The very slightest alteration to your eyebrows can have a transformative effect on the entire face- so why are we applying so little research to our brow maintenance weapon of choice?
Beyond the ability of brows to disguise your age, lift your face, slim your nose and and create the illusion of wider, brighter eyes, the way in which we tend to our brows can also have a real impact on the health of our skin. Deciphering brow-jargon and deciding between tweezing, waxing, threading and tattooing can confuse even the most discerning beauty lover, so I enlisted the help of dermal clinician, educator and founder of Femme by FM, Fiona Moss, to guide towards us to better brows (and skin, while we’re at it).
Moss’ approach takes the health of the skin into account just as much as the brows themselves and, despite how many brow maintenance options are readily available now, Fiona tells me that some widely popularised brow techniques are actually causing significant and lasting trauma to your skin.
Given the long-term effects brow shaping can have on the skin, and the immediately transformative effect our brows can have on the entire face, it’s essential that we choose a technique (and a technician) that respects the integrity of the dermis.
While the temptation to use the lockdown period to experiment with hair and beauty lingers, Fiona is in favour of using this time to grow out previously over-plucked brows. “It’s a great way to hit the reset button on previously over-tweezed brows, and allows your brow specialist to create the perfect shape with your natural brows,” she explains.
For those who do feel their brows require some maintenance before salons reopen, Fiona recommends slightly tweezing your brow hairs after a warm shower while your skin is still supple. “Start by brushing your brows upward and outward to give yourself an idea of their potential,” she explains. “I recommend stepping away from the mirror every couple of minutes and reassessing your brows with a fresh set of eyes upon return – it sounds ridiculous, but it works! If you’re trying to grow out to an ideal shape, draw or fill them in and then tweeze the outliers to avoid over-tweezing.
“I recommend tweezing really only from below the brow,” Fiona tells me. “This is usually where the coarser brow hairs are. Some people may find that their brows don’t have a perfectly defined shape on top because of fluffy, vellus hairs- AKA peach fuzz. In this case, I often use something called a Korean Face Razor to tidy up those fluffy areas. If you are having your brows done frequently with a specialist then you’re best to leave it all to them, but I do find this tool handy when I desperately need a quick touch up and my brows aren’t ready to be shaped professionally again.”
When trying to determine your ideal brow shape, Fiona says if in doubt, Google it. “The brow should start vertically above the middle of the nostril- you can use a brow pencil and line it up and ‘dot’ that point prior to shaping. Often I see brows that have been over plucked here and are too far apart, which can make your nose look wider. According to the Golden Ratio of the face (another one for you to Google!), if we were to draw a line from the cupid’s bow of the lip to the end of the eye, the brow would end there. I find that if a brow is ‘longer’ than this measurement, it can look as though it’s dragging the face down a little- brows of the right shape can really give you a face lift! In terms of the actual height of the tail, it should not be lower horizontally than the front/start of the brow- this would otherwise cause a drooping or over-rounded appearance. This is where growing out your brows and then seeing a pro for shaping can be beneficial.”
The Golden Ratio also applies to the height of your arch, Fiona explains. “To find the ideal point, take your pencil and look straight ahead in the mirror (with a relaxed face, not your ‘mirror face’ – guilty!). Imagine a line from your Cupid’s Bow again, through your pupil, and beyond. This is where your arch should be.”
When salons do reopen and you edge closer to your post-lockdown brow transformation, the question remains- to wax, or to thread? “Personally, I prefer threading or tweezing, as long-term heat and trauma from frequent waxing can cause issues for our skin integrity and hyperpigmentation,” Fiona tells me. “Threading is a technique where, as the name would suggest, thread is twisted and passed over the area, slowly plucking the hairs. It’s allows for much straighter lines and precision than can be done with waxing alone. It’s really just a faster, more systematic version of tweezing.”
Those who are frequently having their brows shaped and tinted and are tired of having to do it repeatedly, and anyone spending more time than they would like using makeup to fill in their brows in the morning, may be the perfect candidate for cosmetic tattooing. While cosmetic tattooing may minimise the need for frequent brow maintenance and lower time spent applying colour cosmetics each day, Fiona warns that not all methods of brow tattooing are made equal- and some popular techniques can actually be of real detriment to the skin.
