What is the best serum to grow your eyebrows?

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While brow trends come and go, from skinny and precise shapes of the early aughts to bushy and bold à la Brooke Shields, shaping the brows requires having brows to shape in the first place. That’s where the best brow growth serums can help. Brows can thin for a lot of different reasons, from years of tweezing to chronic stress, which explains why thinning or sparse brows are so common.

Sometimes, that hair loss is temporary. “For example, hormonal imbalances or changes can cause brows to thin, which is often seen during pregnancy and menopause specifically,” says Dendy Engelman, MD, a dermatologist at Shafer Clinic in New York City. “Nutritional deficiencies, stress, and skin conditions can also contribute to thinning brows.”

However, thinning brows can also result from aging (through a similar mechanism to how hair on the head thins over the years, too). While brow serums won’t necessarily turn back time, they can encourage new growth — and help you retain the hair you do have. There are exceptions to this, however. “When the hair loss is permanent from either extensive tweezing, trauma, or medical condition, then serums will not bring it back,” says Deanne Robinson, MD, a dermatologist in Westport, CT.

Because so many factors can influence thinning brows, it can still be worth incorporating a brow growth serum into your routine — either to maintain your current arches or encourage healthy follicle growth. 

With that in mind, consider the best brow growth serums hand-picked by the pros.

Who It's Good For

• Since it’s designed by an ophthalmologist and hypoallergenic, it’s great for anyone who has eye sensitivities.

Who It's Not Good For

• It’s pricey, so not ideal for someone on a budget.

While Revitalash is best known for its lash-growth serums—created by its founder, an ophthalmologist whose wife was then undergoing treatment for breast cancer—the brand has applied its innovative technology to the brows, too. The formula uses a proprietary BioPeptin Complex®, which includes peptides, lipids, green tea extract, and biotin to condition and protect fragile brow hairs. (For the uninitiated: “Peptides are a chain of amino acids that become proteins that help thicken the brow hairs,” says Dr. Robinson.)

“It targets eyebrow aging to make eyebrows appear healthier, bolder, and more defined,” says Engelman. “It’s also great because it protects against breakage due to chemical and environmental stressors, making your brows stronger than ever.” It's also safe for tinted brows, and won't impact those with permanent or semi-permanent makeup (like microblading, for instance). Plus, the doe-foot applicator makes it a cinch to swipe on the brows. One user said she was skeptical of this product initially, but her eyebrows are thicker now than they have ever been thanks to RevitaBrow. 

Price at time of publish: $110

Size: 3 mL | Active ingredient: BioPeptin Complex | Application: Once a day

Who It's Good For

• Anyone wanting a relatively affordable product that's also ophthalmologist-tested.

Who It's Not Good For

• Those who have shaky hands, since the super-fine brush can make application tricky.

Brow serums tend to be pricey—think triple digits for most—so at $73, this brow serum is a relative bargain. And it’s jam-packed with all sorts of nourishing ingredients for healthy brow growth. “I recommend GrandeBROW Brow Enhancing Serum as an OTC option because it’s infused with vitamins and antioxidants that work to promote healthier-looking brows over time,” says Engelman. You’ll also find the usual skincare-minded suspects in here, too, like hyaluronic acid and vitamin E, for extra hydration.

Thanks to these active ingredients, “the formula conditions your brow hairs to create a fuller-looking brow, making the serum perfect for sparse, thinning or even over-plucked brows,” she says. Of course, consistency is key, and the tube holds just enough serum for four months’ worth of application (which is based on the length of brow hair’s growth cycle), although you might begin to see improvements around the six-week mark.

Price at time of publish: $70

Size: 3 mL | Active ingredient: L-Proline, hyaluronic acid | Application: Once a day

Who It's Good For

• Those who want a more fast-acting solution, as it’s clinically proven to work quickly.

Who It's Not Good For

• Anyone who can’t be consistent with the application, since it needs to be applied twice a day.

Rather than conditioning the brows, this serum aims to stimulate the hair-growth process and stretch out the growth phase of the growth cycle. When this happens, New York City trichologist and hairstylist Shab Reslan says, “This makes the hair strands grow for longer than they typically would before ceasing to grow and eventually fall out.”

This formula harnesses a combo of red clover and mung bean, which help regulate the growth factors that contribute to hair loss, as well as amino acids, which help encourage healthy follicle growth. The payoff: The brows will start to look thicker and fuller by around four weeks of consistent use.

