It’s the first time in over a year that you’re starting to think about going back to work and seeing your friends and coworkers again. It’s only natural that you want to look your best! And that includes achieving the perfect brows to complete your look. So, what do you do? You blow the dust off your mirror, pick up those tweezers, and get to work plucking out all of those errant hairs.
Except...when you lean back and see yourself, you notice that your eyebrows are way too overplucked! And the skin around them is turning an angry red! Now that you think of it, they really hurt too. What are you supposed to do with that?
Take a deep breath. Not to worry! We’re here to help! TatBrow is here alongside you to guide you through this brow disaster and help you come out the other side looking and feeling fabulous with the thick, lush brows you deserve! Here are seven simple steps to whip those brows back into shape!
Step 1: Calm Those Trigger-Happy Fingers (and Your Skin)
Okay, first thing’s first: put down the tweezers! Your eyebrows aren’t out to get you; they just mind their own business, sitting on your face. Then you came in with the big guns, and everything went awry. Sound familiar?
Your first order of business should be to get some kind of soothing lotion or balm on the skin around your brows. There’s nothing more annoying than itchy eyebrows, especially if you’re planning on wearing makeup later. Wrap a few ice cubes in a towel or use a cold compress first to bring down the swelling and redness.
Until your skin has stopped throbbing, possibly bleeding, or if you really went to town with plucking, avoid putting anything else on the skin. Facial skin is extremely sensitive, and you certainly don’t want an infection. As the swelling eases, gently apply a minimal amount of something hypoallergenic, preferably with aloe vera in it.
I Don’t Have Time to Wait Right Now!
If this happens to you during your morning routine and you need to hop on a Zoom call in a few minutes or start your day, use a very light concealer over the soothing lotion to hide the red spots around your brows.
However, if you noticed any kind of bleeding, we strongly recommend not putting anything on your skin until that bleeding stops. Throw your tube of concealer in the car if you’re driving somewhere to give your skin time to rest. If you have to see people right away, try and tilt your face upwards a bit so the focus isn’t directly on your eyebrows.
For a Zoom call, ask to simply keep your camera turned off. Things happen, and your boss or colleagues likely won’t comment on it if you don’t bring it up. It might be embarrassing, but it’s best to avoid another similar situation in the future with the rest of these tips.
Step 2: Finding the Right Tools
For people who can’t say goodbye forever to their tweezers, that’s okay. We completely understand. But there is still a better way. Get rid of those tweezers with wide and flat ends, and look for ones with angled ends. That makes it easier to only grab the hairs you’re aiming for and not everything in the tweezer’s path.
Another piece of advice is to avoid rubber grips. They’re marketed as being more precise and helping you hold onto those slippery hairs, but if the hairs are too short or thin to be plucked, then chances are it’s best to just leave them be. Rubber grips can accidentally grab a bunch of hairs when you only meant to grab one and leave you looking uncomfortably surprised and overplucked.
Step 3: Throw Out the High-Def Mirror
Sometimes, it’s way too easy to become the evil queen from Snow White. Staring into that “mirror, mirror on the wall” can lead to leaning in and only focusing on the individual hairs instead of your face as a whole. Plucking your eyebrows to perfection when you’re super close to your reflection, or have an insanely high-def mirror, can look fine until you lean back and see your entire expression.
Instead of using that as your basis for plucking, try just looking in a normal mirror that’s about a foot away from you. When you see your face in its entirety, it’s easier to judge when your eyebrows really have gotten too hairy and need some work versus when you’re being a picky perfectionist.
Step 4: Things to Look Out For
Your mirror and tweezers might not be the only reason you’ve over-plucked. It could be due to something else a little more serious: stress. We’ve all been under a lot of pressure for the past year, and things could be catching up to you in little ways.
With so much happening in the world that is outside of your control, it’s only natural that you might try to overdo the things you can control, like your eyebrows. It’s not a bad thing to want to take control but finding other ways to get out that nervous energy and twitchy hands will be beneficial to you (and your brows!) in the long term.
If you get the urge to pluck, take a deep breath and lean back from the mirror. Flex and fold your hands a few times and take a look at your whole face in a normal mirror. Ask yourself: do your eyebrows really need to be plucked? Or is there something else going on that’s more than skin deep?
Step 5: Patience is Key
Did you know that it can take almost a month for the average eyebrow to grow back after being shaped? It’s true; eyebrow hairs grow much slower than those annoying hairs on your legs and armpits. Mother Nature didn’t exactly think this one through!
It can take even longer for older people or people taking certain medications or undergoing medical treatments for eyebrows to bounce back from overplucking. Your brow hairs are very fine and can break or become damaged easily. When you’re waiting for your eyebrows to regrow, try helping them along with some serum, as we talk about in the next section!
Step 6: Eyebrow Growth Serum
If you’re really worried about years of overplucking your brows now that big and bold is trendy, try our brow serum that can nourish your eyebrow hair follicles and promote growth naturally, without spending tons of money on expensive spa treatments.
Step 7: Makeup for the Meantime
While you’re waiting for your brows to grow back, there’s no reason you have to walk around looking like a startled rabbit! Invest in a good pen or pencil to carefully fill in the areas you went to town on with the tweezers, and from afar, no one will be able to tell the difference.
Microblade Pen
TatBrow’s Microblade Pen has a special pronged tip that allows you to make sweeping strokes that look completely natural and blend in with your remaining hairs. With this pen, you’re able to both fill in over-plucked gaps and gently darken the hair to put the spotlight on your eyes beneath. Go forth with bold, beautiful brows!
Micro Precision Pen
A pen will always have a finer, more feathered tip than a dull pencil and might be exactly what you need to add a slight touch of color without going overboard. With a precise and delicate touch, simply add a few strokes of inked hairs in the small gaps that blend in completely with the rest of your brows for a bold look. Need a pen to rely on? Check out our Micro Precision Pen!
Tinted Gel
Choose a tinted gel that is a shade or two lighter than your normal eyebrow hairs and swipe on a few coats for instant color. The gel will hold your strands in place, so if you want to cover up a spot (or two) that got over-plucked, simply use the gel application brush to gently sweep your remaining hairs over the area, and the gel will do the rest.
Use a light touch so your eyebrows don’t look overdone or fake. Be sure that the gel won’t be uncomfortably sticky on your skin, so test it out on your arm beforehand. TatBrow’s patented eyebrow gel thickens and conditions eyebrow hairs even while it colors, so you know that your brows are in good hands.
Brow Beaten Brows
Now that you’ve narrowly avoided disaster, stop panicking about overplucking and get back to nourishing those fantastic eyebrows. Nothing is permanent, and your brows will eventually grow back, but you don’t have to wait weeks before you show your face! Use a little bit of makeup to get by. And we promise that we won’t share your secrets!
SOURCES:
5 Ways to Get Overplucked Eyebrows to Grow Back | Cleveland Clinic
How To Fix Over-Plucked Brows - How To Make Your Brows Thicker | Cosmopolitan
4 Fool-Proof Ways To Fix Over-Plucked Eyebrows, According To Experts | Bustle