Wouldn’t it be great to have gorgeous, effortless brows without the daily makeup routine? Eyebrow tinting offers a semi-permanent solution to enhance, shape, and define your brows, potentially saving you time and effort. This article delves into the details of eyebrow tinting, covering everything from the process and benefits to potential risks and aftercare.
Eyebrow tinting is the process of applying semi-permanent dye to enhance, shape, darken, and define your brows. Darkening the tiny, fine hairs in and around your eyebrows helps create the illusion of thicker, fuller, and longer brows. It can manipulate the brow area by darkening the fine hairs that surround the perimeter of the brow to increase the width. It also allows the specialist to darken the fine hairs in the inner core of the brow that are in less dense areas, creating a longer brow line (brow tail) or fuller front and a more ideal shape.
The tint is made of semi-permanent vegetable dye or henna that is mixed to match your existing shade. This can be done at salons or with at-home kits. It gives the appearance of thicker, more youthful-looking brows. Brow tinting will only accentuate your existing brow hairs-it won’t fill in gaps, spots, or sparse areas. So although brow tinting will certainly help beef up the look of your brows, you may still need to fill in target areas with a brow styler like a tinted wax or gel.
Eyebrow tinting works on all brow types and brow colors. If you’re trying to tint grey or white hair though, the process is a little trickier. “Make sure you go to someone that knows how to tint eyebrows well and does it often,” Tummala adds. “Grey hair is more resistant and tends to be stubborn, so you might need to adjust the process a bit.”
As the purpose of eyebrow tinting is to darken and define the brows, it may be a suitable option for anybody wishing to change the color or thickness of their brows, such as those with very light or thin brows.
Read also: Comprehensive Eyebrow Piercing Guide
Eyebrow tinting may not be suitable for people with a PPD allergy, as some products contain PPD.
The eyebrow-tinting process will look different depending on the type on the spa or studio you visit, but in general, it’s a quick and easy appointment.
The whole process will take 20 minutes from start to finish. An average session, which Saks says can cost anywhere from $35 to $40, takes only about 15 minutes. However, the duration of the service can vary depending on the type of brows you have (coarser brow hairs mean the dye will need to sit for longer) and the type of business you visit.
As a rule of thumb, always choose a color that’s two to three shades lighter than your natural brow if you are going for an au natural look. If you have blonde eyebrows or the desired effect is dark eyebrows, you can choose to go a shade or two darker.
If you’re hoping to tint your eyebrows at home, know this: The FDA doesn’t want you to. “Never dye your eyebrows or eyelashes at home,” reads the FDA’s current safety standards. “This can hurt your eyes and cause permanent skin discoloration. You might even go blind.” So, basically, DIY your eyebrows at your own risk.
Read also: Causes and Relief for Eyebrow Pain
Ideally, you’d get your eyebrows professionally tinted by a brow specialist because you’re more likely to encounter issues at home than at a reputable, top-rated salon. But if you’re set on doing it yourself, try a well-reviewed eyebrow-tinting kit. These kits can range from a simple one-step gel to a professional-grade mixing system with powders and activators, but the general gist is the same: They’ll leave your brows with a semipermanent tint, lasting anywhere from a few days to three weeks.
Though the instructions will differ from kit to kit (so please read them twice), most kits will have you apply the dye to your clean eyebrows and let it sit for anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours. Then you’ll either rinse off or peel off the hardened dye to reveal darker, fuller-looking eyebrows. Sounds easy-and it typically is-but remember that DIYing your own tint does come with some potential risks, like irritation, allergic reactions, and wonky results.
While some trial and error is part of the learning curve with at-home dye jobs, allergic reactions are not. So before you slather your brows in dye, you need to patch-test the solution behind your ear or on a small spot on your neck and wait a full 24 hours to make sure you don’t have a reaction. Once you get the green light from your skin, you can get started on your brows.
