Lightening brows (but not expressly to match dyed hair)

sew and sew · 09-06-2007, 08:27 PM

My hair managed to get significantly lighter over the summer yet my eyebrows didn't. I'm sure that the effect will fade gradually before next summer comes around but right now the contrast just looks off.

Did a little online research and one tip makeup scientists suggest is using regular facial bleaching cream and leaving it on for about one minute.

Has anyone tried this or have another suggestion?

Eilonwy · 09-06-2007, 09:57 PM

I've heard this suggestion, too. However, I'd be very worried about the bleach falling into my eyes! Unless your brows grow very slowly (so you'd only have to do it once), I don't think it's worth it--especially since you said that you just need a temporary solution.

One alternative is to get your brows bleached at a salon. It's probably easier to bleach someone else's brows than it is to do your own.

The solution I'd go with is to use an ammonia-free dye (like L'Oreal Natural Match or Clairol Nice'n Easy) to darken my hair slightly, thus making the contrast between hair and brows less extreme.

sew and sew · 09-06-2007, 11:46 PM

The bleach does worry me a bit. Lemon juice seems like a possibility. People say it tends to lend a reddish tinge but my hair has a red tone to it so maybe it'll work. My brows are just dark brown currently. Thanks for the info!

Eilonwy · 09-07-2007, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westcoastwaves

Lemon juice seems like a possibility. People say it tends to lend a reddish tinge

Just FYI, the lemon juice does not add redness. Just like commercial hair bleach, lemon juice encourages mainly melanin (black pigment) to lift. Most dark hair has a lot of red in it, and this redness becomes visible when dark hair is bleached--usually resulting in weird orange color. Salons counteract the redness with toner, which is imparts a sheer blue or green tint (this is also available at drugstores).

Anyway, lemon juice tends to lift color pretty gradually, and I'd imagine it's a lot drippier than cosmetic bleach. I'm sure you don't want lemon juice in your eyes, either!

Koukla72 · 09-07-2007, 06:59 AM

I just picked up an eyebrow lightening kit at my local Jade Beauty Supply that did a good job. The box says it lightens on tone up to four shades but I'd say if you want to lighten more than three shades you would be better off going to a salon just to be safe about brassiness. And definitely use a stopwatch to time it (I used the one in my phone) cause this stuff does work fast.

The only cons I can see after using it yesterday are that the box claims there are 10 applications in the box but there's no way that's true if you use the mix amounts they say to (the proportions seem right, though), and I think I might get slightly more even results next time just gently smearing it on with a plastic-wrapped finger than using their application stick. There are a few little hairs I can tell didn't get great contact with the cream and are slightly darker. Not a big deal, though. I'd buy it again.

HTH!

RedCatWaves · 09-07-2007, 09:05 AM

Just take a cotton ball saturated with regular 3% household peroxide and wipe them across your brows and leave it to dry. It's very mild, but will lighten eyebrows very subtley. If they're still too dark, repeat the cotton ball with peroxide the next day too. I wouldn't do it more than 3 times though, or they might get too light.

rouquinne · 09-07-2007, 05:57 PM

^^^ i do that twice a day until the colour is right and then just do it 3 times a week to maintain new growth.

curlylaura · 09-08-2007, 02:45 AM

Dark eyebrows won't go orange first, then lighter brown using neat peroxide, will they?

spiderlashes5000 · 09-08-2007, 03:01 AM

I've lightened my brows many times w/ facial hair bleach. No biggie. The stuff doesn't run so it won't drip into your eyes (unless your forehead is sweating). But a big clump of the cream bleach might fall off and touch a few eyelashes and land on your shirt or something.

I've never had problems doing my own brows this way...but I'm a DIY kinda girl!

Caveat: no matter what method of lightening you use, your eyebrow hairs will grow in at very, very different rates. So if you lighten them dramatically, be prepared for seriously two toned brows for many months.

rouquinne · 09-08-2007, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlylaura

Dark eyebrows won't go orange first, then lighter brown using neat peroxide, will they?

it's never happened to me - unlike some of the disasters i've had with hair dye products!

RedCatWaves · 09-08-2007, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlylaura

Dark eyebrows won't go orange first, then lighter brown using neat peroxide, will they?

No. I've had "brassy" hair, but never brassy eyebrows.

sew and sew · 09-08-2007, 01:23 PM

Thank you for the suggestions everyone

I gave the hydrogen peroxide a try yesterday, applied it once in the early afternoon and again around 9 pm. They do seem slightly lighter this morning, enough of a change that three more applications should do the trick for me.

There's been no change in color tone, just a lighter shade of the same tone before. So far...

Brio · 09-08-2007, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderlashes5000

I've lightened my brows many times w/ facial hair bleach. No biggie. The stuff doesn't run so it won't drip into your eyes (unless your forehead is sweating). But a big clump of the cream bleach might fall off and touch a few eyelashes and land on your shirt or something.

I've never had problems doing my own brows this way...but I'm a DIY kinda girl!

Caveat: no matter what method of lightening you use, your eyebrow hairs will grow in at very, very different rates. So if you lighten them dramatically, be prepared for seriously two toned brows for many months.

I've not done it, but the makeup artist on TLC's What Not to Wear often uses this facial bleach to lighten brows.