Here's what I did to achieve model-worthy feather brows

As someone who’s had fine hair all her life, strong, thick eyebrows were never really something I was blessed with. As a teenager, my eyebrows were a sparse mess, with my eyebrow hairs growing in all sorts of directions , looking like I had barely any to begin with.

No one had taught me the importance of eyebrow makeup and I would happily head out with eye shadow and lip gloss, without realising how incomplete my beauty look was.

Then when I hit 15 and discovered the world of threading, I had no idea just how much proper eyebrows could frame your face. Unlike plucking, threading seemed more precise when it came to shaping my brows.

Gathering the hair together to shape and remove them also helped to tame my unruly brows and force them into the same direction.

All of a sudden… I! Had! Eyebrows! In one session, my eyes seemed brighter, bigger and even just prettier. Regardless, it was a Christmas miracle! But while I wish my journey with embarrassing brows (or lack thereof) ended there, sadly it did not.

Like most teenagers and their first few experience with eyebrow hair removal, I went overboard, keeping a bi-weekly standing appointment at my threading studio, making sure my new groomed arches were always on point and really thin for the next few years.

Once I added brow pencils to my regime, that was another game changer, peppered with moments of perfect brows to brows that were too long, too dark and too down-turned looking. Finally I just threw in the towel and paid to have them microbladed.

I tried out two methods including the viral soap brow hack to see how they would compare.

So when model-worthy feather brows became the next big trend, I was sold. The straight Korean brow was never my thing but I loved the natural look of feather brows and it seemed to complement the whole “my makeup but better” and skinimalism beauty trend going on.

But without the genetics of what so many of these makeup gurus and influencers seemed to have, short of an eyebrow hair transplant, I was doubtful as to whether this would work on me.

But as a beauty editor whose job was to try out beauty trends, I figured it was no time like the present than to put this to the test. Here, I tried out two methods including the viral soap brow hack to see how they would compare.

Method 1: The viral soap method

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Exactly like the name suggests, obtaining a soap brow is all about using a bar of soap instead of brow gel to shape and set your brows in place. While this neat trick has been re-popularised by beauty gurus and influencers, it’s actually an old trick that makeup artists and drag queens have been using for years.

The best part? It’s super cheap and will only cost you one bar of soap. While I was excited to try this out, I was doubtful as my brows are not super long or thick. Plus, I hadn’t really seen a lot of Asian beauty gurus try this out.

As their hair textures would be similar to mine, I was curious if many of them were sitting it out because they just weren’t into the trend or their brows just weren’t suitable.

But my scepticism was overridden by my practicality as I weighed out the cost-benefit of paying a few dollars for soap as opposed to hundreds in brow gel products that may or may not work. However, you will need a spoolie brush.

Try: Dr Bronner's Tea Tree Castile Bar Soap from Watsons, $8.01

First, you have to wet the spoolie brush with water or setting spray. I personally preferred water as it reacted better with the soap I was using.

Rub the bristles against the bar of soap to coat the brush, but don’t brush too much as you might end up with a lot of waxy residue. It’s also best to use a soap bar that is made of glycerin and is unscented and uncoloured.

I used Dr Bronner’s Tea Tree Pure-Castile Bar Soap as I happened to have one at home.

(Also as an FYI, it’s really tough to buy a single bar of soap in the supermarkets in Singapore as they all come in packs of three!)

Comb the spoolie through your hair and then use the ends to guide the hairs into the shape you want them to set it. Luckily it doesn’t dry quickly, so you’ll be able to take your time to play around with how feral you want your brows to set in.

Personally, my hair is very fine, so I try not to use too much water as it leaves a soapy residue and makes it hard for my hair to stick to my oily skin. Let your eyebrows set for a few minutes and then fill in sparse areas if you want a really full look.

Verdict

Personally, I love it! I was amazed by how instant and easy it was to achieve the results, even for my own fine brows. While my oily skin means the hairs won’t stick down for the entire day, the soap kept the individual hairs fluffy and upright, and didn’t they need any touch-ups throughout the day.

The brushed look also made me pleased to know that I had more brow hair than I realised – they just needed to be brushed in the right direction.

ALSO READ: 7 eyebrow styles that flatter different face shapes and features

Method 2: The highly sought after brow gel

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I had recently received a press release on Nudestix’s latest makeup drop — the Brow Boost + Set Gel XL.

A brow gel that’s long-wearing with medium-hold clear gel, its formula is supposed to groom and set your brows in place while volumising your brow hair peptides that will help increase your hair density.

Try: Nudestic Brow Boost + Set Gel XL, $30

Looking at co-founder Taylor Frankel try out the brow gel on her own unruly and coarse brows, I was excited to see how this would fare on me.

The product is pretty straightforward – just brush it onto your brows and set it in place. But this time around, I followed Frankel’s tutorial and filled my brows first before using the gel.

Verdict

Unfortunately, this gel didn’t give me that feathered, brushed-up look that I was hoping it would, but I suspect it’s got to do more with my hair texture than the product itself.

While it did help to thicken the look of my individual hairs and brush them into place, the look was still slightly more “groomed” than what I was looking for.

I still think it works great as a daily product though, especially if you want a “one and done” sort of product. And when I’m over the feral, natural brow look, I think the Brow Boost + Set Gel XL might be something I might reach out to more when I just want to look clean and simple.

ALSO READ: 6 things I wish I knew before getting eyebrow and eyeliner embroidery

This article was first published in Her World Online.