What Are Ombré Brows?

There’s no denying the benefits of well-groomed brows. From framing the face to accentuating the eyes, our brows are a coveted attribute that we take pride in maintaining. For a while that meant tweezing, waxing, threading, and shading techniques. 

But there's a new brow style quietly gaining traction within the beauty community – and I’m about ombré brows. Semi-permanent and shape-perfecting, ombré brows are the latest method to achieve a soft yet flawless look. To learn more about this growing trend, we tapped celebrity brow artist and founder of KIMIKO, Dani Kimiko Vincent for her expertise.

What are ombré brows?

More than just a style, ombré brows are an approach to shaping that can offer semi-permanent results. “Utilizing a tattoo technique, ombré brows add pigment to the skin below the follicles to achieve an overall fill that is lightest at the beginning of the brow and deepest towards the tails,” Vincent says. 

She explains that the finished effect is meant to emulate the look of a shaded eyebrow created with makeup — similar to brows filled in with a powder or pencil. However, unlike makeup, these brows are meant to last. “Ombré styles can maintain for two to three years or longer,” she says. But the application of ink is more surface than a traditional tattoo so they will begin to fade over time. 

Ombré  Brows vs. Microblading

Although these two techniques both offer semi-permanent results, there are a few things that set them apart. According to Vincent, microblading creates hair-like strokes among the existing hair follicles, while the ombré style is an overall fill behind the entire brow. "Unlike microblading, which uses a fine blade to deliver slim strokes, ombré brows are created with a tattoo machine and offer a heavier look,” Vincent explains says.