People are paying more and more attention to their brows, with some of the best brow groomers booked months in advance. Look at Anastasia Soare. She started her career tweezing and tinting brows in Beverly Hills, then created a brand of products that, at its peak, in 2018, was valued at $3 billion. Azi Sacks, one of the most sought-after brow experts in New York, charges $300 for shaping and tinting, has a 200-person waiting list, and is booked until June. Given all that, it’s not surprising that many people search for workarounds, with some turning to D.I.Y. dye. We asked cosmetic chemist Javon Ford whether dyeing your brows at home is wise or shady.
Brow tinting is generally safe if you go to an actual eyebrow tech, where they use special chemicals that are approved by the F.D.A. But trouble arises when you tint your own brows at home.
I know a lot of people use Just for Men beard dye on their brows, and I don’t recommend it. People don’t realize that just because a cosmetic is approved for use on your hair or your beard doesn’t mean it’s approved for use around the eyes.
Just for Men for beards contains p-Phenylenediamine, or PPD. That ingredient is the reason why the F.D.A. is strict on cosmetics in the first place. In 1933 there was a product called Lash Lure that tinted lashes and brows with a permanent dye containing PPD. Back then, there were no regulations about the ingredients used in cosmetics. Lash Lure ended up causing blisters and ulcers on the face, eyelids, and eyes. A few people went blind, and one person developed a bacterial infection and died. Ever since then, the F.D.A. has been strict about what’s allowed around the eyes, and PPD most definitely isn’t.
Just because a cosmetic is approved for use on your hair or your beard doesn’t mean it’s approved for use around the eyes.
You can still find PPD in hair dye, especially black hair dye. Basically the issue is that if you don’t apply that dye correctly to your eyebrows and it drips in the eye, it can cause blindness.
There are some PPD-free hair dyes for that reason. Just for Men has an eyebrow tint that’s free of PPD, but the results last only a day or so.
That’s why you need to either go to a professional or stay away from dye and use a brow pencil, gel, or powder instead.
And if you’re thinking of getting your lashes tinted, that’s also a no.
Javon Ford is a Los Angeles–based cosmetic chemist. He posts highly informative lessons, reviews, and myth-busting content on TikTok and @instagram/javonford16