I‘m sure everyone has had that painful period of trying to grow out a mistake they made with their brows! I got my eyebrows tweezed for the first time at a professional place when I was 15. I can’t remember what made me suddenly aware of them, but I walked into the first beautitian I could find at a popular mall and simply said, “Tame these monsters!”
BAD MOVE. The lady gave me the thinnest brows with the highest arch. I remember feeling that I looked like Ursula from The Little Mermaid – that permanent evil look. This taught me that yes; what they say is true – eyebrows really make a difference to your face!
That was the last time I ever went to somewhere professional. Unfortunately, at 15 I was still clueless about anything to do with ‘beautifying’ oneself, so afterward, I just kinda tweezed what I felt like tweezing, and even though the evil arch eventually disappeared, they were still too thin.
Fast forward to last, last Summer. I was just turning 19 and decided to just not touch my eyebrows for 6 months – I just wanted to start over everything and get my natural shape back. To tell you the truth, I never thought anyone would notice, much less MEN for that matter. Wrong! All my guy friends started calling me everything from Monkey Man to Bush Woman! One friend, who hadn’t seen me in a while, greeted me with, “Holy eyebrows, Renee!”
What gentlemen I hang around with …. But honestly, it did look a little scary after awhile.
Needless to say, it all grew back (thank goodness!) and I was really careful about tweezing a natural shape this time; keeping it’s original thickness, but creating a very slight arch. Now, I even get compliments on my eyebrows and I’m proud to say it’s all done by me – so Bush Woman gets the last laugh! 
Here are my tips on breaking out of the tweezer-happy addiction and getting back your original shape:
- No touching! Don’t touch them for at least 4 months. Resist the urge, woman! I would say a full 6 months, but 4 months is the least. If it’s really getting unsightly, just tweeze those absolute necessary ones that seem to look completely out of your whole eyebrow area.
- Condition them. Apply some kind of conditioning formula. I tried applying some Vaseline on them for a bit and I really noticed a difference in the actual hairs, they seemed much healthier, thicker and darker. I stopped after awhile due to laziness, but I would really recommend using something; Vaseline or not, to condition them. There are plenty of brow conditioners out there on the market today that you could try out.
- Try hair growth formulas. I read this tip from Allure editor Linda Wells. I haven’t tried it myself but I would expect it to work: Dip a Q-tip in some Rogaine (or any hair loss formula) and rub it on any bald spots you might have. Be EXTREMELY careful to not let it touch anywhere near your eyes! Also, those popular eyelash-growth serums work on the eyebrow too.
- Makeup tricks. In the mean time, fill in empty spots and mistakes with a brow pencil or powder. Or, if some parts are starting to look insane try using a clear eyebrow gel to keep them looking neat – for more information on the different eyebrow products on the market, you may want to check out this post.
- Patience. Patience. Patience really is key – you are literally just waiting for hair to grow! In the meantime, give your itchy fingers something to do – pick your nose instead!
- Prepare for your next session. If you’re going to go to a professional, make sure you don’t end up with crazy thin eyebrows like mine. I shudder at the thought, it was that terrible. Instead, before going, find a photo of a person’s eyebrows you do like – you can’t get the exact shape, but visuals are always helpful with stylists. And when explaining what shape you want, try using words like “natural, low arch, full, thick, slight arch,” whatever you fancy. Just remember to avoid looks that are too thin and too arched – not a good look on anybody, really.
Here are some celebrities whose eyebrows I love, and perhaps you can get some inspiration from. They all seem to stick to a fairly thick, natural look – and it frames their beautiful eyes perfectly!
Left to right: Keira Knightley, Camilla Belle, Megan Fox and Eva Green.
Alright ladies – ‘fess up. Have you ever gone a bit too tweezer-happy in the past? Any funny stories to share? I want to hear! 
Images: JimHillMedia.com, JustJared.com, Celebtopia.com
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
LOL. It’s funny how I woke up this morning, as saw this post. Cause I was just tweezing my brows yesterday, and thinking to myself: “Man, I really don’t want to mess it up this time”. =P
I have had countless tweezing-gone-bad experiences. No kidding. It’s either too thin, or too arch-y, or too “short”. LOL. And after that, I’ll have to force myself not too tweeze for a month until I try really hard to get them back into a normal state. (note the word normal =D )
I’ve really wanted to get them tweeze professionally, but never stumble upon any saloon that I have enough confident to let them tweeze my brows. Haha. Talk about being too-controlling.
I really like Camilla Belle’s brows in that photo too. =)
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Oh, don’t worry about being too controlling! I will never trust anyone with my eyebrows again
Your control issues are completely understandable 
And yes, I love Camille Belle’s photo … actually I love her in general, I think she’s so beautiful!
I over plucked my brows alott, but it seems it has not grown back, I think I killed the roots haha. But I do think some people suit slimmer eyebrows. I draw mine in now, shame. And I love Keira Knightley, by the way.
I agree, some people suit slimmer shapes, but not too thin! I can feel your pain of having to draw your brows in, I had to fill up those missing areas for a while too and it was so annoying! There are more “drastic” ways to fill your brows in such as eyebrow embroidery, maybe I’ll write a post on it one day. And I love Keira’s brows too, in fact I love all the ladies I put up – I find them all so beautiful.
Hee hee, I LOL-ed at your reference to Ursula. OUCH!
I’ve had such accidents too. Overtweezed my own brow. Even the beautician did a physical flinch when she saw my brows.
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It really was that bad! If I can find a picture (hope not) I should post it up, it was just awful. I think everyone has overtweezed at some point huh?
In the 80s I got sick of plucking my eyebrows that I shaved them off and drew them on!!!!!! This was the style at that time, mind you but still was awful!!!! Now my normal brows are back. I recommend just drawing them on if they are thin, my friend got hers tattooed and after 2 years the ink turned green!!!!!!
Oh I know what you mean about the brow tatts. I see a lot of women with green eyebrows on the streets! Very unfortunate, it looks very weird. Glad your brows grew back and so happy that shaving it all off is out of fashion now!