My eyebrows have turned into faint ‘ghost’ lines. Can menopause be to blame — and what can I do?

Dear Face Time, I’m a Gen X-er and, in the late ’90s, like many girls of our generation, I plucked my eyebrows into what I thought were stylishly thin arches and they never grew back. I’m now in my early 50s and seem to have suddenly lost most of what was left. Is there anything I can do about this? Or am I doomed to bald brows for life? I’ve heard about hair transplants, but I really don’t want to do anything that extreme. — My So-Called Brows

Dear My So-Called Brows,

Eyebrow thinning occurs for various reasons, including past overplucking, as you mention (thanks, Gwen Stefani), autoimmune and genetic conditions, nutritional deficiencies and even as a side effect of certain drugs. However, among the more common causes for sparse brows are hormonal changes during menopause — specifically, a decrease in estrogen. In fact, by age 50, at least 40% of women experience visible hair loss, like losing some of the hair above our eyes. Scant “ghost” brows are yet another unpleasant part of aging that no one tells you about until you’re there. But, lucky for us follicularly challenged folks, there are a number of solutions (and most of them don’t involve going under the knife).

According to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Ava Shamban, there are two types of over-the-counter products that, depending on the severity of your brow loss, may get the job done.

“Natural” brow growth serums, which are made with high-quality skin care ingredients and nutrients like vitamin E, won’t generate new hair per se, but instead, “create a better environment for healthy hair to grow on its own,” Shamban says.

“The ingredients in these [natural] growth serums eliminate dehydration, damage and breakage,” she explains.”They’re designed to make your brows look and feel better because they are hydrated and coated to seal in moisture — with a plumping effect so they appear thicker and more lush.”

The most effective natural growth serums contain amino acids combined with emollients that benefit the skin, strengthen existing strands and keep the follicles clean and clear, all of which “will promote the growth cycle of the existing hair so brows and lashes will appear more vibrant and dense,” says Shamban.

A second category — “chemical” brow serums (like the popular GrandeBrow) — are more powerful, and tend to reliably turbocharge hair growth. They’re made with a class of hypotensive drugs known as prostaglandin analogue, which are commonly used to treat glaucoma and, as a pleasant side effect, sprout new lashes in glaucoma patients.

“They help brows (or lashes) grow by keeping the growth phase longer so we see more, longer and better quality hair on our brows and lash line for longer periods of time,” clarifies Shamban. Chemical growth serums yield darker, thicker, longer strands in many users — more like the hair you have when you’re young.

Keep in mind that while these products reap quality hair-growth results, they can also introduce unpleasant side effects for some, particularly when used on lashes, where they can harm eyelid tissue.

Of these chemical brow serums, I’ve safely had the most success with neuBrow, which, in just a few weeks last year, transformed my thin, graying arches into the dark and robust brows of a Viking.

Other experts I’ve spoken to recommend a more traditional solution for regrowing thinning eyebrows — the classic Rogaine for Men, applied carefully once a day.

Any of these solutions has the potential to grow back the eyebrows you’ve lost, but it’s important to note that this is not a once-and-done process: If you stop using a hair growth serum, your hair will not only stop growing, but will likely fall out again.

For a more permanent fix, you can try salon microblading, which is essentially an eyebrow tattoo (average cost: $450 to $1,200) or, yes, the dreaded brow hair transplant, a surgical procedure that, depending on the number of grafts needed, ranges in cost from $3,000 to $12,000.

What’s the best makeup for wrinkles? Does retinol work? Ask Jennifer Romolini anything, as the kids say, and she’ll answer with straightforward, expert-backed advice. Submit questions in the comments below, on social @yahoolife or email askfacetime@yahoo.com.