Fashion Features

Eyebrow Love: The fuller brow makes its comeback, expert advice

By April MacIntyre Mar 16, 2012, 21:53 GMT

For women, their is no better ally to a pretty eye makeup than a perfectly turned out brow, groomed and highlighted in the right shade that does not conflict with her coloring.

Eyebrows frame the eye and create a powerful balance on the face.

For women, their is no better ally to a pretty eye makeup than a perfectly turned out brow, groomed and highlighted in the right shade that does not conflict with her coloring.

"Eyebrows are back and full again," says Emmy Award winning makeup artist Melanie Mills, who spoke to me on the phone today from Style Fashion Week LA, where she has spent the last week designing the makeup for fashion stars Anh Volcek, MILA, Skingraft, Ina Soltani and more.

"They frame the eye and set the mood for a makeup, and the more natural fuller, groomed brow is what we are seeing most this season. I love it." Mills is also sponsoring the Fashion Event with her own line of cosmetics.

To achieve a fuller eyebrow is easier said than actually doing for many women. A lifetime of overtweezing or waxing can destroy the opportunity.

"I use Anastasia's Brow colors and pencils, and Benefit's Brow Zings too, along with MAC's staple 'Lingering' brow pencil," says Mills. "A good rule of thumb is to always feather the color from the top line of the brow, versus filling in from the bottom up."

"The best thing to do when grooming is follow your natural brow shape. A full brow really does frame your face and emphasise your eyes in a classic way," says Mills.

There are several ways to effect this look, some surgical, some topical and some cosmetic.

Cosmetic restoration

SENNA Form a Brow kit

This is the original complete brow stencil kit that remains a best seller over the years. The kit has handy brow stencil shapes work for virtually all brows and define the face beautifully, based on the professional 3-point brow shaping technique taught in beauty schools.

Senna Form-A-Brow kit is that it allows you to find the right stencil that closely matches your natural shape, and this kit also comes with three powder colors and a grooming and coloring brush.

For me, Neutral is a winner, allowing a custom blending that looks 100% natural on my eye.  The size is right too, many brow kits are awkward, this one is sleek and packs nicely when traveling.

SENNA Brow Fix X

So you colored in your brows perfectly. Now to lock  in your brow shape and color this product actually fills in gaps with fibers as it conditioners add shine and strengthen brows. This brow gel give a polished, full look. I prefer the clear.

SENNA Double Brow Brush

This multi-tasking brow tool is an all-in-one to color in and groom brow hairs, effortlessly blending brow colors. 6” long.  Must-have item for the makeup table. 

Topical restoration

EUROPEAN_WAX Center RESTORE IT Brow growth serum

This easy to apply brush on formula conditions, repairs and restores eyebrow hair, and really does help with brow hair restoration. I've used it for a year and love it, it's made a difference.

Surgical restoration

For those who have absolutely no eyebrow hair or sparse brows, there is some exciting new techniques that plastic surgeons can do to fill in and fix the issue.

According to the New York Times report - there is a new method for doctors to replace thinning eyebrows: transplanting nape of the neck or leg hair.

Originally developed to help burn victims, the procedure is now growing in popularity with women looking to regain fuller brows, after years of tweezing or even injury or illness.

Hair transplant surgery is the only way to restore eyebrows permanently and it's also the solution for those who naturally have very fair or sparse brows

Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Nicholas Nikolov is an expert at restoring beauty and symmetry to the face, and spoke with me yesterday from his office in Beverly Hills, CA. about his NeoGraft procedure that has worked very well.

The NeoGraft hair transplant machine is on the cutting edge of hair transplant procedures and is an automated system assisting the doctor in harvesting and re-implanting hair grafts.

"For a brow replacement, I like using the nape of the neck," says Dr. Nikolov. "With the NeoGraft technique, there are no visible scars at the donor site, and that is a great advantage. It works well for the over-plucked brows. After waxing or tweezing the brow hairs don't always grow back. The results are amazing, and offer women a way to regain their brows. It's not perfect but pretty close."

Most doctors still use the traditional manual STRIP method which requires the doctor to surgically remove a strip of scalp from the back of the head.  The NeoGraft hair transplant machine eliminates the need for this type of painful surgical procedure.  Transplantation using Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) is the least invasive technique for doing hair transplants as the Doctor or Technician simply removes each follicle separately from the donor site and transplants it to the bald areas anywhere needed. 

April MacIntyre is Monsters and Critics' smallscreen and people/celebrity editor who loves to visit and celebrate small American businesses when she can. You can contact her on Twitter