Jenni Gilbert I have had a near-30 year war with my eyebrows. They were thick and beautifully shaped in my teens but I plucked them into pencil-thin oblivion, as was the mid-70s fashion, as soon as I left school.
Sense prevailed in the early 80s and I grew them back in – I was damn lucky they did, as many over-pluckers’ don’t.
But then I developed a form of trichotillomania (which doctors have told me was a stress relief reaction) and for over 25 years obsessively pulled at my eyebrows, leaving gaps and hairs growing back (if they did) in all directions.
I finally, gradually kicked this dreadful habit when I had my brows professionally shaped for the first time by Lien Davies, owner of Brows and Makeup, and trimmed to a length that wasn’t conducive to pulling at. She also showed me the tips and tricks to disguise the damage.
But of course the gaps took a LONG while to fill back in, and then not completely.
Six months ago I was sent Medik8’s Brow Enhancer and Lash Maximiser and with vigilant daily use my brows have been restored to 95 percent.
But still they were growing in all mad directions, and the taming products I used either left them oily (not great when you have a fringe) or “crispy/crusty”, and the effects didn’t last that long anyway.
Then I happened on Kryolan Eyebrow Forming Gel at the opening of Kryolan makeup’s first Sydney store (in Darlinghurst) late last year.
Leading makeup artist and brand ambassador Becca Gilmartin lauded its praises as one of the must-have products in her professional tool kit.
She told how it not only tamed, shaped and nourished even the unruliest and bushiest of brows, but the effects were long lasting and didn’t feel unnaturally “crispy” – or greasy, either.
So I invested in a tube and my brows have NEVER looked so good … not in many years, anyway. I have even had people compliment me on them lately; something I thought I’d never hear again.
Says Becca: “The gel holds brows in place all day without any trace of visible product. If you have stubborn brows, brush the hairs backwards first then forward into shape. This will get more product on the brow hair and allow for more control.” Noted!
While I’m on the subject of face hair, my eyelashes also started thinning and breaking off in the past year; not great when they were pretty ordinary to start with.
Recently I was given some of the new botanically-based V’Lumine lash gel to trial, from the makers of RevitaLash, to mark the brand’s 10th anniversary.
After only a month of use in the mornings – a quick application across the lash line of the upper lid with a neat little applicator – the difference is noteworthy, especially after applying mascara.
It’s all very eye-opening!
