Let’s face it, the brow trend is only getting bigger and fluffier. Models walk the runway with the most over-exaggerated fluffy brows that can’t always be duplicated with a swipe of even the best brow gel. Despite the name sounding rather intimidating, brow lamination is a non-invasive treatment that relaxes your brow hair, making them mouldable into any shape you desire. Fluffy, spiked, and if you want to be daring, wavy, can all be achieved using brow lamination.
The service that began in Russia is taking North American runways and e-girls by storm. However, the treatment has not found its peak in mainstream society…yet. That’s why I’m here! I will be your guide into this new world of brow lamination and guide you through the entire process.
What is it?
In simplest terms, brow lamination is essentially a perm for your brows, designed to give you the fluffy, blown out, eyebrow look for about two months (depending on your hair growth). It acts as an alternative to microblading, which is the process of getting individual strands of hair tattooed on your eyebrows in order to help them look darker and thicker.
I would say that brow lamination is the midpoint between tinted brow gel and microblading. Both are meant to give you the thick brow look at different price points and longevity. With tinted brow gel being the least permanent and microblading being the most, brow lamination strikes a fair balance between the price point and longevity of the two.
The most common misconception about brow lamination is that your brows are glued to the shape you permed them in. This is not true. What is essentially happening is that the perm is straightening your eyebrow hair so that they naturally fall in the position you want them in. The lamination makes it much easier to be an artist with your brows. You no longer have to deal with stubborn hairs that never want to stay in place.
Price
Depending on your brow tech, the prices may range depending on the quality of their products, training, and experience in aesthetics. It is important to note that this is not a process to cheap out on. Considering that the style will last up to two months, I advise you to ensure that you are aware of the quality of treatment you are getting. Just because your brow lamination is expensive does not necessarily mean you are going to reap top-quality results.
I went to a local technician who has done my friend’s prom makeup and received tons of rave reviews on her Instagram page, so I knew she could be trusted. The entire procedure which included the lamination and tint cost $80. Keep in mind that this is not a uniform price for all brow laminations. The eyebrow tint was thrown in there as an extra little bonus, however, I did have the option of walking away with just the lamination and no tint for the same price.
The only advice I want to leave with you in terms of price is to make sure that the experience and quality of the technician correlates to the price of the procedure. At the end of the day, brows frame your face and the last thing you want is a terrible brow that could have otherwise been left alone.
Procedure
The procedure was fairly simple. First, the technician started by putting a gel on my brows to do some sort of test shape. Once a shape was agreed on, she then put the first layer of the perm on my eyebrows and wrapped plastic wrap over my forehead. The first perm took around 10 minutes, and before I knew it, we were already on our second step. The second perm involved an identical process. After the technician removed the plastic wrap and wiped off the perm, she carefully moved any hair that was out of place and put on the second layer of perm. Again, the perm stayed on for another 10 minutes just to ensure that each and every hair had been permed into place. I was warned beforehand that the perm may cause a bit of itching and discomfort. Luckily, thanks to all the years of slapping bleach on my roots and dyeing my hair, I was used to all the feelings of discomfort during hair treatments. But for this treatment in particular, I did not feel any sort of discomfort whatsoever.
My eyebrows before the brow lamination:
After the perming, came the final treatment: an oil mask for your brows. Just like dying your hair, laminating your eyebrows can leave your brow hair feeling coarse and dry. To prevent this, an oil mask is put on your brows for another 10 minutes.
After the oil mask, I was offered a tint. Despite this not necessarily being a part of the brow lamination procedure, I figured that this treatment would go hand in hand with it, especially when considering that individuals with thin and light brows who get the tint can appear to have thicker and fuller brows.
The tint was put on my brows for about 10 minutes before it were wiped off. Beforehand, I was warned that the tint may stain my skin and unfortunately, that was the case for me. Despite me looking like I had my eyebrows filled in with permanent marker, I was advised that the stain would last around two days or if I really wanted it off, it can be removed with rubbing alcohol. Since skin staining is really common with brow tinting, I wasn’t too surprised when it happened to me but do make sure to keep this in mind when choosing whether to get a tint. The last thing I want is for someone reading this to get a tint before a really big event and having to show up with bushy brows. That would be a nightmare.
Overall, counting all the perms, the oil treatment and the tint the whole procedure was around 35 minutes. If you subtract the tint which was an add on it would be a total of 30 minutes.
My eyebrows after the tint:
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, if you already have nice and thick eyebrows I feel like this “fluffy brow model look” is not the hardest to achieve with a great brow gel. The only downside of not getting a brow lamination is not having the luxury of waking up with dark, thick, model brows every morning. I do feel like filling in my brows is one less step out of my beauty routine, and that means more time in the morning getting ready. Anything that eliminates my get-ready time is a plus for me.
Besides this, when considering the price point, it is a nice treatment to get if you have the money to spend. If you’re on a budget this is definitely something you can live without, or get once every blue moon if you’re really in love with the look and aren’t able to do it yourself at home.
At the end of the day, trends come and go. Who knows, soon we might go back to the days where super-thin brows are a trend. And when that happens, I bet you there will be a treatment for that as well.