Brows and Lashes – Eye Candy

Testing Out the New Natural Looks for Brows and Lashes at Mayra’s Art Beauty

It turns out that the “effortless” look that’s been in vogue as of late does, in fact, require a bit of effort.

With the explosion of the “clean girl aesthetic,” many are throwing out their thick contour palettes and dark eyeliners and trading them in for liquid blush and clear lip gloss. While you may be rejoicing at the thought of saving the 10, 30, or even 50 minutes it takes you to apply makeup in the morning, wait – there’s actually a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved in creating that chic, effortless look. Treatments like facials, eyelash extensions, and eyebrow microblading are all part of this now-popular trend that embraces natural beauty and declares these rituals “self-care.” To see what all the hoopla was about, I stopped by Mayra’s Art Beauty to test out a few for myself.

This boutique beauty salon tucked inside Zen Hair on Aragon Avenue offers everything from facials to blowouts to lash lifts. The first service I tried was the eyebrow shaping and henna tint. Although I’ve been getting my eyebrows waxed for 10 years, I’ve never had them professionally shaped, only cleaned up. So, I’ve been living my whole life thinking I had straight eyebrows. That was until Mayra took hold of them. An eyebrow artist for 25 years, Mayra informed me that I could have an arch if I so wanted. Curious, I agreed. To my surprise, this subtle shift acted almost as a mini eye lift, giving the appearance of more eyelid space. (A small win for my hooded lids!)

Then came the henna. A non-committal cousin of microblading, which lasts about a year, henna gives the appearance of full, filled-in eyebrows and only lasts a month – perfect for those of us with commitment issues. As someone who can’t seem to avoid dark eyebrow pencil patches whenever I fill them in myself, I was instantly intrigued. At first, I was taken aback at the intensity of the henna, but it was only dark for a few days before it faded to a natural shade for the remainder of the month.

To top off my eye transformation, I also got an eyelash lift and tint. With no maintenance or upkeep required, this treatment is perfect for someone who wants the appearance of naturally long, dark, and curly eyelashes without spending the time or money on extensions or mascara. The process took 45 minutes and started with the application of a gummy-like mold on the eyelids. Once in place, my technician lifted each eyelash to the mold, making sure they were properly spread out before applying three liquid solutions: one to curl, one to nourish, and one to tint. Afterward, I was advised not to wet my lashes for 24 hours, which wasn’t hard considering there was no need for mascara anymore.

After staring at my new lashes and eyebrows for two months, I was delighted to find that both lasted even longer than I thought they would. My eyebrows stayed full and dark for about six weeks and my lashes are only just now starting to fall back into place eight weeks later. These were some of the most confident weeks of my life, even without a full face of makeup.  

Mayra’s Art Beauty

300 Aragon Ave.
305.332.8779
Mayrasartbeauty.com