Every woman eventually learns: Great eyebrows don't happen by chance; they happen by appointment.
Trust us when we say, high profile brows get a lot of help. After spending years waxing, threading and penciling them in, celebrity eyebrow gurus have evened out the genetic playing field for everyone yearning for Cara Delevingne, Lily Collins and Lucy Hale's full and thick brows.
In recent years, microblading, which is essentially eyebrow tattoos, has been trending among the Hollywood set. However, unlike the block-y, permanent brows of the early 2000s, the modern technique requires ink strokes that mimic natural, hair-like lines instead of chunky, solid lines like past methods. A trained technician, using a microblading pen, can create a whole new shape, raise the arch and fill in any gaps with fine, individual strokes. The best part? The buzzworthy procedure offers semi-permanent results with minimal upkeep and grooming.
While brow extensions or simply filling in your brows with makeup still works, here are celebrity testimonials for the intimidating but oftentimes effective treatment.
In summer 2016, Bella Throne proved the procedure to be only minimally painful for herself, as she documented the entire process on her Snapchat story. The Famous in Love actress posted, "YASSS brows," after a treatment with LA-based celebrity microblading artist Julia Faria. In the photos, Bella's brows are clearly more defined.
We were so intrigued, we had to try it ourselves.
Other celebrities have also documented what's like to undergo the treatment. Lena Dunham, who had Vogue tag along on her appointment, described the experience to the magazine, as "less painful than a sunburn and utterly delightful."
The procedure was long overdue for the star, who was awestruck by the results. In the article, the actress credited Dominique Bossavy, a Beverly Hills cosmetics artist, as her eyebrows' savior.
"On my face were two perfect brows, the same hard-to-capture brown as the hair on my head, multidimensional, thick in all the right places, giving my face a grounded seriousness I had been wishing for since that day in the bathroom almost 20 years ago," she wrote.
After to a decade of over plucking and eyebrow insecurity, the Not That Kind of Girl author finally reached her goal: to get Lily Collins' eyebrows.
Just as microblading became household knowledge, celebrity eyebrow artist, Kristie Streicher, coined the concept of microfeathering, a procedure that has A-list celebrities flocking to the pro's Beverly Hills salon, Striiike. The process requires two appointments: The first is two hours and the follow-up (after six to eight weeks) is an hour. Like microblading, the treatment improves and thickens the brows. Microfeathering, however, focuses on "natural appearing eyebrow hair."
According to Allure, "The biggest difference between microblading and microfeathering is surface area. Microblading usually involves tattooing over your whole brow area to create fullness and shape," while microfeathering is intended for those with naturally full brows.
Kristie's clients showcase her minimalist and natural approach. See: Minka Kelly, Lorde and Mandy Moore's radiant microfeathered brows. While both stars have amazing results, neither raises any eyebrows that they just received treatments.
While the procedures are roughly the same in price, expect to pay anywhere between $700 to $800 for microblading and $1,000 for microfeathering.
The longevity of microblading is one to three years, while microfeathering lasts about eight to 12 months. According to Kristie's website, "The dye-created hair strokes fade gradually over the course of a year leaving no residual pigment behind."
Life is stressful enough without having to worry about maintaining your eyebrows all the time. On days your feel overwhelmed, remember: Eyebrows are the one thing you can get into shape without exercising!
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