felt like your brows were noticeably thin, it might just be the result of aging. As we get older, our hair growth changes and slows, resulting in thinning hair—and not just on your head. In fact, it’s totally possible for something as drastic as your eyebrow shape to change as you age.
If you pluck or wax your brows religiously, you might also notice that your brows have been thinning out over time. This could be the result of overplucking! While a biweekly brow grooming appointment or having your tweezers on the ready might feel relaxing to you and your beauty routine, it can be really stressful to your hair follicles, to the point where they might even stop producing hair in the way that they used to.
Lastly, certain conditions, imbalances, or deficiencies can cause your eyebrows to thin. If you notice that the skin around your brows is dry, flaky, inflamed, or itchy, you should speak to your doctor or dermatologist. It could be the result of a chronic condition like eczema or psoriasis, or even due to an allergic reaction. If your skin is irritated around your brows, it might affect your hair follicles and change your hair’s growth. While such conditions may be frustrating, they’re mostly totally treatable, so run, don’t walk, to a trusted professional.
You also may struggle with hair growth if your body isn’t getting all of the nutrients it needs to encourage healthy growth. While you may feel like your diet is ticking all the boxes, it’s worth thinking about whether you actually are getting enough fatty acids, biotin, Vitamin A, and zinc in your daily diet.
They’re all relatively easy to increase your consumption of, whether through minor dietary changes or through incorporating supplements in your routine, so if this ends up being the root of the problem, no need to worry.
Some hormonal imbalances can also have a negative effect on your hair growth. While “hormonal imbalance” as a cause of your thinning eyebrows may sound alarming, it may be due to something as simple as stress! Stress can affect your body’s production of certain hormones, which in turn can affect your hair growth.
So What Is an Eyebrow Growth Serum?
Now that you’ve given some thought to what’s causing your brows to be somewhat less than their boldest and best to begin with, it’s time to talk about solutions. Although solving the root cause might improve the appearance of your brows, you may be interested in an eyebrow growth serum to help move things along, or if the cause is something irreversible, like genetics and aging.
So what is an eyebrow growth serum exactly? In general, it’s usually a formula that you apply topically to your brows that is formulated specifically to help you improve the appearance of your brows and to help encourage growth. There are two main types of brow serums you can get.
Over-the-Counter Eyebrow Growth Serum
These are going to make up the vast majority of eyebrow growth serums. There are many, many different kinds of brow serums to choose from, from many different brands, promising various levels of results. Usually, they’re made from botanical ingredients that are known to be good for your skin, like vitamin C or essential oils.
While there aren’t really any botanical ingredients that are shown to miraculously cause hair growth, these products are able to condition your existing brow hairs to keep them healthy so that the appearance of your existing brows improves. They also give the skin around your brows, and thereby your hair follicles, a super nourishing boost, which can prime them for healthy growth.
If you’re looking for an over-the-counter serum, in addition to helpful vitamins and nutrients, you’re going to want to look for biotin, peptides, and retinol.
Biotin might sound familiar because it’s an ingredient in almost every beauty supplement available, as it’s great for your hair and skin. Peptides are a bit of an umbrella and many things fall into that category, so you may have to do a little bit of your own research here.
Amino acids are also a great option and offer very similar benefits to peptides. Lastly, retinol is mostly thought of as an anti-aging agent, but it can potentially be beneficial if you’re looking to encourage healthy hair growth, because Vitamin A is thought to be beneficial in this area, and that’s effectively what retinol is in the first place.
Prescription Eyebrow Growth Serum
The other option for an eyebrow growth serum is getting one that is prescribed to you by a trusted doctor or dermatologist. Prescription brow growth serums usually contain some hormones, which you apply topically to your brows. These hormones trick your hair follicles into constantly being in their growth cycle, which gives hair growth a serious kickstart.
No matter what is causing your brows to be thinner than you’d like in the first place, it’s never a bad idea to speak to your doctor or dermatologist about concerns. Especially if you know that you already have a hormone imbalance due to another condition, or if you’re experiencing skin irritation around your brows, consulting with a professional might be the best way to get your brows back on track.
So What Kind of Brow Serum Is Right for You?
It’s tempting to immediately go for the stronger of the two options, and aim for a prescription brow serum off the bat. Why not get the best for your brows from the beginning, right? Slow your roll, though—bigger isn’t always better.
While prescription brow serums can be highly effective (and still may be the best option for you!) they also have more negative side effects than over-the-counter eyebrow growth serums. The strong solution that makes up most prescription brow serums can be drying or irritating to your skin, which can cause discoloration, or just make the skin around your brows super dry. This obviously isn’t ideal!
The other big downside to prescription brow serums is that because they tend to work via hormones, they only work while those hormones are being applied. So if you use a prescription serum and get amazing results, you’re going to have to continue using it or risk your new growth diminishing yet again.
Because prescription brow serums can be so hard on your skin, it’s not uncommon to end up in a bit of a toxic off-and-on-again relationship with your brow serum—you start with it, you love how you feel, it starts to get a bit toxic, you stop using it, and then you see it post a selfie on Instagram and suddenly you really, really miss it and forget all of the bad things about it. We’re totally still talking about brow serum. Ahem.
On the other hand, over-the-counter serums tend to actually be good for your skin, because they’re usually loaded with helpful vitamins and oils. They can be super hydrating, and keep the skin around your brows happy, which definitely helps the overall appearance of your brows.
Our favorite eyebrow growth serum is our Brow Enhancement Serum. It’s super hydrating and packed with amino acids to promote healthy brow growth and keep your existing hair and the skin around it nourished and ready to grow.
How Do You Apply Brow Serum?
If you’ve been looking for a way to embolden your brows for a while now, you may be a bit nervous whenever you get to this section of an article. Is it going to require needles, like tattooing? Or more needles, like microblading? Or a lot of your hard-earned wages to regular trips to the salon like brow tinting?
The answer is no!
Using eyebrow growth serum couldn’t be any easier. All you have to do is smooth it over your eyebrows with the provided applicator. You’ll want to take a bit of time with this—part of what helps to stimulate hair growth is a bit of a massage, so you’ll want to work the serum into your brows vigorously, to help stimulate circulation, and also make sure every possible follicle is getting the help it needs.
That said, while eyebrow growth serum is pretty straightforward to use, it can take a while to have visible effects. The individual product you choose will probably give you a time frame, but while brow serum doesn’t require a ton of effort, it does require consistency and patience.
If you do want the natural growth benefits that brow serum promises but don’t quite want to wait for several months for it to work fully, you can definitely use brow serum in addition to another treatment. Eyebrow growth serum won’t interact negatively with your brows if you’ve gotten them tinted or microbladed while you wait for the natural growth, and if you apply it at night, it won’t interfere with a full brow makeup routine until your brows are ready to stand on their own.
In Conclusion
While eyebrow growth serum isn’t going to be a magical solution to all your follicle problems, if you have reasonable expectations of it, it can totally be a valuable tool to add to your arsenal! You might need to experiment with a few different products before you find the best one for your needs, but be sure you give any individual product enough time to work before trying something new.
Whether you want a long-term solution to get the bolder, thicker, darker brows you’ve always wanted, or you’ve noticed your brows thinning with age or repeated treatments and want to restore them to their former glory, eyebrow growth serum can be a great option.
Sources:
Changes in Eyebrow Position and Movement with Aging | Archives of Plastic Surgery
Endogenous Retinoids in the Hair Follicle and Sebaceous Gland | US National Library of Medicine
Stress and Hormones | Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism