Not long ago, barely-there brows were all the rage. Ever since then, we've had a love-hate relationship with our tweezers. Unfortunately for those who were overzealous with plucking in high school, the results can’t always be reversed—they can only be masked by eyebrow pencils and gels. That is, until now. Lynn La Palermo, founder and owner of Occhi' Lash & Brow Studio in Oak Brook Terrace, Illinois, gives new meaning to fuller eyebrows through—wait for it—eyebrow extensions!
Thanks to leaders of the bold brow pack, Cara Delevingne and Lily Collins, fuller eyebrows (not to be confused with exaggerated brows, one of the trends we hope we won’t see in 2015) are having a major moment. Now, collegiettes who have fallen victim to over-plucking can relive their days of bolder eyebrows, and those whose brows were initially scraggly can get a taste of the bold brow life. At Occhi', 30-year esthetician and makeup artist Palermo uses Brow Perfect, a technique from the U.K. that adds depth and dimension to eyebrows through the gluing of individual synthetic hairs either directly onto the skin or by attaching them to existing hair. The process for filling in small gaps takes approximately 10 minutes, whereas recreating a new brow takes closer to 45 minutes. What does it cost to recover your eyebrows, you ask? Naturally, a pretty penny—at the least, $45 for 15 minutes and at the most, $150 for an hour and a half.
As for the caveats of Brow Perfect—like all good things, your full brows must come to an end. The extensions can last up to 14 days. To help sustain the two week-life of the extensions, however, you must avoid applying makeup for 24 hours (add that to the Mission: Impossible sequel), avoid wetness and steam (does that mean no showering?) and avoid oily products on your extensions. Lastly, don’t rub, pick or pull on them.
The concept behind eyebrow extensions is somewhat similar to that of eyelash extensions, yet with every beauty trend that emerges so does our dubiousness. So what exactly about Brow Perfect is making us raise our eyebrows? For one, we want to know what, if any, damage the process can do to the skin around our eyebrows. More so, whether the extensions can prevent the growth of future eyebrow hairs. Or worse, can the process eventually lead to total eyebrow extinction?! The answers to our questions have yet to be made explicit, but for now we're all for eyebrow extensions—because you know we’re all about that brow, ‘bout that brow, no plucking.
Would you ever try eyebrow extensions for the sake of fuller brows?