#TrendOnTrial: What is brow lamination—and is it worth it?
The first and last time I trusted someone to clean up my eyebrows was in 2007—and it sparked an almost decade-long obsessive fest of tweezing and frustration.
So walking up the stairs to RayChill Artisty, a microblading and permanent makeup studio, I’ll admit I was a bit hesitant. After all, my admiration for my brows has come an along way since the early 2000s — I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re full, but I now have enough fine hairs to help frame my face — and the last thing I wanted to set myself up for disaster with black, flat, boxy brows. Minutes before my appointment, I sat in the waiting area and quickly searched “brow lamination” on Instagram for one last taste of reassurance. Then, in pursuit of thicker, bushier brows, I hopped on the bed and started the procedure.
“Brow lamination is the process of redirecting your eyebrow hairs to go up so you get the most fullness out of your natural hair growth,” says Rachael Smith, founder and owner of RayChill Artisty.
The pain-free process took no longer than an hour. Smith prepped and primed the brow area before applying the perming solution (a similar formula used for lash lifts) into my brow hairs to make them malleable. The hairs were then brushed upwards and then wrapped in cling wrap during actually “lamination” part. The procedure is typically finished off with a nourishing solution, but I opted for a small tint which Smith applied at the meat and tail of my brow.
The immediate results were outstanding. Unlike what I’ve seen from some tinting, my brows looked like, well, my brows — not drawn on, but very natural and believable. Giving all my trusted brow gel and primers a run for their money, in just 45 minutes, my brows went from looking lifeless to oozing Taylor Hill energy.
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While I was able to achieve this feathered look, Smith says, lamination, like all brow procedures, isn’t one-size-fits-all.
“The best candidate for lamination [is someone who has just the right amount of hair.] Too much hair will give you a little too much lift and I would basically have to cut off a lot of what you naturally have off because the results would look really intense. Too little of hair, you’re not going to see not much result. You just need medium about of hair across your brows for me to work with,” she explains.
Promising to achieve full, woke-up-like-this brows for three, to four weeks, this procedure is a must-try before destination vacations and special occasions. Ultimately, it’s a great alternative to microblading, a form of cosmetic tattooing, which creates hair-like strokes to enhance one’s eyebrow which can be painful. Brow lamination helps define your natural arches without any after-effects that take time to heal. After 24-hours of keeping them dry, I was and still able to wash my face with my cleanser of choice and follow my makeup routine as per usual — without spending the additional time filling in my brows, of course.
Rather using gels, pencils and pomades, I’ve been using the small spoolie brush Smith gave to help groom my brows into shape.
What are your thoughts on brow lamination?
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