What To Know Before Trying The Soap Brow Trend

In case you're unfamiliar with the the newest brow trend to sweep the online beauty communities, it's being referred to as "soap brows," and basically entails styling your brows using a bar of soap and a spoolie brush. And while, yes, the results look amazing, I have to wonder if using soap in your eyebrows will dry them out. After all, just as we're supposed to moisturize our faces and bodies after washing them, shouldn't we need to keep our brows moisturized if we're combing soap into them? To find out a little more about this brow hack and the possible side effects it could have on your eyebrows and skin, I emailed with a couple of experts.

Alyssa Anderson, resident makeup artist for Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Jordana Mattioli, NYC-based esthetician, both let me in on why soap brows can be super handy in a pinch, but why you should be careful how you use this hack and how frequently you coat your brows in soap. According to Anderson, soap is an inexpensive alternative to traditional brow gels as, once you comb it through your brows and leave it to dry, the soap "will harden, keeping brows firmly held in the direction they are brushed."

If you do decide to try this hack for yourself, Anderson adds that the best type of soap to use is a mild, facial bar-soap. However, she does warn that brushing through your brows too vigorously with a soap-coated spoolie, or even brushing once the soap has dried could cause brow hairs to be easily pulled out. But it's not just how you do soap brows that could be damaging, it's also how often you do them.

According to Mattioli, one of the biggest concerns with leaving soap in your brows has to do with the pH balance. She explains that your skin and hair are both slightly acidic, yet almost all bar soaps are highly alkaline. While she already doesn't recommend using high-pH cleansers, she stresses that repeatedly leaving a high-pH product on your skin and hair could "cause all sorts of issues like dry, flaky skin, and mess with natural hair growth cycles." Yikes.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, $22, Sephora

But what's more is that even leaving a pH-friendly soap in your brows isn't the best for them either. Mattioli explains that even lower-pH soaps contain surfactants that are designed to be washed away. Therefore, "Leaving them on the skin/eyebrow can absolutely cause dryness and flaking." Plus, she adds, once the soap dries, it could also leave a crusty, flaky residue in your brows.

So while using soap could be helpful to lock in your brows if you've forgotten your usual styling aids, the "best option for full brows that last all day," says Anderson, is a traditional, brow gel.

Images: Miki Hayes (1); Courtesy of Brand