With a DIY Kit, I Laminated My Own Eyebrows at Home

Thanks to an easy-to-follow treatment, I now have perfectly feathered brows.

With a DIY Kit, I Laminated My Own Eyebrows at Home

I’ve done everything I can to achieve Cara Delevingne–level brows—from growth serums to experimenting with extensions—but the only treatment to give me immediate, cost-effective results is eyebrow lamination. The salon treatment straightens and fluffs up hairs for an instantly full look, and keeps them in place for up to six weeks. I got my first (and last) professional eyebrow lamination at the end of 2019 and then the pandemic halted any future salon visits. After spending months watching my hairs revert back to their thin, flat shape, I finally took it upon myself to purchase an at-home brow lamination kit.

I sought out the advice of René de la Garza, celebrity brow artist Lizzo and Cardi B and founder of Los Angeles–based Brow Down Studio, and he requested I proceed with caution—leave the treatment on too long and you risk damaging your hair. De la Garza recommends in-salon treatments, but as that’s not available to everyone at the moment and I’ve always been a DIY fanatic, I opted to go through with my at-home experiment. After seeing beauty blogger Jackie Aina test it out and reading hundreds of reviews, I decided to give Elevate the Beauty’s eyebrow and lash lamination kit a try.

The process was pretty straightforward: cleanse, apply, wait, wipe off, repeat. “The ingredients of brow lamination are extremely active,” says De la Garza. “So if attempting to laminate your own brows at home, be sure to follow the directions very carefully.” Guided by Elevate the Beauty’s instructions, I swiped on the kit’s water-like cleanser first to make sure there was no makeup or debris on my hairs.

Then, with a micro brush that came with the kit, I applied the Lift solution, which is the softening chemical that makes the hairs pliable. If you’re familiar with hair relaxers or perms, it works the same way and has the same pungent smell. After my hairs were thoroughly coated, I noticed the directions said to cover strands with plastic wrap, which was not included. So I went the craftyroute and cut snack-size Ziploc plastic bags in half and stuck them over my solution-coated brows to get the job done.

Next, I set the timer to 10 minutes (the recommendation is between eight and 13) and then wiped it all off. I repeated the process, but this time instead of using the Lift solution, I used the Fixation solution. The instructions say this step shapes the brows, so I was extra careful to brush the hairs in the direction I wanted them to stay in. For me that meant straight up on the inner-brow area near my nose and a slight diagonal by the peak of my arch. Then I placed the Ziploc bags over my arches once again (clean new ones, of course) and waited for the timer to buzz. Lastly, I swiped on the Nutrition oil—no baggies needed—to nourish the hairs. Warning: A little goes a long way, so there’s no need to be heavy-handed here.

“Results typically last from four to six weeks when brows are processed at the correct time for your hair texture,” says De la Garza, before discussing the importance of waiting at least six weeks before laminating brows again. Anything sooner and you also risk damaging hairs and causing brow breakage. “Brow amination lasts longest when incorporating a nightly castor oil routine to hydrate and moisturize the brow hair,” he adds. “For daytime styling, I recommend my Brow Naturale, which is a conditioning and nourishing brow wax that keeps the brows in place all day.”

Immediately after I completed all the steps in my kit, I had perfectly feathered brows. Each hair stands up on its own, no gel or soap needed, and my morning beauty routine is that much easier. And a couple months from now, I’ll definitely be repeating the process once again. My search for the ultimate brows is no more.