Price at time of publish: $80

Size: 3 mL | Active ingredient: Peptides, red clover, mung bean | Application: Up to twice a day

Who It's Good For

• Anyone who needs both brow and lash growth serum, as it's a 2-in-1 product. It's also great for animal lovers with a vegan and cruelty-free formula.

Who It's Not Good For

• While it's a good value, the price is still steep, so it's not ideal for anyone only needing brow growth serum.

If you’re targeting both lashes and brows, consider this dual-ended formula. (Hey, why not both?) On one end, it features a thin, super-fine tip to allow for application along the lash line; the other has a thicker brush to swipe the formula onto brows. To add volume to the brows, “this contains peptides and botanical extracts,” says Hadley King, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. That includes the brand’s patent-pending Quadruple Peptide Complex formulation.

Plus, it’s got the stats to back it up. “In an 8-week study conducted by a third-party, 90.9 percent of the participants reported significant growth.” Plus, she notes, it’s both vegan and certified by Leaping Bunny (which is the gold standard for cruelty-free certification). 

Price at time of publish: $110

Size: 8 mL | Active ingredient: Quadruple Peptide Complex | Application: Up to twice a day

Who It's Good For

• It’s ideal for those with sensitivities, since it’s free of parabens and fragrance (it's also cruelty-free and vegan).

Who It's Not Good For

• If you’re looking to spend less, this might not be the one for you.

Who better than celebrity brow artist Joey Healy, who’s based in New York City, to formulate a brow growth serum? Better yet, it actually works: “It contains peptides and hydrolyzed wheat protein, as well as botanical extracts and vitamins A, C, and E,” Dr. King says, noting that it’s also paraben free. Those peptides are key since they’re responsible for strengtheninpg hair follicles.

The formula also contains anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as white tea, to soothe skin. On top of that, the vitamins “all support the hair at the surface as well as the skin beneath it,” says Dr. Robinson. That said, it’s the most expensive brow serum on this list, and the tube will last about two to three months. 

Price at time of publish: $125

Size: 0.25 oz. | Active ingredient: Peptides, hydrolyzed wheat | Application: Twice daily for the first six weeks, then daily

Who It's Good For

• Anyone who wants a clinically proven option, look no further than this option that's available at a great price.

Who It's Not Good For

• It can get messy, so it may not be ideal for those wanting a quick and easy application.

While it’s an off-label use of the hair-growth formula, research has found that good old Rogaine can help bolster the brows. In a study published in The Journal of Dermatology, “40 participants applied a 2 percent concentration to their brows over a period of 16 weeks,” says Dr. King. “At the end of the study, participants who used Rogaine saw better results overall.” Not only that, but the researchers concluded that Rogaine can be both safe and effective treatment for brow growth.

That said, it’s still Rogaine, which means the application is different (and a little more involved) than your usual brow serum. You have to apply the foam to the brows and massage it in before letting it dry; while there’s also a liquid version of Women’s Rogaine that’s applied via a dropper, it may be more likely to run into your eyes. 

Price at time of publish: $41.78

Size: Two 2.11 oz. cans | Active ingredient: Minoxidil | Application: Once a day

Who It's Good For

• Someone who wants proven results and is willing to consult with a practitioner.

Who It's Not Good For

• It’s not ideal for those on a budget or someone who doesn't want to have to go through a practitioner to order the product.

As with Rogaine, Latisse is FDA-approved only for eyelash growth, so swiping it onto the brows is technically an off-label use. It works a little differently than other brow serums, too. “Latisse is a prescription-strength formula that contains prostaglandin analogs, or bimatoprost, which work by manipulating the growth cycle to extend it, allowing more time for the hairs to grow in before resting and shedding,” says Dr. Robinson, who advises talking to your dermatologist about it before using.

That said, it’s not usually covered by insurance unless you’ve lost your brows for medical reasons, like chemotherapy. (But even then, it can depend on your plan.) The upside is that you can use it on your lashes, too — and you can trust that it delivers results, since it’s been approved by the FDA to do just that.

Price at time of publish: $110

Size: 3 mL | Active ingredient: Bimatoprost | Application: Once a day

Who It's Good For

• Someone who wants to enhance both brows and lashes — and loves clean ingredients.

Who It's Not Good For

• Those who want results ASAP, as it can take time to see an improvement.