To get the most realistic finish, brow expert Umbreen Sheikh recommends buying a kit that already matches your natural brow color and to be cautious of how long you leave the dye on. “The first time you tint your brows at home, no matter what the instructions say, leave the tint on for a shorter amount of time and see how it looks,” she says. Trust: It’s way easier to go back in with more tint than it is to live with regret.
Step-by-step guide for DIY eyebrow dyeing:
Read also: Everything about Anti-Eyebrow Piercings
While eyebrow tinting may be a popular choice for enhancing the appearance of the brows, it is important to note that, like most procedures, there are some risks.
You’ll see results from brow-tinting immediately. It is one of the few beauty services that has zero downtime and gives you instant, gratifying results. Just note that the skin beneath your brows will be a bit stained afterward (which can make your brows look temporarily bolder or thicker than they really are), but the stain will fade within a few days and doesn’t tend to be very noticeable.
“Your brows will stand out and look fuller right away,” Tummala says. “You can cut back on the multiple brow products in your beauty routine.”
The tint lasts anywhere from three to six weeks. Eyebrow tinting typically lasts for three to six weeks, during which time the dye will slowly (and subtly) fade. So basically, your brows will look their freshest and most defined for the first two weeks after treatment, then gradually fade over time. Keep in mind that everyone’s hair reacts to the dye a bit differently and grows at a slightly different rate, says Vincent, so you likely won’t know how long eyebrow tinting lasts on you until you try it for yourself.
To maintain color, Tummala suggests coming in every four to six weeks for touch-ups.
In general, eyebrow tinting typically costs $20 to $40, but that price can be higher (up to $100) or lower ($10) depending entirely on where you live and the type of salon you visit. Just remember: This is a treatment around your delicate eye area, so you’ll want to get your eyebrows tinted somewhere trustworthy and well-known (look at tagged photos on Instagram! Read reviews! Ask around!), even if the tint is a bit more expensive. Doing proper research, looking at salon portfolios, and sleuthing through customer reviews is recommended before trusting just any salon with your beautiful face.
There are alternatives to eyebrow tinting that some people may find more suitable. These include:
If you are interested in an alternative that provides semi-permanent results, microblading might be a suitable option.
Eyebrow tinting is better for someone who wants to add a semipermanent, noninvasive tint to their brows (think: a monthlong brow gel). Microblading is better for someone who wants to create a new, thicker, or bolder brow shape through a permanent, somewhat-invasive technique (see: a tattoo). Basically, eyebrow tinting is more about enhancing the natural brow hairs you already have. And although brow tint can’t fill in sparse, hairless patches-only microblading can-it can help dye the fine hair you do have, helping to “increase the look of fuller brows in a noncommittal way,” says Vincent. In fact, even if you’re considering microblading, Vincent still recommends trying eyebrow tinting first, since it will darken the hairs you can’t normally see, making your brows look thicker than you’d imagine.
No, you cannot and should not use normal hair dye on your eyebrows. Hair dye and eyebrow tint are very different formulas and should not be used interchangeably. While eyebrow tints are typically vegetable-based formulas, Vigliotti explains that at-home hair dyes usually have ammonia in them and can be super dangerous, not only for the fragile, sensitive skin around your eyes but for your actual eyeballs and retinas.
Instead, Vigliotti recommends using a dye or tint specifically formulated for your eyebrows or eyelashes, and-I can’t stress it enough-to always, always patch-test any new product for an allergic reaction first before applying it all over.
If you’re looking for a way to temporarily define and darken your existing brow hairs, you may want to consider trying an eyebrow tint-as long you’ve done your research to find a legal salon with a licensed, experienced technician (and also asked them about their credentials and brow-tint formula). Eyebrow tinting usually costs less than $20 and can last up to six weeks, so if you are prepping for a special occasion and don’t want to deal with filling in your brows every day, you might love the convenience of a brow tint, provided you remember the potential risks.
tags: #eyebrow #tinting #information
