Brow trends come and go — and if your brows survived the ‘90s, you know that it can be hard to maintain their health when trying to stay in style. But strong, nourished brows are far more important than flaunting the latest shape. You might think that their only function is to help you express emotions (and you may know how challenging that can be if you’ve gotten a little overzealous when plucking), but actually, your arches are there to protect your eyes.

If your eyelashes are your eyes’ first line of defense, consider your brows as backup. When you get through a sweaty workout or are caught in the pouring rain, your brows function similarly to eaves on a roof: They capture as much fluid and other detritus as possible while helping to guide grime out and away from your eyes. But what happens when your brows are dry, brittle, sparse, and excessively thin? Your eyes are left incredibly vulnerable and susceptible to external aggressors, including bacteria.

Trends like over-tweezed brows or brow lamination as well as treatments like tinting, waxing, and threading can not only damage the hairs themselves, but the follicles, too. When the hair follicle is damaged, growth is inhibited — and if the follicle is truly harmed, it can no longer produce hair. On top of that, our brows naturally begin to thin and hair becomes coarser and drier as we age. All of these factors make it imperative to properly take care of your eyebrows.

You can instantly promote healthier brows by no longer booking tinting or laminating appointments as well as opting for light brow shaping rather than aiming for more severe shapes. But you’ll also need to make a few tweaks to your beauty routine. Consider adding a nourishing growth serum to your regimen. Twenty/twenty beauty’s Get Growing Lash & Brow Serum is a clean formula that uses castor oil to help condition brows while also promoting new and healthier growth. 

Then, choose brow makeup that will actually help, not harm your brows. Skip brow powders, pencils, and pomades — these heavier products can congest the hair follicle, which could limit growth. Brow gels are a better pick, but not all are created equally. The new Full Brows Tinted Gel from twenty/twenty beauty is formulated without harsh ingredients like polyacrylamide, paraffin waxes, beeswax and PVPs. Instead, it includes growth-promoting castor oil, conditioning panthenol, and antioxidant-rich red algae extract to help restore brows while adding definition, color, and hold.