How to get thicker eyebrows: a complete guide
While some people naturally have thin eyebrows, others might have lost them during the 1990s’ when the fad of sporting pencil-thin eyebrows dominated the social scene. Irrespective of the cause, the fact that broken and patchy eyebrows are completely out of place in these contemporary times is motivation enough to start exploring options. To this […]
While some people naturally have thin eyebrows, others might have lost them during the 1990s’ when the fad of sporting pencil-thin eyebrows dominated the social scene. Irrespective of the cause, the fact that broken and patchy eyebrows are completely out of place in these contemporary times is motivation enough to start exploring options. To this effect, there are several eyebrow growth products, both natural and man-made, which could be tried for stimulating spurting of new hair.
Ranging from topical products to natural cures and home remedies, there are several options that claim as being effective in growing eyebrow hair.
How to get thicker eyebrows naturally
Popular natural applications which have been known to increase thickness of eyebrows include:
Castor oil
The presence of a particular chemical component named ricinoleic acid renders castor seeds unique as compared to other varieties in its category. It is this inherent ingredient which, along with Omega 9 fatty acids, renders this oil suitable for growing eyebrows.
Owing to their ability to absorb moisture in various forms, roots of eyebrows are particularly susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections. Ricinoleic acid in castor seed oil is effective in combating both and hence ensures hair growth by keeping the hair follicle free of growth inhibiting infections. Omega 9 fatty acids provide nourishment to the hair follicle as also to the epidermis.
Regular application on your eyebrows either by swabbing the oil with cotton or simply spreading with your fingers for at least 3-4 weeks stimulates growth to the point of making a visible difference.
Aloe Vera
For eyebrows which may have fallen victim to over-plucking or persistent damage, Aloe Vera sap is the ideal solution. Amongst the 75-100 nutrients that Aloe Vera is composed of, ones which are most instrumental in rendering the plant effective as a healer are known as mucopolysaccharides.
Milk
One of the root causes of eyebrows losing their natural thickness and sheen is deficiency of proteins and this is where milk plays a vital role. To this effect, the two well know milk proteins casein and whey act in different ways to trigger growth and nourish the hair back to good health. While casein’s component glutamine stimulates hair follicles, whey fortifies the hair with strength and minimizes breakage.
Almond Oil extract
On being pressed by machines, almond seeds release oil. Referred to as almond oil extract, in spite of having oozed out, it carries all the goodness of almond in form of vitamin E, potassium, magnesium and essential fatty acids. When massaged on eyebrows, this oil extract softens the skin and treats internal inflammation, if any, and in this way clears the path for new growth to occur.
Almond oil can also be applied in combination with fenugreek and left for the night. The value of fenugreek as a hair beneficiary is courtesy of its components nicotinic acid and lecithin. While the former has been known to trigger growth, the latter plays a curative role where hair follicles are concerned.
Onions
Sulphur is one of the basic elements that eyebrows require because the hair protein namely keratin comprises of a high percentage of this mineral. If massaged regularly on eyebrows, sulphur replenishes the keratin.
At home the most readily available source that contains a high concentration of this ingredient is onion. Pungent though its aroma might be, if its juice is massaged into the eyebrows and left for a few hours, the result is growth of strong and resilient eyebrow hairs.
Best Eyebrow Thickening Serums
If you’d rather use a specially designed product view these products that are designed to increase eyebrow hair growth and thicken eyebrows.
How do eyebrows grow?
Eyebrows are key to demonstrating facial expression and to having an aesthetically pleasing face.
Understanding the science underlying their growth will not just help you to maintain them in the long run but also prompt informed and well-founded choices. For knowledge to be comprehensive, it should begin from the most basic level which in the case of hair is its structure. There are two parts to every strand of hair – one which is embedded in the skin is the hair follicle and the portion which sprouts from the skin and is visible to us is the shaft.
All hair on the human body, including eyebrows, originates in the hair follicle. Enclosed within the hair follicle is the hair bulb and it is made up of several layers. These have been found to contain a high concentration of keratins, enzymes and melanocytes, all of which provide of nutrition and lend color to the hair shaft.
Growth of hair can be broadly categorized into three phases namely Anagen, Catagen and Telogen and at any given point in time, the hair is found to be in any one of these three stages. Anagen is the phase in which growth is most proactive and in case of eyebrows it has been found to last from 30 up till 45 days. The next phase, namely Catagen, is a rest/dormant phase when there is virtually no activity in the follicle and it begins to move towards the epidermis.
Catagen is followed by the last phase namely Telogen and for eyebrows hair, this lasts for around 100 days. During this phase, the old hair will have moved towards the surface of the skin and is ready to be shed. Being loose from its roots, such hair can be plucked out with ease while shaping the brow.
Depending on your genetic constitution, the growth cycle of hair tends to shorten as you grow older and this is particularly evident in case of eyebrows. Therefore, as you grow older, plucking and threading activities should be minimized since replacement is not just slow but lacks the resilience and strength characteristic of younger days.
Now that you know that it is the follicle which is directly responsible for your eyebrow’s thickness, this is the aspect which you must try and address first and foremost in order to reinstate your facial arch. Follicle massage conducted twice a day for at least two minutes per session has been known to improve blood circulation around this region and thus prompt frequent burgeoning of new hair.
Having read about the hair bulb, another point which you will have learned pertains to the important role played by nutrients in determining its good health. A direct implication of this is that for your eyebrows to assume bushiness, daily intake of proteins and vitamins in requisite amounts is a must.
