Trial and Error: Korean beauty trend: Peel-off eyebrow gels

This was one of NZH Lifestyle's top stories for 2017

Korean beauty trends are continuing to pop up on our social media feeds and following on from our charcoal peel off face mask trial, we thought we would test out the peel off eyebrow tint trend too.

So, what is it and how does it work?

Essentially this is a DIY semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo. Thanks to the lovely girls at online Korean beauty store Hikoco, the NZH Lifestyle team were given two shades of the Etude House Tint My Brows Gel to put to our Trial and Error panel. The tint is selling for the inexpensive price of $17 for a 5g tube, which will give you a good 30 or so applications. The gel should leave a natural-looking tint that lasts from 3 days up to a week.

Putting it to the test

Our reviewers Patricia and Liana first chose colours appropriate for their skintone and hair colour match. Patricia with darker hair opted for #3 Grey-Brown and Liana, blonde but with a slightly darker brow, went with the simple #1 Brown. The pair carefully applied the gel to their brows, leaving to develop for just over two hours and then peeling off to reveal the tint.

To start, both ladies found the applicator a little difficult to use combined with the thick consistency of the product so opted to use angled brushes to apply to their brows.

The gel can be left on overnight for stronger colouration, but given that both Patricia and Liana were mid-way through their work day when filming Trial and Error, they only left it on for as long as they could because the dark brow they were rocking in the office was a little too strong to go unnoticed. The processing colour was so dark that Liana mentioned that she looked like one of the Angry Beavers amongst being likened to other cartoon characters such as the baby from The Simpsons or characters from Angry Birds.

via GIPHY

Two hours on, the product was ready to be peeled off and reveal the results.

The final verdict

It worked! The fear from staining their faces or totally ruining their brows had disappeared and both girls were left with "on fleek" brows, without any need to fill them in with pencil or other brow products.

Both Patricia and Liana said they would definitely use the product again, and would be able to save money by not needing to go get an eyebrow tint and were amazed with the convenience of being able to apply it themselves at home. The only downside was the wait time for processing but a further test done a few days later, at home by Liana, saw her brow tint touched up and refreshed in a short 20 minutes.

Our tips

If you want to try this beauty trend at home, we recommend a patch test on your wrist or somewhere else unnoticeable, just to check if it is the right colour and so you can get the hang of the product before applying directly on to your face.

We also recommend cleansing your face and removing any product you may already have in your brows before applying the gel.

See more Korean beauty products from Hikoco by following them on Facebook and Instagram.