While some botanical oils have been linked to hair growth (see: castor oil, which we’ll get to in a moment), they could be doing more harm than good, says Dr. Robinson. “Proceed with caution when it comes to oils,” she warns. “While they’re oftentimes ‘natural,’ they can also be comedogenic — leading to acne in the area or even clogged pores, which could actually inhibit hair growth.”

Rather than relying on the slick stuff, then, this serum deploys hemp-derived cannabis seed extract (which both hydrates and soothes skin) as well as a proprietary peptide blend, which can help promote thicker hairs. It's also infused with aloe and quinoa to nourish the hair follicles, making for a formula that's 94 percent natural. 

Price at time of publish: $50

Size: 3.5 mL | Active ingredient: Hemp-derived cannabis sativa extract, peptides | Application: Twice a day

Who It's Good For

• The person looking for an affordable option — and who’s game to try out a more natural formula.

Who It's Not Good For

• Someone who prefers a formula backed by clinical studies.

If you’ve heard that castor oil can help with hair growth (on the scalp, lashes, and brows alike) you’re not alone — it’s a popular home remedy for promoting hair growth. The good news? “Castor oil is not damaging to the hair, and can provide some conditioning that improves the flexibility of the hair fiber,” says Dr. King. That said, there are no studies that show castor oil directly leads to hair growth. 

“The thinking is that the ricinoleic acid in castor oil activates a prostanoid receptor and has been shown to increase synthesis of prostaglandin E2 in some tissues in-vitro, and we know that prostaglandin analogs can be helpful for hair growth — Latisse! — so this could be a possible mechanism of action,” she explains. (In other words, it could potentially act like DIY Latisse — but again, there’s no scientific evidence of this.) If you want to give it a shot, this pure castor oil formula is budget-friendly and might, at the very least, make your brows shiny and soft.

Price at time of publish: $15.95

Size: 30 mL | Active ingredient: Castor oil | Application: Once a day

Things to Consider Before Buying Brow Growth Serum

Choose your ingredients wisely

While some hair growth formulas are powered by FDA-regulated ingredients, like minoxidil (found in Rogaine) and bimatoprost (in Latisse), other active ingredients can help build up brows. “For conditioning serums, I recommend looking for formulations with peptides, amino acids, hyaluronic acid, and vitamins — namely vitamins A, B, C, and E,” says Dr. Robinson. “Together, these ingredients can enhance thickness, shine, and resiliency of your brows.”

Application frequency

Choose a brow growth serum that best matches with your lifestyle. Some serums require you to apply twice a day, which may not be ideal for those that have busy schedules or anyone not good with sticking to routines. Many on the list including our top pick (the Revitalash Cosmetics RevitaBrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner Serum) only require one application per day.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do eyebrow growth serums really work?

  While they can work, it’s important to have realistic expectations. “Eyebrow serums typically don’t work to help your brows grow any faster, but they do contain strengthening ingredients, which help improve your brow health overall,” says Dr. Engelman. “There are also moisturizing ingredients that help, but these formulations mostly work to prevent existing hair from falling out.”

• How do I fix my thinning eyebrows?

  A brow growth serum can help you hang onto your hairs — as can other steps. “Much like the scalp, any kind of follicle-congesting products and ingredients that are not sufficiently cleansed off the eyebrows can cause thinning,” says Reslan. (Think of it like applying dry shampoo to your scalp and never washing; it can inadvertently plug the hair follicles and prevent healthy growth.)

  Plus, “daily exfoliation is required for anyone using eyebrow gel or thickeners,” she says. That’s because a clogged follicle can lead to inflammation, which may in turn contribute to thin or weak hairs.

• What oil thickens eyebrows?

  While there are a ton of anecdotal reports about the ability of various botanical oils, such as coconut oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, and olive oils, to encourage lash and brow growth, they’re not a scientifically backed solution, says Dr. King.

  However, “I do think that the emollient properties of these oils may be helpful if the eyelashes or brows are becoming brittle and broken due to use of mascara and adhesives and false eyelashes and curling devices,” she says. All told, there’s no harm in trying them if you want to give them a shot.

Take Our Word for It

Deanna Pai has been covering beauty and health for over 10 years, writing deeply reported stories on everything from the rise of fermented ingredients in skincare to the merits of intermittent fasting. She spoke with three dermatologists and a trichologist to get the facts on brow growth serums (and their efficacy). They’ve shared recommendations for their favorite products as well as how to shop for the best brow growth serums.

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