The easy and affordable beauty treatment that has whipped my overplucked eyebrows into shape with no tattooing necessary!
WHY I’M RAISING A FEW EYEBROWS RIGHT NOW…
For as long as I can remember my eyebrows have been causing me grief one way or another. When I was younger, my beautician of a mother didn’t let me touch my bushy almost monobrows and my complaints about how I was being teased about my excessive hair and monobrows fell on deaf ears.
It was only after my mother attended a Tupperware party with other mums from school, who may have called her the mother of the monobrow girls (although in more subtle terms) that drastic action aka waxing commenced. I was 15. It was late 1984 and the start of the overplucking 80s for me. They never recovered. So you can imagine how I felt when I discovered recently that monobrows were making a comeback. The horror!
I’m still not wanting to venture back to my monobrow days. That’s a trend I’m happy to admit defeat with. I do however feel that with my recent new no-hair look (I’m sure you’ve seen a selfie or seven!), having groomed and easy to manage eyebrows is more important than ever. There’s no hair to hide behind now.
Having little to no energy with an autoimmune flare up means I’ve been looking for easy and cost-effective ways, that help me look my best in next to no time. So far, I’ve tackled my skin with amazing results after just the one IPL treatment, my hair with one bold stroke of shaved genius and more recently, after many months of trying to grow the damn things out with help, I finally took the plunge and tried Henna.
Henna Henna, how you thrill me, a-ha, Henna Henna…
First up, aside from my sparse, grey and unruly brows (see a photo I’ve pulled from last year when I was having my hair dyed below), I’ve been having a few issues with traditional hair dyes of late. Mainly blisters and hives. My skin and scalp are super sensitive right now. It’s one of the biggest reasons why I’ve opted to keep my hair shaved and dye free from here on in {read more about my hair loss here: defining moments}. It’s also why I haven’t at this stage explored dying or feather tattooing for my eyebrows for fear of a major and possibly permanent reaction.
Henna, however, has been a great alternative for me and so far, is working an absolute treat. This process stains the skin as well as the hair far more effectively and gently than normal tinting. For most people, Henna will mean no more pencilling in gaps or greys when you are getting ready and it will last for weeks at a time.
For me though, the pencilling in has most certainly lessened to a huge extent but I still have a couple of pesky gaps where the hair just refuses to grow back. I did at one point attempt a comb-over approach as a not-so-quick fix (nothing in Johnny Howard terms though) but even still, I only ended up looking more and more unruly as the day wore on. It wasn’t a good look or a trend that will start taking off anytime soon.
As I had a lot of greys to contend with and my brows are naturally dark, we opted for a darker henna tone for my first round and have lightened it a touch going forward. The henna creates a stain on the skin and hair that for me has been more effective than regular dying where the dye tints only the hair. It (& me) can look a little scary during the tinting process and it will remain a tad on the darker side for the first day or so, although nothing like the pic below that was taken while the Henna was processing…
The colour will fade over time, generally three to four weeks depending on the skincare you use. At the moment, I’m on three weekly eyebrow appointments while Nakisa Beauty whips my eyebrows into shape. The whole process takes around 30 minutes. Although you’ll need to allow a little longer for your first appointment or if your eyebrows need a lot of grooming and styling. You can either shut your eyes and relax while the Henna is processing (approx 15 minutes) or use the time to catch up on other treatments such as waxing.
Here are my eyebrows at the three week post treatment mark…
The Henna process and Nikki’s magic touch when it comes to eyebrows have better defined my brows, helping to create a much fuller look. A look I could not have achieved with my eyebrow pencil alone. A lot of people have asked if I’ve had feather tattooing directly after my appointment, as it does to me have a similar look to it but mainly I’m raising eyebrows because my eyebrows have never looked so good.
I always come away amazed at how full and defined my eyebrows are. I do feel a little overdone in the eyebrow department that first day. Like my eyebrows are ready to hit the town and the rest of my makeup needs to catch up… but generally it’s to do with my lack of hair (on the top of my head), by the next morning when I don’t need to touch my eyebrows at all, I’m more thrilled than ever. You only have to look at the before (using pencil before Henna) and after photos below, where I’ve touched up makeup for an event, to see the difference.
NAKISA BEAUTY
I first met Nikki from Nakisa Beauty when she worked her makeup magic on my middle daughter (below) for her year 12 grad last year. We were thoroughly delighted with the results and with Nikki’s how shall I put this… caring bedside manner, she has a knack for putting you at ease and takes the time to listen and address any concerns. Nakisa Beauty is now located in a lush little studio at Como but will soon be relocating.
I’m completely thrilled with the results and would love to know what you think. Any questions… just ask!