“There are so many names associated with brow tattoo these days. Between ombré, powder, microblading, hairstrokes and feathering, it can become confusing for the consumer,” she explains.
“We’re now seeing an increase in an ‘ombre’ technique, which is executed using a machine, allowing gentle implantation of pigment into the skin and creating a makeup-like look. This technique holds better in all skin types, and requires less frequent touch ups- cosmetic tattoo is designed to fade over time, and you should steer clear of practitioners promoting a cosmetic tattoo that will last decades.
“Microblading or feathering is often touted as being more natural looking, but it’s a case of buyer beware,” Fiona warns. “Often images shared to social media using this technique are taken immediately following the procedure, with crisp and fine looking hairstrokes. Unfortunately, this is not how they heal, regardless of the expertise of the practitioner, reason being that you cannot change the skin’s anatomy.
“When tattoo is implanted in the skin, the body recognises this as a foreign object, but the pigment is too deep in the skin for it to naturally exfoliate out and too big for our immune system to take away. This means that the body needs to find a way to keep it separated from the rest of the body and, for the most part, this is done by creating a collagen capsule (scar tissue) around the pigment. The wound healing cascades are also initiated, regardless, as we are creating a wound in the skin which would ultimately lead to some collagen/scar formation. Collagen is, to a degree, white in colour and it scatters light, which is one of the reasons that our skin is not ‘see through’ and why older skins can look a little translucent as their collagen depletes. In regard to tattoo, this means that regardless of the expertise of the practitioner, once healed, it will look blurry and thick – especially after a few touch-ups. This is a big issue with hairstroke tattooing.
“Microblading and hairstrokes are also only suited to a very small percentage of skins and require more frequent touch ups, which means time and money for the consumer. Too often I have clients visit for corrections from microblading artists who repeatedly microbladed their brows, only to tell them that they could not treat them again because of the excessive scar tissue- that they themselves have caused by having to treat the area so frequently. This is not just a case of poor practitioner. I have clients from some of Melbourne’s most highly regarded studios.
“The ombré technique still heals on the same mechanisms, however we rely on that ‘blurring’ to provide a super natural, soft finish.”
Fiona tells me that she is frequently visited by clients who have undergone traditional microblading and hairstroke tattooing with eyebrows that have blurred so much that they have blurred into one, uneven tattoo, and brows that have turned blue or grey in colour. “The blue or grey tones are common with microblading due to where the pigment is placed in the skin,” she explains. “Often the fronts or starts of the brow, where most want a soft and natural look, are where the strokes are actually thicker and darker than the rest of the brow. This can happen with machine brows too due to practitioner error, so you do need to do your research on who is doing your brows and not just how they look on Instagram immediately after treatment.”
To avoid a cosmetic tattooing disaster, and to maintain the integrity and health of your skin, Fiona says it’s essential that you see multiple examples of how your chosen bow artist’s work has healed months after the fact. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a reputable artist,” she tells me. “It’s becoming easier and easier for ‘artists’ to complete a non-accredited short course in brow tattooing services, with very little to no regulation or prior learning around who is admitted into said courses- or who trains them! Short courses in microblading, ombré brows and lip tattoo are all available with no prior experience necessary.
“We’re also seeing ‘brow specialists’ add on brow tattoo to their services,” Fiona notes. “This may seem like a natural progression for their business, but when we take into account the skin anatomy and wound healing involved, more training on a deeper level is really necessary. Unfortunately the beauty industry as a whole is not regulated in regard to who can perform certain services, and what titles they can give themselves.
“The best way to choose an artist is to ask to see evidence of qualifications and look for accredited symbols. If they’ve completed the qualification they should have no problem sharing this with you.”
Photography: Melissa Cowan
Hair & Makeup: Sophia Pafitis
Model: Kate Mogg at Precision MGMT
Styling & Art Direction: Gemma Watts
This article is not sponsored.
Fiona Moss is Bachelor Qualified Dermal Clinician (BHScDT) and accredited cosmetic tattoo artist. You can find Fiona online at Femme by FM or on email at hello@femmebyfm.com
