Defining Myself / Brow Tinting

When I look back at my road to eyebrows, it falls in line with the rest of my beauty past: subtle, when I envisioned impact. Given my coloring (and lack of pigment in lashes and brow hair), I assumed makeup always gave me a more dramatic appearance than it ever actually did. Photos from high school and college look as though I’m barely wearing anything—maybe mascara, but no liner and definitely no eyebrows. That’s why I look so different back then.

How I typically drew on my brows, minimum of 2 products

I accept that I’m a redhead and light features come with the territory. I've also been terrified of doing anything more permanent to my eyebrows in the event I'd go too dark and look ridiculous. I see eyebrow and lash tinting as “my face but better,” little steps which add definition and dimension to my face. Another benefit is the time I save from not putting on lashes and eyebrows daily. I’ve perfected the no makeup make-up as my daily look, and lived for the day this could become semi-permanent.

I remember being in my mother’s bathroom and she’d do my eyebrows as she did hers just for fun or for dance recitals, with a light brown powder (Revlon?) and little angled brush. My mother was a darker brunette (now grey) but her eyebrows were always darker. I couldn’t tell what she was doing on mine as I was so young, or how much she had put on. It was barely a shadow above my eyes once finished. I didn’t touch my eyebrows until I was in college where I started with a MAC Veluxe Brow Liner in Dirty Blonde, barely drawing a shape and simply putting on enough product to brush through the hairs. As the defined and larger brow trend escalated, I opted for an Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express powder kit, which came with a powder duo, highlight duo, stencil and brow primer that I never knew what to do with. The “light” kit gave me even more impact than my past pencil, and that’s when I started to really take advantage of what a stronger brow can do to your face. Pro-tip for redheads, red hair has a way of changing the appearance of other shades you’re applying to the face to take on much more reddish tones than you’d expect. Since my hair isn’t a pure red or auburn, I never went with shades that were traditionally for redheads, always blonder. However, I’ve learned that even darker blondes and browns easily pick up the red in hair and kind of color match what you already have going on, on top.

Fast forward to early 2018 where I became a heavy user of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Caramel with Glossier’s Boy Brow in Blonde. I had my system down to a science. I didn’t have to pluck or wax (and couldn’t wax, given my retinoids) but could draw on perfectly defined brows by hand. I felt utterly naked without brows; some days I could go with Boy Brow alone (gym, pool) where I knew it’d come off anyway. With Brow Wiz at $21 and Boy Brow at $16, I was spending about $40 every 3 or so months on brow product. For a similar amount, I could get my brows professionally tinted which would save me time as well.

I feel like no one talks about brow tinting, like it’s outdated or something. I don’t know if people with light brows are just fewer and further in between, or maybe everyone is just tinting them and not talking about it, but I can fully say brow tinting changed my life. I love the natural shape of my brows and the way my hair grows, so I’m not a great candidate for microblading—yet. I knew adding color could help.

I made an appointment at Milk + Honey in Downtown Austin, which came out to about $40 too. My esthetician, Jessica, had great brows herself and I knew that was a good sign. M+H uses Intensive tints, which are vegetable based products. She covered my brows in their “medium brown,” which is the lightest they have. I showed Jessica a photo of how I draw on my brows myself so she could get an idea of what I was used to. I also asked what color blondes typically go with.

The whole process takes about 15 minutes total. I didn't have any sensation when the dye was on my brows. When I saw my eyebrows afterwards, I was completely blown away. I never knew I had long, pretty eyebrow hair (similar to my sister’s). For once, I had the definition and boldness I was looking for. I literally gasped and said, “where has this been my whole life?” They were dark (as medium brown brows would seem to be) but I knew they’d lighten with time. They appeared darker when my hair was up, and I got a kick out of appearing almost brunette when I had a rain hood up.

Three weeks later, my brows and lashes typically start to fade. They have survived heated yoga classes, a lake weekend, and lots of retinoid placed carefully around them (Jessica said letting retinoid touch my brows would cause them to fade quicker). At week 3.5, I typically start to use my Boy Brow again when I'm wearing makeup for work or going out, whereas I wouldn't during the first few weeks. I usually go back at the 6 week mark, potentially sooner if needed.

Taking the tinting plunge totally changed my relationship with my eyebrows. I was also validated when I was getting my brows done and saw my redheaded #ladyhero Julie Oliver at Milk and Honey, who actually tints her brows herself using the same materials. Maybe I’ll have to try that someday when I’m feeling bold.