Threaded for years and your brows won't grow back?

It's one of the most common reasons women come to see me at my studio in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.

Why it happens

Every time a hair is pulled out from the root, the follicle has to grow it again. Do that every two or three weeks for twenty years and some follicles stop producing hair. The tails usually go first, because that's where the hairs are finest to begin with.

It isn't something you did wrong. For a lot of women, threading started young, with a mum, an aunty or the salon round the corner, and it was simply part of growing up.

When to see your GP first

What semi-permanent brows can do

Ombré brows put soft, powdered colour into the skin where the hair is missing, so the shape is there every morning whether the hair grows back or not. Combination brows add fine hair strokes at the front if you'd like them to look more like natural hair.

I use warm-based browns chosen for your undertone, because cool browns can heal grey or ashy on brown skin. I work with South Asian skin, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan, as well as Black and mixed skin.

You don't have to give up threading

This isn't instead of threading. Plenty of women keep going: threading keeps the shape tidy, and your brows fill in what threading can't. Once we've designed your shape together, show it to whoever threads you so they know what to keep.

How it works

• Send me a photo of your bare brows and a couple of looks you like, and I can make a digital mock-up so you see the shape on your own face first.
• You'll have a patch test first, posted to you or dropped through your letterbox if you're nearby.
• You approve the shape before any colour goes in.
• A top-up at four to eight weeks if you need one.
• They soften over one to two years, and then you decide again.
• Photos of you are only ever shared with your written consent.