Why?
Maybe I should start with why even? Beauty blogs are not exactly known by interviews, but I decided to show my support to all the badasses out there with awesome services, products and attitudes towards business and life. This will be a spot for their stories. I hope you’ll enjoy every bit of them!
Let's roll!
My first blog interview is dedicated to brows. I know, not exactly an obvious choice for a skincare junkie, but I have a soft spot for beautiful brows. Like healthy skin and beautiful hair, I perceive brows as a significant part of an unique beauty each individual carries. Also when it comes to brows, I notice the most beautiful and unique faces »adorned« with »copy – paste« brows, that are so popular among half of the population, because are fashionable. What a pity! Especially because many of those fashionable quick fixes are permanent that bring likewise permanent consequences.
I’ve also went from the bushy Brooke Shields look to the »Razor Thin« phase and afterwards to some uneven hybrid with the leftover survivor hairs. None of this super fashionable shapes didn’t match my features and I had problems with long, tousled brows with hairless patches here and there. Even when I went to a beauty salon, I didn’t receive a treatment or guidelines on how to »rehabilitate« my brows in long term. Thankfully when I was young there weren’t any permanent methods around. With my impulsive trait, God knows what I would end up with at the time, but I held the ground until I met Petra – our badass in the Tixibeauty interrogatory.
Who?
Petra is the artist behind the brand Lux Brows, the natural brows sanctuary. If you’re fed up with your over-plucked, uneven or light-haired brows and just in the process of jumping on the permanent solution bandwagon, this piece might offer you a more natural way out. Just take 5 more minutes and get to know the safe and natural alternative way to perfect brows. I will make Petra spill all she told me while performing her magic in our sessions, that brought me to a really strong natural brow game!
Showtime!
Brows – a peculiar passion, why?
I think my first boss made an impact in 2006 in the 2nd year of High School. Upon our first encounter she scolded me right away about my »Twiggy style« brows. Afterwards, she quickly put my brows in order and also taught my eyes to see the most suitable brow shape for individual faces. When I went to College, I also developed a passion for makeup, because I had a terrific mentor – Saša Godejša. She awakened my artistic side and I started to unleash my creativity on faces and paper. As the time passed, I noticed that even the most perfect makeup will fade and loose its charm, if paired to an innapropriate brow shape, so I developed a theory in which I still believe: a pretty face = beautiful skin + defined brows. This sums up to a perfect canvas to enjoy.
Lux Brows technique, your technique. Can you tell us more about it?
I think the most important trait of a brow stylist is to have a feeling for people and their faces. Currently many women long for thick brows, but that might not be optimal for every face and many times it is not even a possibility. This is maybe the most important element of my technique – individual approach. In general my technique is not special or new. Every other beauty salon has the same services on their price list. I make the difference with a personal approach, quality materials and with the amount of time we dedicate to each client. I’m a brow stylist for 13 years during which I’ve tried basically every novelty that the market came up with in the brow field. At the end, the classic approaches work best – scissors, threads, wax and tweezers with little powder and gel when necessary.
Lux Brows is therefore a natural method. What do you think of permanent, non-natural methods?
Well, this is a sore spot. I’ve never saw a beautiful pair of »permanent« brows – regretfully. Maybe this conversation will encourage a microblading stylist to present me a client with perfect brows that were made more than a year ago and disprove my point, but I doubt it. The so called »permanent« methods (Japanese method, microblading) are actually not quite so permanent. The ink doesn’t penetrate as deeply as a tattoo does, which results in fading. With oily skin types, the color can even totally vanish in a few months. Of course, this calls for additional treatments. I have a few clients that repeated the cutting procedure every 6 months. After a few years, scar tissue appeared (some stylists make deeper cuts, aiming for a more lasting effect) which resulted in thinned hair. Regretfully, these were mostly young women, that had every chance to achieve perfect brows with a little patience and proper care.
Some other clients, have discoloration problems after microblading. Dark-haired women have grey/blueish brows and light-haired women have orange/pink shades of brow color. Of course, in this cases is very hard to achieve a natural look, as it basically impossible to cover the discolorations. There are also a lot of cases, where a pattern was used that lifted the brow arch above the natural arch, presumably to achieve a lifting effect. That was made on very young women….about 25 years old, that now have to live with a faded tattoo on their forehead, that didn’t ask for. Yeah, a tattoo – due to very deep cuts the pigment will never totally fade. The only option for a removal is a laser treatment.
Can we achieve the desired results with the Lux Brows method?
Depends what are the expectations and in which condition is the hair. 90% of clients can achieve a better shape of their brows within a year. Of course, there are cases, where patience will not be rewarded, that’s why I regret there is no effective semi-permanent brow-drawing method. Such method could really help those clients, that permanently thinned their brows and now wish for a bushy look.
Brows in general grow slowly. The whole set of hairs renews in approximately 8 months, which demands loads of patience. The progress is much faster with younger clients, who can achieve the final result in about 2 months. But don’t worry, even if it takes longer, we teach you how achieve a natural look by filling the gaps. For speeding up the recovery process I suggest castor oil, not growth enhancers. Those serums can make the hair stronger but they also speed up the fallout cycle, that can result in bigger hairless areas. I know that a 1 year rehabilitation can sound a lot, but if we remember the possible consequences of the permanent methods, it is not so bad, right?
How does the »rehabilitation« process look like?
Before the first visit I suggest to leave your brows alone for 14 days – meaning no plucking and no trimming. The longer, the better! I encourage you to bring your own brow makeup, if you feel like you’re not getting the proper results. Together we will figure out the best routine for you. Avoid sauna, pools or any masks for the first 48 hours after the treatment.
For the first few months I suggest monthly visits. In the mid-time is very important that you leave your brows just be, until the natural shape comes forward. When that happens, clients tend to visit us every 4-8 weeks, depending on how much effort are they willing to put in home care. Of course, we teach all our clients to take care of their own brows, how and where to pluck and how to maintain the optimal shape.
Where can we find Lux Brow and what are the prices?
The Lux Brows studio is located on Metelkova 7b in Ljubljana. With my colleague Eva we are also field workers – for a few days a month you can find us in Bohinj and Postojna. We also do makeups and offer makeup classes for which you can choose the most convenient location for you.
The prices vary depending on the type of brow color (the classic color lasts about 3 weeks, while henna lasts more than 4 weeks with the color being pretty intensive at the beginning), how frequent are your appointments and which stylist you choose (Petra or Eva). Basic shaping for men is 19€, we also have a special price for students (23€), other prices vary from 25 to 34€.
Can we get a #badass discount?
Absolutely! We are giving you a 20% discount for your first Lux Brows treatment with Eva. You can make your reservation directly through our page www.luxbrows.si or write us a message on 030 622 166. Don’t forget to say the magic word Tixibeauty!
Epilogue
Before you consider any invasive or permanent treatments for your brows, try to »raise« them with some love and patience, to fit your unique face perfectly. Sounds impossible? In most cases it truly isn’t! There is a really good chance you can have beautiful natural brows! Just find the right stylist that will help you on this journey, without patterns and copy-paste procedures. Natural brows are the best!
Photo credits: Urška Pirjevec