Henna eyebrows are a safe and effective way of coloring and contouring your eyebrows. Sometimes, however, the result isn’t what you wanted. Fortunately, there are ways to fix bad henna eyebrows.
What Are Henna Brows?
Henna brows treatments are a method of dying the eyebrow hair and the skin underneath it with a henna-based dye.
Henna brows are much fuller, more dramatic, and glossier than natural brows alone.
How To Fix Bad Henna Eyebrows
If your henna brows were done in a salon, it’s best to start by going back to the salon.
They will probably be able to fix your bad henna eyebrows for you. If they can’t, they may be able to advise on what treatments you can use at home.
If you did your henna brows at home and the result is really bad, then you might want to go to a salon. That will probably get the quickest result.
Alternatively, there are ways to fix bad henna eyebrows at home. Here are some tips to help:
How To Fix Henna Brows That Are Too Light
To fix henna brows that are too light, you can either use eyebrow gel or dye the brows again. If you redye, make sure that the skin is absolutely clean. Also, make sure that you’re using a high-quality henna brow dye.
Here is the process to follow to fix henna brows that are too light:
1. Prepare the dye
If you’re certain that you cleaned your skin properly the first time, then the reason your henna brows are too light is probably to do with the dye.
Make sure that you’re using a high-quality dye and following the instructions.
Remember that each person’s reaction to a dye is different so monitor your eyebrows as the dye develops.
When you’re fixing your bad henna eyebrows, you might want to buy a new pack of dye to make sure that isn’t the problem.
Whatever dye you use, make sure you read and understand the instructions before you start.
Follow them to the letter throughout the process.
2. Prepare your face
- Tie back the hair on your head so that it’s completely out of the way.
- Remove any brow piercings.
- Exfoliate gently and then clean the skin on the brow area thoroughly.
- Make sure your cleanser is free of oil and silicone.
- Then add a barrier cream around the area you wish to dye.
Shea butter, cocoa butter, and sweet mimosa butter are all good choices and also good for eyelashes.
3. Apply the dye
- Apply the dye, following the direction of the hair.
- Once the dye is in place, cover your henna brows with kitchen wrap. Press the sides of the wrap to remove any air bubbles.
- Leave the dye for as long as it needs to develop then remove the wrap and clean away any excess henna dye.
- Pat dry carefully.
How To Fix Henna Brows That Are Too Dark
The main ways to fix henna brows that are too dark are:
- Time
- Makeup remover
- Clarifying shampoo
- Exfoliation
- Bicarbonate of soda + shampoo
- Going to a salon
- Facial bleach
You can use a combination of these to make the henna brows dye fade as quickly as possible.
Time
If your henna eyebrows are just a little too dark for your liking, then time may be all you need.
This is particularly true just after your henna brows treatment. Henna brows treatments dye your skin as well as your hair.
The dye on your skin will fade relatively quickly. As it does, the color will become less intense.
Makeup remover
Makeup remover will help to speed up the removal of the dye from your skin as well as your hair.
In principle, you can use any oil- or silicone-based makeup remover. In practice, your best option is likely to be coconut oil.
Coconut oil is both a cleanser and a moisturizer so it’s a double win.
Unlike most of the other options listed here, coconut oil is gentle enough for you to use it as often as you want.
It’s therefore usually your top go-to option if you need to fix henna brows that are too dark.
Clarifying shampoo
Clarifying shampoo is designed to remove residue from your hair.
It can therefore help to remove dye from your henna brows. Of course, like any shampoo, it will sting if it gets into your eyes.
This means you need to be very careful how you apply it.
Generally, the best option is to put a dab on your eyebrows and rub it in gently with an old toothbrush.
Leave it for about a minute and then wash off gently with warm water.
Exfoliation
In general, exfoliation is used to remove dead skin cells.
You can also use it to help with the removal of products on the skin. You should however be very careful about how you do this.
If you over-exfoliate, you may damage your hair follicles. Use a proper facial exfoliator and apply it gently.
Stick to using it once every two or three days.
Bicarbonate of soda and shampoo
This is basically exfoliation taken to the next level. As such, it can be really effective at fixing henna brows that are too dark.
It can, however, also leave your skin feeling sore and flaky. It can also do serious damage to your hair follicles.
This means that you need to use it with great care, if at all.
If you want to try this fix, use this recipe:
- Create a 1:1 mixture of bicarbonate of soda and shampoo, preferably clarifying shampoo.
- Apply this to your brows gently. A foundation brush is the best option. If you don’t have one, then a soft toothbrush is a good alternative.
- Leave for up to two minutes and then wash off gently with warm water.
You’ll probably see a result after the first treatment. It may, however, take a few rounds before you get the result you want.
Be patient. Only use this treatment every two or three days at most.
Use lots of moisturizer in between. If your skin reacts badly to the treatment then stop.
If you keep going you may turn a temporary problem into long-term damage.
Going to a salon
If none of these treatments are working for you (or at least not quickly enough), then you should at least consider going to a salon.
The cost of treatment may be less than you think. It could be money well spent to get the results you want in minimal time.
Facial bleach
Facial bleach will not remove the dye on your skin but it will remove the dye on your brow hair.
The problem with facial bleach is that it’s very tricky to use it properly. In other words, you may end up swapping out one problem for another.
More importantly, you could end up irritating your skin and creating a longer-term problem.
In short, therefore, if you have to choose between going to a salon and using facial bleach, then going to a salon is by far the safer option.
If, however, that’s not possible, then facial bleach could be your last resort. If you do choose this option then read the instructions carefully and follow them exactly.
How To Fix Uneven Henna Brows
You can fix uneven henna brows by either reshaping them manually (e.g. by plucking) or filling them in with an eyebrow pencil. If your henna brows are very uneven, then you can redye them.
Using an eyebrow pencil does take more effort overall since you’ll need to do it every day. It can also cause your eyebrows to smudge.
On the plus side, however, it is a very straightforward exercise.
Just choose an eyebrow pencil to match your henna brows and apply it in the usual way, i.e. following the growth of the hair.
Redying your henna brows only has to be done once if you get it right.
You will, however, need to be very careful to make sure that you only dye the areas that were missed the first time.
If you redye areas that were already dyed correctly, you can end up even eyebrows but a patchy color.
If you want to redye your henna eyebrows, it’s a good idea to outline the shape you want in an eyebrow pencil or lipliner.
Use a shade that will really stand out from the skin (e.g. white on dark skin or red on fair skin). Then use this to guide you when you apply the dye.
Can I Completely Remove Bad Henna Eyebrows?
If you want to remove bad henna eyebrows completely then you will need to go to a salon. Salons that offer henna brows treatments will generally have professional tint-removing products. These are unlikely to be for sale in regular retailers. Even if they are, it can be unsafe to use them yourself.
On the other hand, it can be fairly straightforward to disguise bad henna eyebrows so they are unnoticeable.
Start with eyebrow gel and/or eyebrow pencil. If this doesn’t work (or doesn’t work enough) try mascara.
If you still need to bring down the tone of bad henna eyebrows then your next step is to use foundation and, if necessary, pressed powder.
The key to success here is to make sure that the foundation gets past the hair and onto the brow skin.
This will do a lot to neutralize henna brows that are (way) too dark.