Life in Singapore

In search of The perfect eyebrow

Too dark eyebrows "pop"
What was she thinking?

Attaining the perfect eyebrow has been a great source of frustration for me in Singapore. In New York, I had Elke Von Freudenberg, aka eyebrow lady to the stars, doing my eyebrows, and I really got spoiled. My eyebrows always looked great, they were even, and were the perfect shade of brown (instead of my natural blond). Something about having your eyebrows done wakes up a tired face, and gives you a lift that rivals botox in my opinion. Unfortunately, I have had a couple of bad experiences here that have colored, pun intended, my quest for the perfect brow.

My first instinct was to visit Browhaus, a chain of eyebrow specialist stores in major shopping malls here. The first time was a disaster. My left eyebrow had its tail snipped while the right one was left at its natural length. I had to go back and have them adjust them to try to mask what little I could to make them look better. I decided to go au natural for a couple of months, hoping that my tail would return. Only three or four hairs grew back. How does that happen in one threading? I have hairs that grow back where I don’t want them repeatedly! Why in the important tail section must they be gone for good?

The second visit I decided to have them color my brows so they could more clearly see the hairs and avoid over plucking. What did not occur to me until I held the mirror was that they might color my brows jet black. Seriously, they colored my naturally blond eyebrows jet black. When they were finished, I was too stunned to make them do it again. I just wanted to escape, and I was hoping that some of it would wash off. It did not. I didn’t even think to mention that brown was the color of choice, because it seemed so obvious to me. I guess when your clients normally have darker complexions and naturally jet black eyebrows, you think jet black is for everyone. It is not. Then to add insult to injury, they tried to convince me to buy this package of eyebrow waxing and coloring. Their offer was for a little more than $400, I could have 12 visits. This visit alone cost $40. Does anyone really need to pay for their eyebrow waxing up front for a year? I thought by paying more at a nice salon, I would get a better result. Wrong, I think the nail salon ladies in Oakland did a better job.

Desperate for a fix, I pulled out some old color I had purchased for this very reason, coloring my eyebrows. It was ash brown. Unfortunately, on jet black it looks more like deep dark brown, which I suppose is better than jet black but is still jarring on my face.

The ladies who lunch today were kind and said they thought it made my eyes pop. I think what they really meant was it made their own eyes pop. I guess on the bright side, eyebrow color rarely lasts more than three weeks. If anyone knows of a good eyebrow person in Singapore, please let me know!

6 Comments

  1. Hi sooo funny!! Just been to Singapore for a medical visit..I am an expat wife living in Borneo and I have my brows waxed at Changi terminal 2 (I think). It cost around $17 and I am very happy with the shape!

  2. Oh no! So sorry to hear of your brow experience ‘away from home’. 🙁 If you get a too dark brow tint again, lather up the brows with palmolive, or any dish washing detergent w/ no water to lighten, will take 5/6 times but it’ll soften it. To get brows growing again, did you get my brow scrub? If not, use an old toothbrush and ‘brush’ the area, much like brushing your hair to get hair follicles growing faster… if you ever get back to NY, just to stop by and we’ll fix them right up. 🙂 elke

  3. Oh dear! Have just moved to Singapore from Australia and was about to go out to have my brows shaped but thought I should research it first! Lucky I found your blog! Have you managed to find anywhere that provides good brow shaping yet?

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