Long gone are the days when thin, delicate eyebrows were in vogue, and the extent of brow care was simply plucking or waxing them into submission. With fuller, thicker brows now all the rage, whether you want them sleek and structured or fluffy and lush, there’s no shortage of expert tips for having perfect eyebrows.
Whether it’s a heavy-duty solution to thin brows like microblading—semi-permanent tattooing of fine hair over your brows—or any of the amazing cosmetic products you can use to enrich your brows, the world is your oyster!
While we have a lot of love for many different ways of enhancing your brows, and you should find the one that works best for you and your lifestyle, we have to say: in the wide, wonderful world of brow care, eyebrow tinting is an undeniable rockstar.
What Is Eyebrow Tinting?
Eyebrow tinting is exactly what it sounds like! It’s dying your brows with a semi-permanent dye a specialist will match to the tones of your hair. Typically the color will be a shade or two lighter than the hair on your head. When we read that the first time, we were like, wait, what? Lighter? How will that help define our brows?
The genius of eyebrow tinting isn’t that it darkens the color of your brows altogether, it’s that by dying your brows, the lighter, finer hairs around the edges will darken, leading to an ultimately fuller, more structured look, and leaving you with a perfect brow with very little effort needed!
And if you’re worried about the tint picking up on hairs outside of your ideal brow shape, don’t! Typically you follow up a brow tinting session with wax or threading, unless you prefer to pluck, in which case, you’ll want to do it afterward. This will leave you with neat, beautiful brows. For a while, at least, you really will wake up selfie-ready.
How Long Does It Take To Get Your Brows Tinted?
If you’ve ever gotten highlights or dyed your hair, you know how long dye can take sometimes. If the idea of spending an hour covered in foil is putting you off of eyebrow tinting, we have good news! Eyebrow tinting only takes about 15 minutes. You read that right! 15 minutes. Your overall appointment might end up being slightly longer, but once your specialist knows what you want, you can zip in and out on your lunch break… and still have time to eat.
At least for your first appointment, you’ll need to discuss your goals with your specialist first and foremost. Tell them if you’re looking for your brows to be dark and dramatic, or you just want them to look full and natural. Much like a brow waxing appointment, the specialist will clean and prep your brows. And then you’re off to the races!
The dye will be mixed and applied. No need to fear if you can see it getting on your skin; most of it will wipe away, but if it doesn’t, it’ll fade in a day or so. The dye only needs to sit for a few minutes before being washed off, and that’s it!
Many specialists recommend that the first time you get your brows tinted, you schedule it for a weekend, or far in advance of any special event at which you’re likely to be photographed, just in case the dye develops in a way that you don’t love over the next day or so.
What Do I Do After?
You’ll be happy to hear that there isn’t actually a lot of aftercare necessary when it comes to eyebrow tinting. Unlike dying your hair, you won’t need to rush out to the shop for some kind of dye-friendly face wash or the like.
You’ll want to avoid getting your eyebrows wet for a full 12 hours after you get them tinted to make sure the dye sets and you don’t cause it to fade prematurely. But other than that, you’re pretty much good to go, and your results should be visible immediately.
Once you’re out of that 12-hour window, you’re home free! You can do your brow makeup routine as usual for an extra dramatic look with your newly tinted brows, or you can go simple. With your brows tinted, you’ll wake up every day with perfectly shaped brows anyway. All you really need to be ready for your close-up is a few swipes of TatBrow Ultra Hold Brow Gel to keep your brows in place. And what could be better than a one-step beauty routine?
So What’s the Catch?
Sounds too good to be true, right? There are a few drawbacks to eyebrow tinting, depending on your preferences and priorities.
The most obvious one is the expense. Like waxing or threading your brows, if you decide eyebrow tinting is for you, you’ll be adding another beauty expense to your budget. Typically, eyebrow tinting costs between $20 and $50. You can probably find places that will do it for less, and many places that will charge more. As with anything, you’ll have to find the price range that’s most comfortable for your budget. It’s not an expense that is likely to break the bank, but if you’re doing it on a regular basis, it can add up!
Another minor con to eyebrow tinting is that it doesn’t add anything to your brows. Unlike microblading, eyebrow tinting won’t draw on more hairs or linger on your skin, it’ll just darken what’s there. If your brows really are genuinely thin, you might be better off looking into brow enhancement serums or other products that might help you thicken your brows naturally before considering eyebrow tinting.
It’s also worth noting that grey or white hair tends to be a bit stubborn when it comes to dyes. If you’re rocking some gorgeous salt and pepper eyebrows, it’d be wise to look for a specialist who states outright that they know how to tint white or grey hair. Eyebrow tinting will work on these hair types, your specialist might just need a little extra experience to make it perfect.
Eyebrow tinting also might not be for you if you’re a passionate vegan or vegetarian! You can definitely find vegan-friendly eyebrow tints, but you’ll have to be sure to ask any provider you consider going to what’s in their formula if you adhere to a vegan lifestyle.
Lastly, eyebrow tinting, unlike microblading, isn’t permanent.
How Long Does Eyebrow Tinting Last?
If you’ve been won over by the idea of this super low-maintenance brow cure-all, you’re not alone! But this is definitely the big question, as far as we’re concerned. Adding another appointment to your list of out-of-house beauty options is no small order, even if it fits within your budget. There’s a big difference between needing to have your brows tinted once a month… or once a week.
Luckily, eyebrow tinting lasts a good three to four weeks! As time goes on, the dye will fade, slowly and subtly, so you don’t have to worry about your roots growing out, as it were. How quickly the dye fades depends on a couple of things.
For one, everyone’s hair reacts to dye a bit differently. It’s hard to know until you’ve tried it how long your hair will hold onto a dye, so you can’t really predict how long your eyebrow tint will last. But there are ways to ensure that it lasts longer than it would have, which brings us to the second point.
Although there isn’t any aftercare you strictly need to do when you get your brows tinted, there are things that will help ensure your tint lasts as long as possible. In addition to avoiding any contact with water for the first 12 hours, as we mentioned earlier, you should avoid any and all oil-based makeups, serums, or moisturizers at all times once you’ve had your eyebrows tinted.
Oils can make your dye fade faster, so if you’re a diehard devotee of any oil-based products, eyebrow tinting might not be your best option. Retinols and retinoids can also cause irritation to the skin around the eyebrows, so it’s best to be mindful of where you’re applying your night creams if you’ve had your eyebrows tinted.
In Conclusion
If you’re looking for a low-maintenance way to up your eyebrow game, eyebrow tinting is an excellent option. It’s quick, affordable, and will give you gorgeous brows morning, noon, and night. And since eyebrow tinting lasts three to four weeks with proper care, it’s not just a quick fix.
And, it sets you up to need little more than a swipe of setting gel for perfect, enviable brows. The only thing that we love more than perfect brows is knowing we’ll be waking up with perfect brows every day for the better part of a month!
Sources:
What is Eyebrow Tinting - Brow Tinting Cost and Safety | Harpers Bazaar
What Is Eyebrow Tinting 2021- Brow Tint Cost, Risks, and Safety | Cosmopolitan
Microblading - Everything You Need To Know About The Semi-Permanent Eyebrow Treatment | Elle