Help me sort out my eyebrows please!

[11smo11]

I’ve recently turned 40 and my eyebrows have been a constant struggle.

I lean towards natural and low-maintenance beauty. But since getting a shock after repeatedly catching myself in the mirror and wondering who was staring back at me, I’ve been taking it a bit more seriously.

I had thick eyebrows as a kid (or so I thought back then, now I look back on pics and think I just had beautiful natural brows that would look amazing with a simple tidy up!) but naturally, I fell for the 90s over-plucking disaster era 🙄

I have no idea what shape might suit my face or how to start looking.

I’ve seen numerous beauticians but they have either not seemed that confident in their suggestions or give me so many options that I’m back to where I started, overwhelmed and unsure what to do. I feel like I need someone to confidently guide me as I’ve literally had decades of being clueless on this!

I have some sparse areas top/middle which give them a straight-ish/wave shape and I hate it.

Would microblading help give them a more natural arch?

I’m also off on holidays in 2 weeks, would I wait until after hols to tackle this?

It’s really starting to affect my confidence and I don’t like looking in the mirror much at the moment.

Thank you

I could've almost written this post myself. My eyebrows were always a good feature - until they weren't! They suddenly became patchy and straggly and made me look and feel terrible. Eventually I got them tinted and waxed at the Benefit counter in Boots. I wasn't convinced this was what I needed (they were already dark in colour and had been overplucked like yours) but it's made such a huge difference! They don't look like they're painted on or anything like that, just tidier and more defined. They talked me through how to shape my eyebrows with makeup at home too but I haven't really needed to bother. I had it done before a wedding and it gave me a real confidence boost. I would definitely recommend trying it before your hols. It does fade and has to be redone after 4-6 weeks, but mine still look a lot better than they did! Good luck.

Threading swear by it

@amberisola Benefit is a good shout, I’ll check them out

@trader21c i love threading too, I think I get a more defined shape. But I have had some bad experiences with having my skin caught, ouch
Also, it’s about someone knowing what shape to thread, usually they tend to follow what’s there naturally but I hate the current shape, I don’t think it’s very flattering for me

Yes I cop out and always ask them to ‘tidy up’ my brows - do grin and bear it somewhat but not too painful now - results are brilliant!

Show us a picture and we'll advise. Have you ever had them dyed?

I've always had very sparse brows. So I tried microblading as I was fed up of spending time every morning doing a not very good job on them. I'm really pleased with the result. Your beauty therapist will take some time advising you on shape etc but you can't get them wet for a couple of weeks

My brows are a bit sparse from overplucking.

And some hairs are going white now that I'm in my 50s!

I have tried:

Clear mascara (surprisingly good at tidying and shaping them so they just generally look better)

Tinted brow gel - same, but added tint is good, need to choose right colour though

RapidBrow - effective at thickening up brows, but expensive and not a quick fix

I will probably massively regret posting a picture of myself up here but hey ho 😅

Self conscious just looking at this tbh

I think I naturally have a little bit of an S Shape brow but I just don’t think it’s flattering or perhaps I just don’t love it, I don’t look at my face and think ‘yeah that’s the one’

@Oblomov23 yes I’ve had HD brows a couple of times which included dyeing them but I didn’t notice too much of a difference if I’m honest. My hair is quite dark and thick anyway

Id say you need a good brow person - perhaps ask around. I use someone that a friend recommended to me, her brows are great! She does a version of HD Brows (but also offers lamination, not sure if you'd need/ant that).

I use UK Lash for lash growth, I think they also do one for brows, which you could use for patchy bits?

Then a good shape up and you'll be grand, you've got a great start!

Ive done eyebrows for years. You have suchhhh good natural brows. The shape and definition is easily identifiable from the parts that need tidying up. You need a good threader who wont change the shape at all and a quick tint to fill in the top part of the brows. Id literally LOVE to do brows like yours.

Excuse the terribly drawn lines. But thats where i would thread and the small gaps under the top line is the only part that needs filling. I tint mine but when it lightens up i just use a basic brow pencil. You dont need much work at all

You have great brows! That wasn’t at all what I was expecting.

You just need a good threader and then some brow gell to keep them in line. Ask around locally. Get it done for your holiday

You have great eyebrows! I lost my thick eyebrows completely due to a type of alopecia and they are now fake, but thank goodness for microblading. I don't think you should have to go down that route.

You know what, you lovely posters have made me feel so much better about my brows! I’m actually a little emotional about it (how ridiculous, I must be hormonal or something 😅)

I think I might still have some hang-ups about being the kid with the bushy eyebrows, then having beauticians tell me my eyebrows are difficult. Ended up a bit insecure about it all but it sounds like I just need to find the right person.

@Babygirl888 this is amazingly helpful, thank you so much!! I think I will take all the advice from this post and go find an experienced and recommended threader. Will start scouting out some Google reviews and Instagram

I know you said you dont like your natural shape. I beg you, please dont change it! To have that naturally is amazing. Anything else will change your face so much. I have so many girls come to me with straight or rounded brows and they are desperate for a defined arch and its just not possible. I can tell they are very full which again is so rare. A little tidy up to sharpen them up and a tint to fill them is all you need. xx

These are great brows. Please don’t try to change the natural shape, it never looks right. All you need to do is tweeze the stragglers which don’t form part of the main shape.

Oh my days ! I was expecting something like mine hideous

They are fantastic , you just need a good beautician either waxing / thread / pluck doesn't matter , they just need a tidy

I'm so jealous

You’ve got great brows with a lovely shape. Do you have a department store near you? They may have a Blink Brow bar which might be worth trying. Even better if you could get to a branch of Shavata brows.

I’ve got big brows too and I use my nearest Blink and they’ve been great.

I also use a lash or brow growth serum on them. I’ve used the expensive ones but I now just search for the cheapest one with the best reviews on Amazon and I pay around £15 for it.

I also use L’Oreal Infallible brow mascara to keep them under control, also from Amazon.

You have great brows. Go to a good brow person and have them thread and tidy the outliers but please love your brows because they are fantastic

The outline i showed will also draw away from the S shape that some people can get. Usually the tinting can camouflage this - i have it too without tinting. You would need to ask them not to thread/wax than I drew otherwise the S becomes very stand out or part of the arch needs to be remove which i wouldnt advise! Good luck!

Babygirl has given good advice as have other posters. You have a great shape, just get them threaded or waxed outside of the lines babygirl drew. You could tint too, if there are fairer hairs there tinting will bring them out
Or just fill in the gaps with brow pencil /brow powder. You could also consider microblading or shadow brows to fill those gaps - maybe someone else can advise which would be better for to blend in with your natural hair texture

Threading for a tidy up and brow dye (I dye mine myself).