Understanding how to colour correct semi-permanent eyebrows is a very important skill you will need to know in your SPMU career. A common question asked by new clients will be “I had my eyebrows done years ago, they have faded and turned a different colour, can you fix them?” 

This article explains what colour corrector pigments are, and which pigments to use on faded semi-permanent eyebrows, so you can become the eyebrow colour correction expert that your new clients desperately need.

Why do semi-permanent eyebrows fade and turn a different colour? 

The pigment in eyebrows can change colour over time. This can all depend on the pigment’s quality and formulation. Naturally pigments are designed to fade somewhat over a period of time. This allows the technician to make small changes every so often over the years. However, other factors will also fade pigment.  

One of those biggest factors is UV rays. The continued effects of UV rays entering the body and slowly breaking the pigment down. This can cause loss of colour and colour change, leaving you with an unwanted residual colour within the skin. Those undesired dominant residual colours can be colours like red, grey and blue which result in clients having faded mismatched coloured eyebrows. 

Internal factors (such as macrophages) and lifestyle of the client (smoking etc.) can also play a role in the changing in pigments colour. 

These changes in pigment colours tend to commonly occur with inorganic pigments. Inorganic pigments can have high amounts of titanium which is a strong mineral that can last in the skin a long time and can in some cases turn yellow-ish or creamy in tone.

That’s why organic pigments can leave longer lasting client satisfaction. You can find out more about organic pigments on our all organic pigment range page.  

What are corrector pigments? 

Corrector pigments can correct old semi-permanent makeup brows that have turned blue, purple, grey or red/orange over time.

You can colour-correct old semi-permanent makeup eyebrows that have turned blue, purple or red by understanding complementary colours.

For example, in order to correct blue eyebrows, you first have to identify the complementary colour of blue.

The helpful graphic below is a guide to our corrective colours and shows you how: 

Orange can offset blue.

Olive (bright muted green) can offset red. 

Yellow can offset purple. 

Khaki (dark green) can offset pink. 

And lastly, a warm amber can offset grey. 

You can download the helpful corrective colour graphic featured in this blog post here.

The corrective colours can all offset the colour of the brow to neutralise it to a neutral brown, making it easier for you, the technician, to go over the brows without the unwanted colour hue underneath. 

Before colour correcting, remember to always ask yourself these three questions: 

1. What colour is the previous semi-permanent makeup eyebrow? Identify the colour of the brow, is it blue, grey, red, pink or purple?   

2. What is the complementary colour for the previous semi-permanent makeup eyebrow? After identifying the colour of the brow, use the simple graphic to help you decide on the best corrective colour.  

3. What colour are you aiming for as your end result? If the previous semi-permanent eyebrow colour is cool and ashy, your end result colour/pigment should contain a warm undertone. On the other hand, if the previous eyebrow colour is red and warm, your end result colour/pigment should contain a cool undertone.

We hope this article helped you understand how to colour correct eyebrows. You can find out more about our Corrective Colour pigments on our online shop. 

You can download the helpful corrective colour graphic featured in this blog post here.