Why You Should Think Twice Before Waxing Your Eyebrows While Using Retinol
If you use retinol on a regular basis, you might want to rethink waxing your eyebrows. According to experts at Well+Good, your skincare regimen can significantly alter your brow waxing experience, and retinol is no exception. Although retinol is a great product to use if you're looking to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, it can make your skin extra sensitive and change the way it responds to hot wax. In fact, waxing your eyebrows while using retinol can end up removing more than just your brow hair. It can also take off some of your skin.
That's because retinol can reduce the thickness of the outermost layer of your skin. Without this protective layer, your skin is more vulnerable and susceptible to damage. "You may get a burn or the wax may tear some of the skin off, which can lead to scarring," board-certified dermatologist Dr. Tiffany L. Clay told Well+Good. For this reason, Clay recommends that you stop using retinol for at least seven days before your brow waxing appointment.
Safer alternatives to brow waxing
If you don't want to go a week without using retinol, however, you can always opt for a different type of brow shaping technique. Fortunately, there are plenty of techniques to choose from. According to Bustle, eyebrow treatments that are safer to perform while using retinol include tweezing and threading. Although tweezing might not be faster than waxing, it will leave all of your skin intact. That's because it removes brow hair directly at the root, focusing on one hair follicle at a time.
Threading, on the other hand, is a great way to carefully remove unwanted brow hairs without taking off any of your skin. This involves using a thread to pluck brow hairs and remove them from the root.
For a more permanent solution, you might want to consider laser hair removal. While you can't undergo laser hair removal while using retinol, you won't need to worry about removing your brow hair for some time after the procedure, leaving you free to use retinol whenever you need it.