DIY Temporary & Toxic-Free Eyebrow Extensions
If you gasped when you saw Stephanie Lange’s Eyebrow Tutorial, then you are in good company. Of course, Lange is my eyebrow exemplar, but I wasn’t too keen on using the chem-filled Lashgrip Adhesive or chopping off my own hair for the sake of fillers.
Anyways, today is the DIY day to resurrect your brows w/ semi-permanent (yet all-natural and latex-free) adhesive and brow extensions. Let’s get down to business. Here’s what you’ll need:
True Glue: Heck, even Anthropologie sells this stuff. It’s a clear lash adhesive, made from 100% vegetarian and natural ingredients like rosewater, chamomile extract, and the oh-so-powerful biotin. This eco-friendly adhesive is also latex free. From my experience, this stuff will last up to 3 days—just remember put the exfoliators down and be pretty gentle with your brows.
Most skin glues/eyelash glues have pretty nasty chemicals in them, like ammonia (burns skin), formaldehyde (a carcinogen), latex (which is a skin irritant at best/causes severe allergic reactions at worst). I’m giving True Glue a standing ovation for omitting all those and replacing it with some green-goodness.
EcoTools: You can buy eyebrow extension kits all over Amazon, but I make my own extensions by purchasing an Ecotool brush (that matches the shade of my brows) and taking scissors to it. It’s makeshift, but it works. If you want to use 100% natural hair (instead of synthetic) than my favorite natural (but cruelty-free) brushes are from Urban Apothecary.
Ecotools brushes are made with cruelty-free synthetic bristles, but have sustainable bamboo handles & recycled aluminum ferrules. Plus, their pouches that hold the brushes are free of phthalates and PVC (a super toxic form of plastic). Urban Apothecary uses only renewable resource, plantation-grown wood for its brush handles.
Tweezers: I use both the Slant Tip and Point Tip tweezers, but pro-extension artists swear by the Standard Curved.
Eyebrow Shaping Scissors: Small but handy.
Steps:
Plan out or draw out your ideal brow shape. If you’re lusting after the trending “feathered brow” make sure to balance of your outer arch and inner arch. Here’s a great article from goop that helps with the baby steps so you can feel like a certified brow architect.
Trim your EcoTools brush over a small container to keep those organic faux-brow fillers all in one spot. I tend to cut mine a bit longer than my natural brow length for ease of pick up.
Grab your tweezers. Apply individual hairs starting from the head of your brow and work outward to the tail. Remember the “place-and-hold” rule (since True Glue is latex-free it takes a bit more time to help it set). I typically use 50 EcoTool hairs per brow.
Grab those eyebrow shaping scissors and trim the EcoTool hairs down to size.
Wrap your arms around yourself. Give yourself a big hug for officially having created one swoon-worthy brow. Now onto the other side!
If you make a couple of mistakes (or accidentally glue a loner strand) you can easily release the glue’s hold w/ virgin coconut oil. After three days, I typically get apply the coconut oil in the shower to get rid of any excess glue. Happy brow-ing.
XOXO,
Lemon
