I used to have thick dark eyebrows in my teens and twenties – just at a time when thin arched elegance was all the rage.
As a result they were the bane of my life and I spent a lot of time eyebrow plucking. The downside of all that time in front of the magnifying mirror is with me now and getting worse with every year – or so it seems.
Thinning brows are definitely a problem of the over 40’s age group – however thick and glossy they used to be – brows will get thinner as you get older.
Declining hair regrowth cycles contribute but over plucking in your youth is one of the main causes. Repeated pulling at the hair follicle can result in long term damage and poor regrowth or even none at all.
Trichotillomania is a severe paychological disorder causing sufferers to pull out hairs from their head often resulting in patchy baldness that can be permanent. Over zealous tweezer use can bring similar results to your brow line over time – especially combined with the problems of thinning hair that can arise past menopause.
How to get your eyebrows back
I must admit I thought that disguise was the best option – a good brow pencil to fill in the gaps.
An eyebrow paste or gel is the newer makeup option applied with an angled tiny brush and then “set” with a finishing product. Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier and several other brands all sell this kind of thing but the best by far is Benefit Cosmetics Brow Zings which I reviewed in full in an earlier article here .
We can all become masters of disguise – but what about a more permanent solution? If you don’t want to go for an eyebrow tatoo – there are hair replant surgery options being developed to restore eyebrow hair but they both involve too much discomfort and cost for me.
Obviously you can make sure you focus on the right kind of diet – the sorts of foods that promote healthy hair will help – but don’t expect fast results this way.
Then there are lotions and potions that you can apply to your brows and lashes to thicken them up.
RapidBrow Enhancing Serum
RapidBrow is made by the same company that make the Rapid Lash Eye Lash Enhancing Serum which has been something of a smash hit for lengthening and thickening eyelashes. The advertising blurb makes it obvious the product is for brows and lashes but recently the company decided to launch a separate brow stimulator as well.
I hesitated a long time before deciding to give it a go as I was a bit doubtful it would work and it seemed pricey.
I am now around 5 weeks in and have been applying the serum as directed morning and evening (almost without fail). The product comes in a mascara like container with a spiral brush making it very quick and easy – a couple of strokes each side and you’re done.
Results? Well – at first – nothing happened but the leaflet said you should use it for at least 8 weeks and you may only start to see any improvement after several weeks.
Miraculously RapidBrow actually does work.
The patchiness on my eyebrows is much better with quite thick and glossy new growth. There is hair growth at the base of the eyebrow (nearest the nose) where I had virtually lost the brow line. Also in the middle of the brow arch where plucking had virtually destroyed the natural line of my eyebrow hairs are starting to reappear. My brows definitely look thicker and so much better without any eyebrow makeup at all.
What is a little strange is that hair seems to be growing outside the brow line as well. I haven’t had to pluck my eyebrows in at least 10-15 years and now I may have to start again – but carefully this time!
How does it work?
I’s all down to the wonder of peptides apparently.
The original Rapid Lash Serum uses a trade-marked hexatein-2 complex containing peptides, keratin, biotin and natural active ingredients to promote glossiness and improve the condition of eye lash and brow hair.
The product has been clinically tested in a very small test group of 61 and produced up to a 108% improvement in hair density after 60 days application.
This combination of ingredients makes sense to me. Keratin is a natually occurring protein that strengthens hair and is used in many hair loss treatments.
Biotin one of the B complex vitamins and is known to promote healthy hair growth taken orally. In fact you could do worse than add a biotin pill to your daily diet to promote hair growth – eyebrow, eyelash and head.
Success with topical application of biotin for hair growth is much more uncertain however, as the vitamin is likely to be unstable in formulations.
Peptides, especially copper peptides, have been scientifically associated with hair growth and products like Tricomin are based around them.
Rapid Lash original was for eyebrows too
The product formulation was originally intended for lashes and brows – the only difference I can see is that the Rapid Brow product comes in a mascara like wand for ease of application.
RapidBrow is currently only available at Boots Stores – in the US you can stick to Rapid Lash Eye Lash Enhancing Serum – the applicator is a thin eyeliner like brush which you can use on your brows perfectly well and many users report good results.
Best alternative eyebrow serum
The best alternative product on Amazon appears to be LiLash Purified Eyebrow Stimulator. Actually called LiBrow this is a cross between a treatment and a brow enhancer as it deepens eyebrow color over time (6-8 weeks).
Based on a similar peptide complex there are very good reviews on Amazon. LiBrow has a couple of advantages I can see over RapidBrow .
First off it comes in a larger size – many people report having to buy two of the RapidBrow product over the full 10 week period and my experience backs that up. Second – you only need apply once a day rather than twice so it should go even further.
Whichever you go for I would definitely say an eyebrow stimulator is worth buying and I am genuinely surprised at the impact on my rather thin and patchy brows.
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