5 eyebrow growth tips
Given that eyebrow hair grows at the rate of 0.16 mm every day, patience is the first virtue which you must have while trying to restore them to their lustrous form. Following are some of the tips that have stood the test of time where growing of eyebrows is concerned but a point that you must remember is that from the day you start your growth regimen, it would take at least 4-8 weeks for results to show. That said, you can opt for any single or a combination of these techniques to stimulate growth –
Stop plucking, tweezing, threading or any other form of eyebrow reduction – Obsession with accomplishing the perfect eyebrow shape often leads people to indulge in reduction techniques too frequently as a result of which it begins to appear like a ghost of its previous self. Over indulgence of any hair removing technique has been found to damage hair follicles owing to which it is unable to generate new hair. It might also cause infection in the follicle or skin due to unsanitary tweezers and give rise to in-grown hairs, both of which prevent fresh growth. Therefore, you must immediately put a stop to any hair removal technique as the first step towards acquiring thick eyebrows.
Use eyebrow growth enhancers – True though it might be that your eyebrow hair grows at its natural pace, you can actually speed up the process by using eyebrow thickening serums. These act as catalysts within the hair follicle owing to their specific attributes and thus speed up the process of hair growth. Renewal serums are some of the most popular man-made products that enhance eyebrows and the natural category boasts of several options too. In such a situation, the onus is on you to identify an enhancer that would suit your brow hair the best by activating its follicles.
Minimize use of brow make-up and lotions – Applying brow make-up is one of the easiest as also the fastest ways of filling up eyebrows, but did you know that these could also cause irreparable damage? Unless you are trained in using make-up products like pencil and tints in terms of quantity and method, you could be causing your brow hair to break, thus hindering growth. Likewise, lotions and creams are a complete no-no for eyebrows because these have been known to seep down to the root and clog and weaken the hair follicle. On being clogged, the follicle is deprived of fresh supply of nutrients as also precious oxygen and is too weak to initiate any new growth.
Choose your eyebrow conditioner with care – An eyebrow conditioner functions in a manner which is similar to the action of a hair conditioner, meaning it moisturizes the hair from its root till the tip of the shaft. Over the years, hair, including eyebrow hair, tends to become dry and brittle and is prone to breakage and dullness. Courtesy of its alkalinity, the conditioner cleans and soothes the shaft while countering dryness in the follicle by acting like a moisturizer. After having been rinsed, it leaves a protective layer behind which continues to protect damaged ends and ensures smoothness.
Brushing and massaging eyebrows – By brushing or massaging your eyebrows twice a day, you will be enhancing blood circulation in the area. An increased supply of blood to the area re-energizes the roots, thus prompting growth. Of course, care should be taken to ensure that brushing always conforms to direction of hair growth and massaging follows a circular pattern in the outward direction in order to be effective.
3 home remedies for eyebrow growth
Water
Did you know that the skin around your eyebrows and eyes often serves as a dumping ground for toxins produced within your body? Excessive intake of analgesics, skin conditions like cancer or psoriasis, fungal infection and poisoning caused by heavy metals like mercury, iodine or thallium are some of the reasons that cause toxins to be released within the body and get accumulate around eyes and eyebrows. Their presence is manifested in form of hair fall and negligible growth of new hair, thus causing eyebrows to thin, grow bald spots or disappear altogether. Flushing out is the only viable solution and the best solvent that ensures complete cleansing is water.
By consuming 8 to 10 glasses of water every day, you will have washed out these poisonous substances and in the process freed the hair follicles of their debilitating influence. In this way, staying well hydrated throughout the day through adequate water intake ensures healthy eyebrows in terms of supple skin and regular growth.
Egg yolk
An egg a day keeps the doctor away and some of it on your eyebrows every day is sure to keep baldness away. While most beauticians recommend application of only the yolk on your eyebrows to spur growth, smearing a mixture of the whole egg has also been found to be equally effective.
Egg’s suitability for eyebrow well-being is attributed to its being rich in protein. Egg white contains albumin but it is the yolk which is a powerhouse of complete protein courtesy of presence of 18 types of amino acids, not to mention a high fat content. When smeared on to eyebrows, yolk is absorbed by the skin and permeates into the follicle, thus fortifying it with protein and fat. Eyebrows, thus coated for a few minutes every day, grow thick owing to nourishment and stay protected from dryness.
Lemon
Lemon’s reputation as the prime source of vitamin C has never been in doubt but something that very few people are aware of is its ability to cleanse hair and spur new growth. Lemon is highly concentrated in citric acid, its ph value being 2, because of which it is genuinely effective in pulling out the dirt from the scalp. Having been sufficiently de-clogged, the hair follicles experience increased blood circulation and are re-energized to the point of producing new hair.
In addition to citric acid, lemons are rich in vitamins – principally vitamins B and C, antioxidants and folic acid all of which nourish the hair follicles and ensure that the new growth is strong and resilient. Regular smearing of lemon juice on eyebrows conditions the hair shaft and this is due to limonene, nature’s answer to dryness and breakage.
Hair loss forms an inevitable part of life but rather than let it govern your thoughts, adopting natural and home remedies to control or possibly reverse the process is a course of action that will enable you to tackle the problem in a healthy yet effective manner. Natural substances always enhance the ‘feel good’ factor and this in itself is the first requisite for looking good, particularly if you are sporting thick lustrous eyebrows that draw envious glances from all around.