Gone are the days of thick eyebrows. Thin brows are back in style leading many to go back to tweezing, waxing, and threading. If you are one of the unfortunate individuals who might have plucked, shaved, waxed, or threaded too much and are not happy with the result, you may be wondering how long it will take for your brows to grow back.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
Like the hair follicles on your head, eyebrow hair follicles go through a 4-stage growth cycle: anagen (growth); catagen (transition); telogen (resting); and exogen (shedding).
Unlike scalp hair, which has an anagen phase lasting up to 7 years, the brow hair growth phase only lasts up to 4 months. That’s why your eyebrow hairs are much shorter than your scalp hair [1, 2]. After the hair follicle has shed, the eyebrow growth cycle restarts, so most of the time eyebrow hairs will grow back.
Overplucking your eyebrows can disrupt the hair growth cycle — but it doesn’t stop it altogether. Eventually, your eyebrows will grow back. It just might take a little while for your hair follicles to recover and start producing hair.
However, if your eyebrow plucking is sustained, it can cause permanent hair loss similar to that caused by trichotillomania [3]. Find out more about the causes of eyebrow hair loss.
The eyebrow growth cycle differs from person to person. For most people, it falls somewhere between 3 and 4 months [2]. If you don’t start to see brow regrowth after around 4 months, you may be experiencing more sustained or permanent eyebrow hair loss.
Eyebrow regrowth is a waiting game. You need to give your brows plenty of time to reestablish hair growth in your follicles. However, there are a few ways to help grow eyebrows back quickly.
If you’ve made a mistake when plucking your eyebrows, you should expect it to take around 3 to 4 weeks for the brow hair to grow back fully. Don’t try to overcompensate for the error by plucking further — you’ll just have to wait for more hairs to grow back in.
Those that have seriously overplucked and ended up with very thin brows will probably have to wait a while longer – possibly up to three months.
Our advice is to be patient. Stop tweezing them and give them a chance to grow back. In the meantime, use an eyebrow pencil or make-up to fill in the blanks.
Just like when trying to grow your hair, it takes a healthy diet to promote good brow hair growth, too. To promote hair growth, make sure you are getting plenty of vitamins in your diet, including Vitamin A, B6, C, and E.
Eating foods like carrots, leafy green vegetables, fruits and fortified rice as part of a balanced diet, will ensure you get the vitamins and nutrients you need to grow back those thinning brows.
In addition to getting plenty of vitamins, you need to make sure you’re keeping your body hydrated. Drinking plenty of water will keep your hair hydrated and healthy, helping it to grow back faster.
Concealer, foundation and other thick makeup products can clog up your pores, making brow regrowth more difficult. Avoid loading up your brows with makeup and even thick creams or moisturisers. A light eyebrow pencil or powder is OK.
Microblading is a popular solution for creating the brow shape you want. This non-invasive procedure lasts for 1-3 years, so it’s a good option if you want semi-permanent brow fullness while you wait for your real eyebrow hair to grow back.
If you can’t resist plucking out individual rogue hairs while you wait for the bulk of your brows to grow back, use angled tweezers to do it. These help you locate and extract single hairs more easily, so you don’t accidentally pull out more hairs than you want to.
Hair loss specialists may be able to help you find a medical treatment to help stimulate hair growth in your eyebrows. Certain hair growth medications and topical solutions can sometimes be prescribed if you’re not seeing results after a hair growth cycle (usually around 3-4 months).
Minoxidil is a widely used topical hair growth solution, and it’s been shown to work on eyebrows as well as scalp hair [4].
Other supplements and natural remedies have also been touted as hair growth solutions. These may be worth considering if you want a cost-effective option for restoring your overplucked brows. However, bear in mind that the eye area is very sensitive, so don’t use products that could be harmful or irritating to your eyes. If in doubt, check with your doctor before using any supplements or topical solutions.
Whilst you’re waiting for your eyebrows to grow back properly, you can always use a pencil, brow gel, or powder to fill in the gaps. We recommend choosing a shade that is a little bit lighter than your brows, this will prevent you going overboard and ending up with unnatural-looking brows.
With a light hand, create small strokes to fill in your sparse eyebrows and give them a fuller look.
There are a number of great eyebrow products available from both high-street and high-end makeup brands. You will find some products easier to work with than others – it’s all about finding what’s right for you. The key is to start subtly and build up the brow shape.
Overplucked eyebrows don’t always grow back, especially if they’ve been plucked too thinly or too often. However, the good news is that you can now get fuller eyebrows with an eyebrow transplant.
An Eyebrow transplant involves taking between 250 and 400 donor hairs from somewhere else on the body (often behind the ears) and implanting them on the eyebrow area. This is done with tiny needles to ensure there is no scarring.
The end result is natural, fuller eyebrows that look healthy and youthful. Eyebrow restoration is a very simple process, so if you have sparse brows and are struggling to get them back to their original state, it’s definitely worth considering.
There are a variety of reasons that might lead to slow brow growth or even eyebrow thinning such as:
If you’re concerned that your overplucked eyebrows aren’t growing back, book a free consultation with our eyebrow hair loss specialists who can properly diagnose the cause of the slow hair eyebrow growth and work with you to create a treatment plan best suited to your needs and goals.
The Wimpole Clinic has years of experience working with clients to restore their lost or thinning hair through non-surgical hair restoration treatments as well as hair and eyebrow transplants. If you are interested in finding out more about eyebrow restoration at our Harley Street hair transplant clinic, we recommend talking to our specialists directly.
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