ICYMI, the people’s princess Selena Gomez became embroiled in a low-key social media catfight with Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner after posting a very cute and relatable video about over-laminating her eyebrows. I’ll leave it up to you to catch up on the “drama” so we can skip straight to the good stuff: the ins and outs of eyebrow lamination.
You might be thinking, “Isn’t lamination something you do to important documents, not your face?” The answer is, well, yes, but it’s basically a fancy word to mean setting your eyebrows just the way you like them, requiring little to no styling every time you apply a face of makeup. Let’s get into it.
What does eyebrow lamination entail?
The point, per se, of brow lamination is basically to achieve the look you get when you style your brows – but without the daily effort. Chances are you’ve seen that slicked-up brow style that’s all over TikTok and Instagram, usually requiring some kind of gel to keep the brows in place; soap brows, as they’re known, add lift and shape to the face.
When left alone, our eyebrows simply sit on our face, the hairs laying flat in the direction they grow in, and when we do our makeup, we try to affix them in a certain position. The lamination process does the work for us, softening the hair follicle and removing kinks and texture, making it easier to set the brow hairs in that nearly-vertical direction for a fluffed-up appearance. Think of it like a keratin treatment for your brows!
How do I prepare?
Skin prep, skin prep, skin prep. Like with any beauty treatment, make sure your skin barrier is in good shape before going in. It’s probably a good idea to lay off the retinols and any other heavy exfoliants for a few days prior to and following lamination, and don’t be shy with your hydrating products. Oh, and leave your brows alone – meaning no threading, waxing, tinting or tweezing – beforehand! Let the experts do their job.
How long does it last?
It’s a semi-permanent treatment, but even then, expect results to last for up to eight weeks, and proper care will make the lamination process last longer – for example, keeping the brows dry for about a day after you go in or applying moisturizing serums to keep your eyebrows hydrated.
Anything else?
Brow lamination is a great time-saver – spoolie who? – but it’s definitely possible to overdo it, kind of like Selena did. It’s important to remember that lamination is a chemical process, so just like you shouldn’t dye your hair every other day, leave some time between treatments to give yourself a break. No one wants crispy brows!