Jessica Turner Brows are having a moment, and it’s not just for the ladies. Treatments are on the rise and there’s more pressure than ever to get men’s brows right, says Ashleigh Sharman.
Blame the Kardashian clan or social media, brows are big, bold and making a statement – add in our obsession with hair removal and it was only a matter of time before men joined in, catching the attention of industry experts.
“There are a lot of guys walking around with brows better that Kim Kardashian,” says leading brow artist, Jazz Pampling. “This is not OK!”
“Men are really aware now because of their girlfriends and added, they are more hair conscious in general, but I feel beauty therapists are just doing what they’ve been taught for women and no one is talking properly about men’s brows.”
Excited to teach men’s brow techniques at industry expos this year, Jazz says the trick with men’s eyebrows is that they need to look as if they have never been touched.
“If you know I’ve done a guy’s brow I’ve done too much already!
“What we do should be minimal. Do the middle, the edges, but don’t create lines. Take the bulk out, maybe trimming or tweezing, wax around the temple but don’t go anywhere near the brow itself.
“Men worry about a mono-brow and stray hairs sticking out so I’ll also wax the higher area of the cheekbone and maybe tidy ear hair or nose hair. It’s about removing excess hair more than it is about creating shape. And no arch! Maybe lift the tail but we don’t need to open up the eye.”
Head skin therapist at men’s grooming specialists Face of Man, Cathriona Flanagan agrees that men are becoming a lot more self-aware. Her four years working specifically with men revealing some dramatic changes.
“At the start of my career it was about keeping men’s brows trimmed back – something their barber had always done, clippered right across, which doesn’t look good!
“Men soon started to have brows trimmed in a non-obvious way, not so blunt and slowly, over time, men have become more conscious as to the actual shape of the brow.
“We started to remove more hair from underneath the brow and in the last year in particularly, I’ve noticed a lot of my clients have started to talk about anti-ageing tricks with the eyebrow,” Cathriona says, explaining that while some clients still prefer tweezing, waxing is the chosen method for hair removal with brow tinting also increasing in popularity.
“We’re at the beginning in terms of product use but men are more accustomed to tinting for a fuller look and to cover any grey hairs.
“Even out and tidy the top of the brow first, then remove stray hairs from underneath. You want the thickness from start to end to be very much the same and as men have no issues growing out their brows you should have a good natural brow to work with, keeping it tidy every four weeks.”
Just don’t mention the haunted female brow terms ‘manicured’ or ‘shaped’ says Cathriona, and you’ll have a client for life.
