Quick Fix - Brow Maintenance

A series of short, to-the-point chats with the industries best. No intro, no small talk, no wasting your time, just the answers you want & need to ensure you feel, be & look your best.

With Brow Specialist, Kiara Doherty from Arc Motif.

EC. Kiara, you introduced me to brow lamination which is an absolute game-changer for anyone who likes a full, fluffy brow. Lamination aside, I’d love to debunk some do's & don’ts when it comes to brow maintenance. Let’s start with a don’t …

KD. Surprisingly, I would say do not maintain your brows between appointments. If you are tweezing your brows in between your regular appointments, your hair growth won’t be on the same cycle which means you won't get a long-lasting result or be able to maintain your shape because the hairs that you tweeze out, won’t be the hairs that I'm able to tweeze out. It causes this constant unevenness in between cycles, so throw away your tweezers. I like to work with a fresh, clean canvas if possible.

EC. So many women will feel happy & relieved to hear that. What about some of your brow do’s - I’m sure you’ve got quite a few of these?!

KD. Hydration! They key to making your lamination last a lot longer and being able to have them laminated again after 7 - 10 weeks is hydration. I usually give clients a take-home oil at the end of their treatment, which is a blend of sweet almond, vitamin e and castor oil. Hydration is not only great for hair growth but also helps to keep hairs in place for a lot longer as well. Just like the hair on your head, you have to take care of it and hydration is one of the most important things. Also, invest in a good brow gel. There's so much you can do with a bit of gel from flattening each individual hair to keeping them in place for the whole day if you like that full, brushed up look.

EC. We spend so much time, money & effort trying to rehydrate the hair on our head so it makes perfect sense to apply the same principle to our brows …

KD. When you think about it, lamination is essentially a perm for your brows. Perming your hair is quite an intense, drying treatment so it’s important to hydrate your brows to keep them moisturised. It will make a lamination look better too.

I also recommend clients alternate between treatments. So they’ll come in for a lamination and then every second visit, they might have a shape & tint instead, to give their hairs a bit of rest between appointments.

EC. Is there a minimum amount of time required between appointments for any type of brow treatment?

KD. Brow lamination is the longest wait time between appointments. I recommend 4 - 6 weeks for a shape & tint but this is based on personal preference. A tint in itself isn't going to last 4 - 6 weeks. In that case, clients might come in for just a tint (between the shaping & tinting appointment), if that's something they rely on. The length of time between appointments also depends on hair growth too - if you’ve got a lot of hair or a really structured brow where you can visibly see regrowth, you might prefer more regular appointments whereas someone with fluffy, fair brows might get away with a few extra weeks between visits.

EC. Can you share with us your favourite brow pencil?

KD. Yes! My favourite brow products in general are Kosas, which you’ll find at Mecca. I love everything about Kosas - they’re a fusion of skincare + make-up which I'm all about and their brow products are awesome. The Brow Pop Dual-Action Pencil is highly pigmented so it will last a long time and they have Air Brow, which is all you could ever want in a gel. It feels like you’re not wearing anything in your brows.

EC. What's your thoughts on over-plucked brows. Are they a lost cause?

KD. No, they’re not. I see a lot of over-plucked brows and clients come in thinking they don’t have much hope but there is so much you can do with brows. It doesn't matter how much hair you naturally have these days. If brows are over-tweezed, I might start with a shape & tint or I'll encourage that client to consider a lamination. A lamination can manipulate the hair follicle to sit in a certain direction, so using the hairs that they do have, we're able to create a better shape and give them an idea of what we can do with their brows in the future as well.

Clients with over-tweezed brows have usually spent so much of their life with the same shape, so guiding them into something different like a lamination is a big adjustment but I guarantee, they'll love it. Then, after lamination we can discuss treatments like tattooing, (something a little more permanent) that's going to give them the definition and shape that they need that will also last a lot longer too.

EC. I’ve heard from numerous people that if you don't have much of a brow, then you can't even have lamination, so this is huge and will give women so much hope …

KD. Absolutely! What a lot of people don’t understand is that with brow lamination, the hair follicle is more open which means that when we apply the tint, it absorbs into the hair so much better. It's then even easier to create a shape with the tint, once they're already laminated because the tint will last a little bit longer for them as well.

EC. What about tweezing above the brow? I’ve also heard it’s best to avoid this?

KD. I’ve heard this too but personally, I think it's really important to maintain the tops of your brows because that's half of the brow. So if you do want that shape, that correction, that clean line, I feel it's important to wax or tweeze above the brow. A lot of clients do react to wax above their brow though because after waxing, your pores are open, so bacteria can get in and cause a reaction above the brow. My alternative is threading. It gives the same result as waxing but it's not abrasive on the skin at all.

EC. On the topic of waxing, does waxing cause hair to grow back thicker and faster?

KD. No, because you are removing the hair from the actual follicle, whereas if you shave (eg. dermaplaning) this will speed up the growth and the hair will come back more coarse because you're only shaving it off at surface level.

I do get a lot of questions about dermaplaning, so I’ll quickly just mention that dermaplaning involves the removal of vellus hair (eg. fluffy hair) so it's not terminal hair like you see on your brows, therefore it grows back fair & fluffy. If you were to shave your brows however, this is terminal hair which would grow back coarse.

EC. Anything else brow-related that we haven’t mentioned that you’d like to add?

KD. A lot of women like to keep up with brow trends. At the moment, thinner brows are coming back in style, which a lot of my clients are nervous about given they’ve only just grown their brows back. When it comes to brow trends, you need a great brow lady and you need to trust them. If you’re wanting to try thinner brows, a brilliant brow specialist can achieve this for you whilst still keeping the right shape.

Follow Kiara Doherty on Instagram - @kiaradoherty.am