Okay. Don’t panic. You’ve decided to try this hot trendy brow treatment and your first reaction was – I hate my brow lamination! You may feel like your tech didn’t do a good job, or you thought you’d love the look and it turned out you didn’t.
PMUHub’s got your back. Read on to find out what your options are in case your brow lamination goes south.
What Can I Do If I Hate My Brow Lamination?
The first step would be to take a step back and look at it objectively.
If it’s not like you absolutely hate your brow lamination but rather just think it looks kind of weird, the best thing would be for you to wait a while and see if you’ll get used to the look. The look of a brow lamination is quite unique, and you might just be going through a brow shock, so to say.
So just bear in mind that there’s no room for instant panic – give yourself a few hours and then look at your brow objectively.
If you do and you still hate the results, here’s what you can do about it:
Try to Reshape Your Brows
You can try to reshape your brows yourself using your brow kit, primarily a spoolie and a pair of scissors – use a brush to manipulate them and trim them.
The brow lamination process does affect the structure of your brow hairs, but even though your brows look hardened and like they’re fixed into an upward shape, they’re actually soft and flexible.
Your technician will probably instruct you to brush through your brows in an upward direction a few times in the hour after the treatment, to let the hairs get fixed into the shape. But if you don’t want your brows to do that, you can use a spoolie straight away to brush them sideways, to keep them within the confines of your original arch.
If you sort of like having your brows brushed upwards, but you don’t like the fluffy effect so much, brow trimming scissors will do the job.
After a brow lamination, the tips of your brow hairs will sort of stick out. Your technician may or may not trim them. This will create more volume to your arches, but not everyone likes this effect, or you might want it more subtle. Trimming the tips further may give you a shape you actually like, without having to flatten your brows back down. Just do go overboard!
Image source: Freepik
Condition Your Brows with Oils
Conditioning your brows is actually a part of aftercare that serves to keep the treated brows healthy and nourished, to restore moisture to the brows which inevitably get dried out as part of the process.
So conditioning your brows won’t reverse or minimize the effect on its own, but it will make them even softer and it will be easier to brush them downwards with the spoolie. You can use castor oil or a serum formulated for this purpose.
Sabotage the Aftercare
As we’ve mentioned, your brow tech will give you detailed instructions on how to care for your freshly laminated brows in the first 3 days after the treatment:
- Don’t get the brows wet for 24 hours
- Don’t touch your brows for 24 hours
- Don’t expose them to additional moisture and heat (sweat, steam) for 48 hours
- Don’t expose them to sunlight for 48 hours
- Don’t use anti-aging and exfoliating skincare in the area for at least 72 hours
If you hate your brow lamination and are sure you want to reverse the effects of the treatment, you can go against the aftercare instructions. Just be aware of the fact that your skin might be irritable right after a lamination session and using aggressive ingredients or exposing it to sunlight might cause irritation.
Getting them wet is relatively safe, though. Exposing freshly treated brows to water will disrupt the neutralizer and they will relax.
But be aware of the fact that your brows have been treated with chemicals and that the hairs will keep the soft texture – there’s not much you can do about that.
Image source: Freepik
Wait It Out
The safest, healthiest option would be to just wait it out, without causing any further trauma to your brows or risking skin irritation. The results of brow lamination are temporary, and plus, chances are your brows aren’t that bad at all, you just need some time to get used to them.
How Long Does a Brow Lamination Last?
The results of the brow lamination will start relaxing after about 3 weeks, but the process can last up to 8 weeks.
Once your brows hairs are treated with brow lamination, the hairs will keep the softened texture and stay straightened until they grow out, fall out, and new hairs replace all the old ones.
If you need more information about any aspect of brow lamination, head over to our Comprehensive Guide Through Eyebrow Lamination.
What If I Hate My Brow Tint?
You can try fading it a bit, but there’s no efficient way to return your brows to their natural color other than waiting for them to make a full growth cycle. Sunlight will probably fade the color a bit, but exposing your face to so much sunlight isn’t really advisable.
Frequent washing might also lighten the color a bit, but not by much.
Before you ask – we don’t recommend dying them back straight away. Let the hairs get some rest – they’ve just been treated with a number of chemicals – or you risk drying them out further and making them coarse and brittle.
Final Thought
Brow lamination is a relatively safe treatment, but if you’re not careful who you trust with your brows, you can end up with more serious issues than just I hate my brow lamination! If the brows are overprocessed, i.e. if the chemicals are not used properly or they’re left on for too long, the hair can be so dry and brittle they start breaking.
That’s why it’s generally preferable to get a professional treatment than to DIY brow lamination, and to only get the treatment done by certified technicians.
Cover image source: Freepik
