Two women who fell victim to over-plucking as teens have spent over £4,000 to save their “botched” eyebrows – and they’re warning others to never succumb to the trend.
In the 90s and early 00s, A-list celebrities were snapped sporting questionable outfits – and even more questionable pencil-thin brows – but people loved them.
The trend, which was made popular by the likes of Kate Moss, Gwen Stefani and Pamela Anderson, quickly became the rage amongst young women.
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But the over-plucking and tweezer-drawn look has left many with little-to-nothing left and now, due to the resurgence of the style on TikTok, women are sharing their stories to warn others before it’s too late.
For Paula Smyth, 36, and Harbinder Ghir, 46, they’ve had to fork out £4,300 and £4,500 respectively in a bid to try and get their thick, bushy eyebrows back.
“I plucked my brows to oblivion in my teens to have thin, barely there, eyebrows,” Harbinder, a sales and marketing manager from London, told What’s The Jam.
“I took it a step further and had electrolysis thinking that this look would be in forever – but it quickly dawned on me how my face looked vacant.
“I had to wear a ton of make-up to plug the gaps and my confidence was affected for many years, to the extent that I wouldn’t dip my face underwater while on holiday out of the fear that my eyebrows would disappear.
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“At night, I would leave eyebrow pencil on as I found it difficult to look at myself – I know it’s a first-world problem, but for me, I wanted to look natural again.
“I really didn’t think about the consequences and the impact it would have on me in later life.”
For Paula, a civil service worker from Somerset, it was a similar story – one that quickly spiralled into a series of regrettable decisions.
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She said: “It was the fashion to have pencil-thin brows, but I quickly regretted that decision.
“As I got older and the trend changed to more natural hair strokes, I hated my brows so much.
“I opted for a semi-permanent make-up tattoo to make them look fuller, but this was a big mistake.
“The annual touch-ups made my brows look blocky.
“I started to get saline salt removal, which was slow and painful, taking years to fade.
“I was left with a residual blueish hue that almost looked purple and I was told that it would never go, as it was implanted too deep into the skin.
“All I could do was keep trying to ease them, but I was stuck in a vicious cycle.”
Paula, who had spent thousands on trying to rectify her teen mistake, then discovered an eyebrow hair transplant procedure – which around the same time, Harbinder found out about too.
The pair contacted the Wimpole Clinic and in 2023, they went under their respective procedures – costing a combined £8,800.
Using the hair from the back of their heads, these were implanted with an ultra-thin needle in the follicle of the eyebrows, sparking hair growth.
Now, both Paula and Harbinder are in awe of the results – but despite their confidence being boosted, they’re urging people to never over-pluck their brows for a trend, as they’ll never be able to achieve their natural look again.
Harbinder said: “It’s been an incredible change and one that has altered my appearance entirely.
“My family are in shock.
“I wish I had done it sooner – in fact, I wish I had never tried the trend in the first place.
“Without the transplant, they never would have grown back naturally to their former glory.
“So before you grab those tweezers, remember that beauty trends come and go, but the damage can be lasting.
“I paid the price.”
Paula added: “I’m no longer haunted by the reminder of my teenage decision.
“I’ve only ever wanted them to be natural looking and I can now style my brows in this way, although I’ll never get that look naturally again.
“Don’t overpluck your eyebrows, because the styles will always keep changing and thin brows will put years on you when you get older.”
