We’ve got the Skinny on Eyebrow Thinning: Why it Happens & What You Can Do to Get ‘Em Back

Ever look in the mirror and swear your eyebrows used to be thicker? You may be right. While we don’t talk about it nearly as much as we do wrinkles and sagging jowls, eyebrow thinning is actually a pretty common sign of aging—hair follicles often slow down with age.

Tweezing and waxing is a necessary evil if you want to keep a unibrow under control—but overdoing it early in life has a price.

But it turns out that’s just one possible cause of eyebrow loss, according to this article from SELF. If you’re too busy to read it right now, here’s the gist: eyebrow thinning can result from a number of things: nutritional deficiencies (rare), hormonal fluctuations (more common after pregnancy or menopause), or even as a side effect of skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis.

More often than not, however, disappearing eyebrows are a matter of aging, genetics, or your grooming habits.

Go easy on the tweezing if you want to keep your brows strong

Tweezing and waxing can be a necessary evil to keep a unibrow under control or achieve a nice eyebrow contour, but overdoing it early in life has its price. Repeatedly yanking out your eyebrow causes stress to the hair follicles, which can shorten their lifespan. If you’re noticing thinning brows now, and you were totally on board with the pencil-thin eyebrow trend á la 1995, this is probably what’s going on.

Can I get my eyebrows to grow back?

Unless your thinning brows have a treatable cause (such as a skin condition or nutritional deficiency), likely the best you can do at this point is to slow the thinning process and take steps to make your brows look fuller.

First, limit tweezing and waxing just to the edges of your brow. To restore a thicker brow appearance, you can master eye makeup techniques.

So that’s the skinny on eyebrow thinning. If you have questions or want to learn more about facial treatments, ask us. We’re here to help you look (and feel) your best!