Beauty and the bleach
Bleached brows are this summer’s hottest celebrity beauty trend, but do they really work away from the red carpet?
As I dashed out of the bar in embarrassment, I could feel my face burning. It was the first time I had shown off my newly bleached brows to the world
– and it’s safe to say it didn’t go quite as planned.
I had been keen to try the trend – which has been a big hit with A-list stars, including supermodel Kendall Jenner,
26, and Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams, 25, who both rocked the look on the Met Gala red carpet.
Bleached brows are the complete opposite of the big “wow brow” trend we’ve seen in recent years.
I’ve always been known for having strong, dark brows.
But I decided to try it out, enlisting the help of Kallinka Aynsley, brow specialist at London salon Dry By, and The Berkeley hotel in London.
“I’d recommend using a product specifically formulated for eyebrows, as those hairs are finer than the ones on our head,” she said.
Keen to have a go at home, I bought a packet of Jolen Creme Bleach, £4.35 (Boots), which can be used on brows.
Kallinka advised me to follow the packet instructions carefully.
“Don’t be tempted to leave it on longer than the recommended time,” she said. “As the hairs are so fine, putting bleach that is too strong on them will cause them to snap or curl.” I mixed the white cream together, smoothed it on to my brows and left it for 15 minutes – the maximum time allowed. The result wasn’t as pale as I expected, so I repeated the process twice until my brows were the desired shade of bleach blonde. I was amazed how much it changed my face.
“It’s a really dramatic look, so go for bold make-up too, like a smoky eye or striking red lipstick,” Kallinka advised.
Copying Kendall, I applied some smoky eye make-up and a rose-coloured lipstick.
I brushed my brows to their bushiest and set them with NYX Professional Makeup Control Freak Clear Eye Brow Gel, £7 (Boots).
Up close, I quite liked the blonde brows, as they seemed to make my eyes look bigger and my lashes darker.
That evening, I took my new look out on the town with my partner Connor.
We live in Ilkley, in the West Yorkshire countryside, which couldn’t be further from the red carpet in New York.
As we walked into the bar, a group of women sitting by the door did a double take as they saw me. “Perhaps they’re jealous of my new look,” I reassured myself.
But when the bartender’s gaze lingered above my eyes, I started to feel less confident. As we sat in the window, I received yet more strange looks from people walking by.
A few gin and tonics later, I started to forget about my eyebrows. But when I nipped to the loo, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror.
While in the bright lighting of my bathroom at home I could see my bleached brows, in the dim pub they had disappeared completely.
I looked like an alien with an enormous forehead. Beetroot-red with embarrassment, I hastily swigged the rest of my drink and power-walked home, crossing the road to avoid a friend coming the other way.
The next day, I called in to see my mum and brother. “Where have your eyebrows gone?” he asked, point blank.
“They look… different,” mum said diplomatically.
Later, I ventured out to get a coffee. The woman behind the counter glanced for a little too long at my forehead. “It’s a long story,” I sighed, and headed home to dye them back to their original colour.
With a home kit, thankfully, Kallinka reassured me I could do it straight away. Using Eylure Dybrow Permanent Tint For Brows, £7.50 (Boots), I followed the instructions to avoid overdoing it, smearing Vaseline around my brows to avoid getting colour on my forehead.
As they returned to their normal colour, I breathed a big sigh of relief.
It seems Yorkshire wasn’t ready for this New York trend quite yet – and neither was I.
‘‘ They had disappeared – I looked like an alien with an enormous forehead