TikTok's Easiest Brow Hacks Will Have Your Whole Face Looking Snatched
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Brow lamination is basically a procedure that uses chemicals to semi-permanently lift brow hairs so that brows appear thicker and keep the hairs lifted. The perk of lamination is that results tend to appear more natural than with other techniques, like microbladed brows. Think of it as a perm for your brows, except instead of curling the hairs, you're straightening them up to give them more volume and lift.
Brows are a big business; they frame the face and a well-sculpted brow looks groomed and polished. So there are lots of procedures to mimic the Brooke Shields effect. Of course, the art is making brow work subtle enough that it looks like you were simply blessed with thick, bushy brows naturally. There's brow tint, and things you can do to remove lingering brow tint in case things got messier than you anticipated, or if the color ended up being too dark. And if you lean into the already-blessed brows, a little eyebrow threading is the perfect way to get to that happy medium.
While eyebrow lamination has its perks, there are some cons to the procedure. Hairs can become over-processed, and break off. Also, for a semi-permanent procedure, brow lamination can be expensive. A typical procedure ranges from $75-$250. Thanks to TikTok, we've sourced some hacks that mimic brow lamination, without the cost or chemical effects.
The trust-the-process brow lamination hack
As TikTok personality Keyla Remache showed in her tutorial, all you need for the viral eyebrow hack is good dark brow gel. You don't have to go for high-end brands either; Remache used the Thick It Stick It Brow Gel Mascara by NYX in the shade Espresso (available for $10.99 retail).
Using a firm hand, Remache pressed the brush and applied the product slightly underneath her eyebrow, lifting the hairs upwards. Of course, because she was applying the product with heavy pressure, it got all over her eyebrow area, but she reassured followers that this messiness was part of the process. Remache followed the first press with a second round of brushing product onto her eyebrows, but this time, she used less product and focused only on the actual eyebrow area. She then used a damp wipe to clean up the excess product and create the shape that she wanted in her brows.
TikToker Fouz.Toktok shared a similar hack using a dark eyeshadow powder. In her video, she dipped her finger in the powder and rubbed it along her brow. She then followed up using a cotton swap dipped in makeup remover to clean up the shape. As pointed out in the comments, the key with this hack is to do it before you apply the rest of your makeup, otherwise it will wipe off with the wet wipe.
The hair gel hack
The hair gel eyebrow hack is another quick, easy way to get the lifted, laminated brow effect. TikToker @tani_garcha shared her process in a video using got2b Spiking Glue, the cult-classic hair gel. It retails for $7.99 from Ulta Beauty, making it a fraction of the cost of lamination. In the video, the TikToker places a tiny amount of product on a clean mascara wand and brushes the product into her brows, combing them up until she achieved the shape she wanted. She follows with a cotton swab to clean up any excess gel. If your brows are dark enough, you can stick to this one step. If you want some color, sweep a tinted brow gel over the brows afterwards.
Part of the appeal of these TikTok hacks is using products you already have at home, so that you don't have buy more products, like brow holds and sculpting waxes. On TikTok, Chloe Morello shared her eyebrow hack using Duo Adhesive non-latex eyelash glue as a brow gel. Morello applied a thin sweep of lash glue and warned people that you had about 5 seconds to brush brow hairs upwards before the glue started to set. But once you got it, those hairs weren't going anywhere. Follow with a small dab of powder, and fill in any sparse areas with a brow pencil if needed.