Viral Video Shows Hilarious Results of Woman's Botched DIY Eyebrow Tint

By Anabelle Doliner On 9/23/21 at 3:04 PM EDT

Culture Beauty TikTok Makeup Viral video

A video, showing an at-home eyebrow tint gone wrong, has gone viral on TikTok, racking up over 96,000 views in less than a week. Upon watching the clip, found here, social media users flocked to the comments section, leaving tips and tricks to avoid encountering the problem in the first place—many of which are also backed by professionals.

Eyebrow tinting uses a semi-permanent dye to cosmetically darken and define one's brows. While often applied in a salon setting, many have taken to performing the beauty treatment in the comfort of their own homes. However, as TikToker @libbyanderson__ reminded viewers, these types of procedures can easily go awry if not executed correctly.

In the video, Anderson appears to use her phone's front camera as a mirror while she records. Notably, her eyebrows appear comically large and dark, as if they had been drawn onto her face.

She uses a wipe in an attempt to scrub the dye from her skin, but the pigment refuses to budge. Horrified, she uses her hand to cover her gaping mouth.

As the clip goes on, the TikToker continues her efforts to get rid of the dye, occasionally breaking into a laugh. Meanwhile, the video's audio, sampled from a 1964 hit by The Shangri-Las, repeats an ominous phrase: "Oh no."

"When you accidentally leave the eyebrow dye on too long," wrote Anderson in the video's caption. "Oh no indeed."

The clip appears to have resonated with viewers, as several flocked to the comments section to share their own experiences with eyebrow tinting—and to offer some solutions to the TikToker's mishap.

"I [did] this and managed to get it off just by using micellar water on a cotton pad," wrote one viewer, while another claimed that "oil" would help remove the dye. Others recommended waxing the dyed area around the eyebrow—according to commenters, the waxing process would lift the dye from the skin.

In a statement to Newsweek, Anderson revealed that she eventually managed to remove the excess dye using a "chemical exfoliator."

She added: "[I'll] leave my eyebrows to the professionals next time!"

In order to prevent Anderson from encountering the same issue in the future, several viewers suggested she "carve [her] brows out with Vaseline" before tinting to prevent a stain from forming—a recommendation that is backed by experts.

As makeup artist Ramy Gafni told Byrdie, said putting a thin layer of Vaseline around one's eyebrows before tinting is an essential step in avoiding complications. "That way, any dye on the skin will wipe away easily," she explained.

"If you stain your skin, simply exfoliate the area," added Gafni. "Most dye will wash off easily because our skin is not porous in the same way as our hair."

"If you mess up and don't like the color you selected, if it's too dark, shampoo your brows two to three times to speed up the color fade," she said. If the results are too light, take the opposite course of action and "[tint] the brows a darker shade."