TheSaraiAshari

Beauty

Yes, Putting Glue on Your Eyebrows are a Thing — You're Mad Late

From the wave eyebrow phase to the current Euphoria makeup craze, the hacks, tricks and tips in the makeup world are endless and never cease to amaze me. One in particular that caught my interest was putting glue on eyebrows. This discovery started with a little after-work social media scrolling. I was on Twitter, laughing at posts, catching up on my fashion and beauty news, and BOOM, there it was, a post retweeted by my friend Michaela Carter (@adashofmichaela) that featured Makeup Influencer Tajia Reed putting on makeup on her face and —Elmers Glue on her eyebrows! I was so shocked. I had no idea this was a thing! So many questions came to mind. Was this new? What’s the purpose? Is it safe? After days of researching and talking to experts, I found the answer. Take a seat and allow me to give you an extra lesson.

According to makeup experts, the glue on eyebrow method originally started with drag queens. They used a glue stick to lay down their thick brow hairs in order to create new dramatic brows. The specific year this started is unknown but, one thing is for sure, this method has been around for years.

“Using glue sticks on your eyebrows actually came from drag makeup. Drag queens use it to tack down their eyebrow hairs to create new dramatic ones. The glue allows your eyebrow hairs to lay super flat. You usually have to use about three coats to get them to lay as flat at possible then you conceal over them. Now it will appear like you don’t have any eyebrows,” says MUA Felicia Menal.

Drag queen Olivia Lux uses Elmer’s glue non-toxic.

“I prefer the purple kind so I know when it’s dry,” Olivia says.

People outside of drag royalty use this method as well but, some choose to use glue in a different way. For example, Tajia uses the glue to set her brow hairs after applying an eyebrow pencil or simply to keep her brow hairs down while she is out and about.

“If I want my brows to be super fluffy looking or I want them to be bolder, I’ll use a brow pencil first, fill in gaps and put the glue on top. It (the glue) will basically melt into my brow and it looks like little brow hairs. Some days when I don’t do makeup and I have to run errands, I’ll just swipe it over the top, wipe the excess and brush it with a spooly,” Tajia says.

She raved about how the glue sets her eyebrows in place for the remainder of the day and once the glue dries it does not attract lint or pollution from the outdoor elements. However, is there a risk to using this method? Felicia and Tajia says it's harmless.

“I’m not particularly sure about the cons and the risk. I’d imagine applying glue to the skin isn’t the healthiest for you and may cause a few hairs to come out if not removed correctly. Other than that, I think it’s harmless,” says Felicia.

Tajia says that she has sensitive skin and is prone to breakouts but, the glue doesn’t cause irritation to her skin and comes right off with warm water.

So, what say you? Are you adding glue stick to your makeup bag?



Sarai Thompson