Beauty Clinic: Help for colouring brows?
Q. I have light brown hair but my eyebrows are naturally black, which looks harsh on my face. I would like to dye them medium/light brown but it seems you can only dye eyebrows brown from blonde, not black. I have tried bleaching them but it comes out uneven, and makes them weak - sometimes hairs fall out. Powder, brow gels and brow pencils just look too dark even if they are a lighter shade. What can I do? A. Actually, we think many women would give their eye teeth for this beauty dilemma – think Cara Delevingne!
As you say, most home brow colour is formulated to darken eyebrows rather than lighten them. However, Blink, the specialist brow company, offers an Eyebrow lightening/Brow colour matching service for a reasonable £24. NB All new Blink clients will need a patch test at least 24 hours prior to tinting, they say.
It is definitely worth making an expedition to a Blink brow bar – there are a dozen at department stores in London and ten nationwide. Find out more on www.blinkbrowbar.com
If you can’t get to Blink immediately we suggest you first try a temporary solution in the form of ColorWow! This mineral powder, which you apply with a small brush and can be washed out, was developed as a temporary cover-up for root growth and is a small work of genius. It comes in six shades and we suggest you try Blonde or Light Brown. You can find the range at www.victoriahealth.com but also at SpaceNK, so if you're uncertain about the shades you could pop in and try them to see which suits best. For more stockists, look at the website, www.colorwowhair.com, just scroll down to the bottom for the Store Locator.
For more permanent results, you could try a DIY ash blonde hair colour (experts recommend going several shades lighter to achieve the colour you want), but do be very careful not to get the product in your eyes. We know you tried bleaching and it didn't work – but the bottom line is that applying these sorts of chemicals near your eyes is potentially risky. Much better to get an experienced professional to do it for you or stick to a safer temporary product.