When I first moved to New York two years ago, I desperately wanted to achieve the full-browed look the cool Brooklyn girls around me were sporting. So, eyebrow pencil in hand, I began the long and painful process of growing them out. I followed the golden rule prescribed by experts: Do. Not. Pluck...I filled in holes and wore strategic shadow to cover up the patchiness. A few months in, I went to a brow bar to get them professionally tinted and shaped, urging the specialist to keep them as full as possible. She recommended castor oil at night to help stimulate growth in the spots that were still patchy but warned that in some cases, the root is fried and the hair may never grow in.
She was right. Two years later, my brows are more full, certainly, but there are definite spots where the hair just never grew back. (I haven't plucked a thing besides a few very stray hairs since.) When I came across the Vogue article, "A Cheater's Guide to Growing out Your Brows in 2018," I was piqued. The article mentions the steps I followed and warns of that awkward phase when your brows grow awry. The author notes that the growing out process can take months and up to a full year but never mentions the caveat that the hair may never come back at all.
In fact, all of the beauty articles I've read tell the same story: Suffer a few months of awkwardness and afterward you'll look like Cara Delevingne. Is this to sell eyebrow pencils or to keep threading salons in business? I'm not sure, but I want to arm you with some information if you're thinking about growing out. If you're a twenty-something like me and came of age in the 2000s—when Sex and the City thin arches were in fashion—and got frequent cheap wax jobs at nail salons, the truth is your brows will probable never grow in entirely. But that's okay. Eyebrow pencil/shadow/gel is your friend, and it's relatively cheap.
Right now I'm using It Cosmetics Universal Eyebrow Pencil and Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel (which came in my Birchbox), but I also love the E.L.F. Eyebrow Kit which is literally $3 at the drugstore. While you're there, grab some Castor oil and give the technique a try. Worst comes to worst, it doesn't work and you have it on hand in case of a bellyache. What's your growing out experience? Share your brow philosophy in the comments below.
 |
| Left to right: before eyebrow product, It Cosmetics pencil, Chella gel, after product. |
