Skincare Serums Could Be Harming Your Brows. Here's How

Eyebrows might be the least of your concerns in the grand scheme of things, but they can make or break your whole makeup look. The most prominent facial feature, a pair of well-defined eyebrows, can structure the face, highlight the eyes, and elevate your whole look. With nicely trimmed brows that suit your face type, you can still look sharp and put together without makeup. But smearing or ill-sized eyebrows can make your whole makeup look fall apart. That's why grooming and reshaping your eyebrows regularly is important to keep them from growing all over the map and looking unkempt.

Like other body parts, eyebrow maintenance has its own sets of do's and don'ts. For instance, plucking the brows using a magnifying mirror and over-tweezing your arch can mess up the natural shape of your brows. Another common eyebrow blunder that many people don't know they're making is applying skincare serum to the eyebrow area. Truth be told, just because something is good for the skin of your face doesn't mean it will pan out nicely with your brows too. Here's why you should stop applying regular skincare serums over your eyebrows.

If you've been slathering your eyebrow with night cream leftover, stop it! The reason is that the skin under your eyebrows is quite delicate compared to other parts of your face, which makes it more vulnerable to irritation from skincare products. Serums containing a high concentration of active ingredients can penetrate the skin faster and deeper than regular moisturizers. Due to their great potency of actives, serums can easily cause irritation. If you use anti-aging serums containing strong ingredients like AHA or retinols, avoid leaving the product under your eyebrows overnight. "Anything with glycolic, salicylic, or lactic acid can impede the growth of your brows," brow specialist Jerami Robins tells The Zoe Report. "I feel these harsh chemicals can break and thin the fragile brow hair." If you have dry skin, the product build-up can worsen the drying, causing redness and hair fallout. 

Besides, if you habitually layer one skincare product upon another in one sitting and you include your eyebrows in the application process, you're putting your brow line at risk of developing pimples. Your eyebrows are home to many oil glands and follicles that can easily get plugged up by sebum and dead skin cells. When you have acne-prone skin and your brow line is loaded with comedogenic ingredients or occlusives such as Vaseline, it can easily result in a breakout, trichologist Isfahan Chambers-Harris tells Byrdie. 

If you want to condition your eyebrows without putting them at risk of thinning or breaking out in pimples, non-comedogenic products that are meant to be used on eyebrows are a good start. Eyebrow growth serum is a case in point. Typically formulated with nourishing ingredients such as panthenol, biotin, oils, and peptides, eyebrow growth serums are generally effective in moisturizing brow hairs, preventing natural shedding, and making your brow hairs look thicker and softer, according to The Naked Truth Skincare. As far as application goes, you should apply eyebrow growth serum at night as the last step of your skincare routine, so the product has more time to get absorbed into your skin. You can also condition your eyebrow with brow gels, but not all brow gels are created equal. Always look for formulas that don't contain pore-clogging ingredients.

If you do eyebrow makeup regularly, invest in an eyebrow primer. It's designed to absorb sebum from your skin and tame the brow hair, making it easier to fill and shape your eyebrow with any makeup product of your choice. Exposure to harsh UV rays can damage your hair follicles and cause hair loss, so apply sunscreen to your brows before heading out into the sun or going for a swim.