Men don’t typically shave their eyebrows but given that some of us have eyebrows that are thicker and bushier than others, we may try to trim them. And with trimming hair comes mistakes. Like accidentally shaving an eyebrow off or nicking the hair and taking a bit out that we didn’t mean to.
Some skincare procedures like dermaplaning involve shaving hair around the eyebrows. And occasionally even professionals make mistakes that lead to hair being accidentally trimmed.
How Long Does It Take For Eyebrows To Grow Back After Shaving?
Eyebrows typically takes up to 16 weeks (4 months) on average to fully grow back after shaving them. That doesn’t mean it will take that long for your eyebrows to grow back in if you accidentally shave part of them off.
Research has shown that full eyebrow growth may take up to 6 months to fully regrow in some cases.
Eyebrows grow in a cycle just like scalp hair except that eyebrows take about 4 months total to grow. That’s the full life cycle from beginning of growth to end.
Similar to scalp hair or facial hair growth, once the hair starts to grow back in the area you nicked, the new growth will help to cover up the bald or nicked part.
So if you accidentally trim or shave off a bit of your eyebrow, depending on how much you removed, you’re probably several weeks or longer away from being able to hide it.
As new eyebrows grow back in, the new regrowth will help to cover up the shaved part.
What If My Eyebrows Don’t Grow Back?
An old myth that I remember hearing about growing up was that if you shaved your eyebrows they would never grow back again. Of course, that’s not true. Shaving doesn’t impact your hair regrowth in any way. Genetics – and in the case of facial hair, hormones – determines our hair growth.
Your eyebrows will grow back again after shaving or nicking them, whether you meant to shave them or not. They will grow back in the exact same way and thickness they were prior to shaving them.
If you have bushy eyebrows like I do and want to trim them, do that instead: Trim them carefully with scissors to shorten the stray eyebrow hairs that grow too long. This is safer and preferable to shaving, tweezing or waxing.
Can I Lose My Eyebrows?
Yes, it’s possible. There are several reasons why you could permanently lose your eyebrow hair or at least experience thinning that doesn’t repair itself:
- Constant eyebrow tweezing: If you continually tweeze your eyebrows it can lead to thinning. Tweezing involves pulling hair out by the root with tweezers.
- Waxing repeatedly: Continually waxing your eyebrows also removes hairs by the root and can eventually lead to thinning.
- Chemotherapy: Can also lead to hair loss including eyebrows. Often this reverses when the treatment has stopped.
- Illnesses: Alopecia, nutritional deficiencies and hormonal imbalances can lead to hair loss including the eyebrows.
Can I Speed Up Eyebrow Growth?
There is no grow eyebrows quickly overnight advice that works unfortunately. While eyebrow growth takes time and grows on the cycle described above, there are things you can do – and avoid doing – to assist in the growth and to avoid long term damage to your eyebrow hair.
DO: Eat well and ensure you aren’t deficient in iron or vitamins A, B, C and D which have been linked to hair growth.
DO: Consume green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and meat (if you’re a meat eater) to assist in the healthy eating aspect.
DO: Investigate adding biotin to your diet as research has preliminarily shown to possibly assist in hair growth.
AVOID: Plucking, tweezing and waxing eyebrows.
AVOID: Activities that can singe, burn, cut or otherwise harm your eyebrows as this can lead to scarring and permanent hair loss by damaging hair follicles.
Conclusion
- How long does it take for eyebrows to grow back after shaving? Eyebrows might take 4-6 months to completely grow back when shaved off.
- If you accidentally nick or trim eyebrow hair it usually takes several weeks for eyebrow hair to start growing back to the point that new regrowth covers up the part shaved.
- Eyebrows will grow back after shaving. It’s a myth that eyebrows won’t grow back.
- Having said that, there are reasons (listed above) that eyebrow growth may be retarded or damaged permanently.
- Eyebrows grow in cycles just like scalp hair and while you can’t necessarily speed growth up, there are things to do and avoid as mentioned above to assist in the process.
Have you experienced eyebrow hair loss or did you accidentally nick your eyebrows while shaving? Let us know in the comments below!