I began seeing Lagena, my brow esthetician at Benefit Cosmetics, almost 2 years ago. After bouncing around from salon to salon in Chicago, I wandered into Benefit and the lady at the counter recommended that I see Lagena.  “She’s good”, she told me.  She wasn’t lying.  Lagena has taken my brows and transformed them from awkward brows with a cowlick to tamed, thick brows.   One day, as I was sitting in her chair, I asked her if I could interview her.  She had so much knowledge  and I had many questions for her.  She agreed and we met at a Starbucks for a one-on-one conversation.   With that, here is my interview with my Benefit brow esthetician,  Ms. Lagena:

How did you get started in this industry?

LaGena:   I grew up in the beauty industry.  My mother and aunt have a beauty school and growing up I thought I wanted to do hair because that’s what my mother did. Later I decided I wanted to get into fashion, so I went to school for fashion business.  I was a stylist and I had my own fashion show production company. Then, I became pregnant and got married and decided I wanted to do something more low-key and not as busy.  So that’s when I went to beauty school and got my cosmetology license to specialize in aesthetics.  While I was in college, I worked at a hair salon as a shampoo assistant and the salon owner decided to open up a spa area in the salon. At that time, you didn’t need a license to do facials, so I became certified to do facials there,and that piqued my interest in aesthetics .

How did you begin working at Benefit?

Lagena:Going back to my fashion life,  I went to Columbia College where I went for fashion business.  I got a job at Lori’s as a shoe salesperson.  I was working there for about 5 years and while there, I met the the regional manager for Benefit at the time and helped her out with shoes.  She was so impressed with my customer service that she told me, “Take my number.  Call me whenever you have a sale, I’ll be right down the the street where I am opening up a boutique.” So I inquired about the boutique and she told me that it was Benefit Cosmetics, where they have makeup and salon waxing services. I told her I’d just received my license and I was looking for a new job in the industry. She told me that they were having auditions that Saturday and to come on in.  And the rest is history.

So I wanted to ask you what are good tips for others if they are doing their eyebrows at home or what they should ask when  get their eyebrows professionally done?

LaGena:  If you are doing your eyebrows at home, you really want to follow the natural shape of your brow.   A lot of people tend to over-arch to where it’s a rounded shape or a fish-hook shape –and that is the common mistake that I see with a lot of people.  So you just want to just follow the natural shape of your brow.   So that is the tip if you are doing them at home or even if you are keeping them up during your in-between visit. Also, clean up underneath the line of your brow shape so that you won’t mess up the shape that an esthetician has created for you– or mess up your natural brow shape.  That’s pretty much what I do as an esthetician:  just tweak what you naturally have.  I don’t try to create a different shape than what you already have.  For your in-between salon visits, it’s good to fill the brows in.  That helps give the illusion of a fuller and cleaner brow when you’re not getting them done.  I fill in my brows everyday and it’s really quick and easy and helps define the shape.  As far as what to look for before you see an esthetician, you just want to make sure they come highly recommended, because there are a lot of people who botch eyebrows.  So you can go on Yelp or it’s better to be referred by someone.

What do you think are the biggest faux-paus we see with the brows?

Gena:  Like I said, just over-tweezing them or just rounding the brow shape.  Not keeping them square or following the natural shape, that’s the biggest faux-paus  I’ve seen.

What about the color?

What we do at Benefit, which is a great service, which was actually created for people with lighter hair, and I would definitely recommend is a tint. That helps define the shape and really emphasize your eyes.  But people with darker hair can still benefit from a tint.  I tint my brows because I like them to look defined and full. Some people that have sparse areas in their brows, even if they have darker hair, can do tinting to help them look fuller.  I always recommend a tint or at least filling them in with a brow filler.

Of the methods waxing, tweezing or threading, which method do you think is the best?

LaGena: I prefer waxing over tweezing–for sure–and over threading, personally. There are many people who prefer threading. I like to do waxing over both of those methods. An alternative for people who just can’t wax because their skin is too sensitive or they are using any Retin-A or Benzol products, I recommend threading.  I prefer threading over tweezing because it just gives you a cleaner line like waxing and the results last much longer than tweezing.

If someone gets a bad brow job or if someone has “bad” brows, how would you recommend they remedy them?

LaGena: If you get a bad brow wax or if you have over-plucked them , then you definitely want to grow them out and not touch them.  So when you come to see me or another esthetician, then they have a new, clean canvas to work from in creating a new shape for you. There may be some areas where the hair may never grow back because they have been over-tweezed or over-waxed, but you want to give them the chance to grow.A good product that has helped stimulate growth and I’ve had a lot of clients use is Rogaine for Men.  It helps with growing areas in your brows. And if they just don’t grow, then you just want to fill them in– and tinting is a great option with helping them look fuller.  Otherwise, just let them grow and don’t touch them for 6 weeks.

Is there anything else that you would like to add or mention?

LaGena:  We are known for our brows and our body waxing, but we also added a brand news service which is our airbrush spray tanning.  It’s really taking off for us and we’ve been getting rave reviews for it, so I definitely recommend people come in to Benefit and check that out.

Here are a few Benefit brow products Lagena suggested: