How To Dye Your Eyebrows Lighter

Everyone can agree that brows are having a major moment right now, and as with any major beauty trend comes an avalanche of different and unique ways to style them. Kaley Cuoco recently rocked the latest way to spruce up brows — dyeing them pink — but before you also go rose, here's everything you need to know about how to dye your eyebrows lighter.

For those brave enough to go all-out, remember: bleach is a permanent way to lighten your brows and the hair won't go back to your natural color until your hair grows out. Also, be aware that using bleach very close to your eyes is super risky! The chemicals can severely damage your eyesight if any were to get in your eyes. Additionally, your skin could have an allergic reaction.

However, it is still possible to achieve if everything is done slowly, carefully, and with lots of care and attention. If you’re thinking about bleaching your eyebrows and dying them afterwards, follow these steps to get your brows on fleek.

Things you’ll need:

• Facial Bleach
• Vaseline
• Cotton swabs (optional)
• A spoolie
• A washcloth (one that you don’t mind getting stained)
• Hair dye or purple shampoo

1. Test the bleach

Before starting your light brow journey, make sure the bleach you are going to use will OK on your skin. It would be horrible to apply the bleach all over your eyebrows only to find that your skin has a crazy reaction to it! I've used Sally Hansen Crème Hair Bleach for Face without a problem on the hairs of my upper lip, but there are a few other brands that also work. A good way to make sure the bleach is suitable for your skin is to test it on a small patch on your face somewhere not very visible. Leave it on for about a minute. If all is well, continue with the rest of the steps.

2. Prep your eyebrows

After testing the bleach, clean your eyebrows and the area around them. Then, using the spoolie, brush the hairs upward to make sure you will coat them when you apply the bleach. This is also a good time to apply some Vaseline to the skin around your eyebrow to avoid the bleach from touching it.

Don't shape your eyebrows yet, as you'll want to do that once they are at your desired color. Think like they do in a salon: color, then style.

3. Apply the bleach

Once you’ve brushed them upward, use a spoolie or cotton swab (whichever you prefer) to apply the bleach onto one eyebrow. Use just enough bleach to cover the hairs in order to avoid any of the excess from falling into your eye or from touching your skin too much. Also, make sure you are covering all of the hair so that you don't end up with patchy eyebrows.

4. Wait for the bleach to work

Leave the bleach on for about a minute, then gently remove the bleach with a damp washcloth and see how it looks. If you still want them lighter, repeat step 3 until you're happy with the results. Then, do the same to the other eyebrow for however many minutes you've bleached the first eyebrow.

If this is your first time bleaching your eyebrows, be sure to only leave on the bleach in one-minute intervals to avoid over-lightening them. It is always easier to apply more bleach and get them lighter than to try to darken them again because you left it on too long.

Although you can apply the bleach to both eyebrows at the same time, doing it to only one eyebrow will let you compare the bleached eyebrow hair with your original hair color and help make sure you’re getting it to the lightness of your desire (this is more of a suggestion).

5. Clean off and prep for the dye or purple shampoo

After you've reached your desired lightness, you can clean off your brows and prep to dye them! If you have lighter hair, you may be satisfied with the color they are at after the bleach and can totally skip dying them. However, for those with darker hair, the color could be a little off. According to Stylelist.com, when dark hair is bleached, it can change the shade to a reddish or brassy hue instead of a lighter brown. If this is the case, applying a little dye or purple shampoo can quickly solve the problem.

Although hair dye is a viable option, I would suggest going for the purple shampoo as it will save you money if you intend to keep bleaching your eyebrows. Purple shampoo helps combat the brassy or reddishness that comes with blondish hair. It is also reusable, unlike hair dye that has to be disposed of once you've exposed it to the air. Nevertheless, both work for getting your brows to the perfect shade.

7. Apply the dye or purple shampoo

Just as you've done with the bleach, apply some of the dye or purple shampoo to your brows with the hairs combed upward (making sure not to touch your skin!). You can leave the dye on for a few minutes since hair dye isn't as harsh as the chemicals in bleach. Nevertheless, because you're only dying a small amount of hair, just a few minutes will suffice to getting your eyebrows to the perfect shade.

8. Style!

After bleaching and dying, your eyebrows may need a bit of fiddling with, as the lighter hair could change the way your original shape looked on your face. This is a good time to try out Benefit's Brow Genie app (which is just fun to play with anyways) or try a new shape that will bring your eyebrow game back on fleek!

Images: NormanCook/Instagram; Getty Images; Giphy (2); viviannetran, emmi2464, carlswillow /Instagram.