Eyebrows - help!
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Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:29 pm

Hello,

I'm mid-40s, female, fair-skinned, and have ruined my eyebrows with nearly 30 years of overplucking. I also have either Chronic Telogen Effluvium or maybe androgenetic alopecia because my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes are shedding and thinning.

My eyebrows look terrible. They are sparse, totally bald in spots, not symmetrical and look moth-eaten and misshapen. I've tried many things to help them grow but nothing has worked so far, so I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or has found something that has helped them.

Things I have tried:

- Thyroid test (normal, plus it's the inner part of my eyebrows that look the worst, not the tails) I also started a thyroid supplement (ThyroSMART) recently, just in case
- Biotin
- Viviscal (10 months; no effect)
- Rapidbrow (5 months, overlap with Viviscal; very little noticeable effect; maybe a bit of growth but not really)
- Minoxidil 2% (generic; 6 months; no effect; horrible side-effects)
- Minoxidil 5% (Lipogaine; 6 months; small effect, but side effects of redness, severe itching and peeling skin so not worth it)
- Currently trying copper peptides (Folligen, alternate nights) but it also itches and burns; not sure I can keep it up. Note: Folligen doesn't burn my scalp, just my eyebrows
- Currently trying castor oil (on alternate nights when I don't use the Folligen), but my eyelashes have told me it will take a year to see anything

Things I won't try
- Prostaglandins (Careprost, Latisse) - I have hazel eyes and I don't want them to darken. Brows and lashes are not worth that to me!
- Scalp hair transplant (looks unnatural)
- Microblading/tattoos (looks unnatural, too risky)

Things I haven't tried but would:
- Topicals (emu oil, castor oil etc)
- exfoliation/dry brushing - I read it's supposed to help
- Dermarolling (found studies showing it helps hair grow in a mouse model and when used in conjunction with Rogaine on the scalp)
- PRP or stem cell injections

Has anyone tried any of these and what were the results? Anything else I'm missing?

Mon Oct 17, 2022 3:53 pm

I think you better call your cosmetologist

free skin care · Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:58 am

Cosmetologist isn't the one to call, dermatologist is.
Castor oil does help although it is messy.
I have had microblading, and both my sister-in-laws and several friends.
It does look natural if you get the powdered version or a mix of the two. You also cannot do them very dark or it looks fakey. Skill has the most to do with it but doing it in layered steps will increase the natural look.
Good luck and hope you find something to help you.

Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:54 pm

Update:

- Castor oil didn't do much
- I can't see my original post, so I forgot if I mentioned copper peptides - didn't help
- I tried microneedling but didn't see much difference. I only tried a few times so I might have to continue with that.
- I just purchased Emu oil and am starting with that. Will update in a few months.
- I also added oral tocotrienols (form of Vitamin E with a couple studies showing it increases hair growth by 40% in 8 months). I tried it topically but it's bright orange LOL

So far the best thing seems to be the RapidBrow serum. It works but doesn't do miracles - just helps fill in a few bald/sparse spots. I have some areas damaged by the Rogaine which even the serum doesn't seem to help.

As for the dermatologist, yes I have made an appointment, but I live in Canada and it's a 12-18-month wait. Made the appointment last March. My appointment is next August. In the meantime I am just trying whatever I can.

Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:20 pm

Here are couple of products you may want to try. The reviews for both are pretty positive on the Ordinary website:

Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density
https://theordinary.com/en-us/multi-peptide-serum-for-hair-density-hair-scalp-treatment-100434.html

Multi-Peptide Lash and Brow Serum
https://theordinary.com/en-us/multi-peptide-lash-brow-serum-100111.html

I just started using the brow serum on my disappearing eyebrows with hopeful optimism Smile

Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:20 pm

Just as a further update.

I have seen a dermatologist and found that I have very low ferritin and also was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (autoimmune hypothyroidism).

Thanks to functional medicine testing, I also found that I have 3 different gut infections (certain infections are known to cause hair loss). These probably triggered the Hashimoto's too.

Getting my ferritin up hasn't helped much, but I am currently in treatment for the gut infections and I should be starting treatment for Hashimoto's over the next few weeks.

I am hopeful that finding (and fixing) the root causes of my hair loss will help my eyebrows and eyelashes (and the rest of my hair) to grow back.

In the meantime, I use the Rapidbrow serum to get them about halfway there. As a bonus it also darkens the hairs a bit Smile

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