An anti-eyebrow sits on the upper cheekbone, below or beside the eye, mirroring the position of an eyebrow piercing above it. Two openings sit on the same flat plane with a shaped bar bridging them just beneath the skin.
The important word is surface. This is not a piercing through a fold, a flap or a lobe. It is a channel through flat skin, and that changes everything about how it behaves.
Photo by ladyiconoclast via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Why “surface” is the whole story
Anything pierced through a structure is held by that structure. A helix has the rim of your ear; a septum has the tissue in front of the cartilage. A surface piercing has nothing.
The jewelry sits in a shallow channel through skin, and the body treats it as something to gradually push back out. That process is migration, and its end point is rejection: the bar works its way to the surface and the skin over it thins until the piercing is gone, leaving a scar.
Well-placed anti-eyebrows with the right jewelry can last for years. Badly placed ones with the wrong jewelry can be gone in months. The variable you control is who does it and what they put in.
What “the right jewelry” means
A surface bar: a bar with two right-angle bends so the ends rise to the surface while the middle lies flat beneath the skin. That shape lets the jewelry sit without pulling upward at either end.
A straight barbell or a curved barbell in a surface piercing pulls at both openings continuously and will reject. If a studio offers to do an anti-eyebrow with a curved barbell, that is a reason to go elsewhere.
Implant-grade titanium, correctly sized to your anatomy. See the materials guide.
Some piercers will suggest a dermal anchor instead, which is a single point rather than a bar. It is easier to place well, it is also not permanent, and it gives a different look. Worth discussing.
Placement matters more than usual
The bar has to lie flat under skin that is reasonably flat itself. The cheekbone offers that; the soft tissue below it does not.
Your piercer should assess how the skin sits over your cheekbone, how much you move that part of your face, and whether the plane is flat enough along the whole length of the bar. If they place it across a curve, the bar is under tension from day one.
This is also a very visible part of your face, which raises the stakes on the scar a rejection leaves. Choose someone who does surface work regularly and can show you healed examples.
Pain
About 3 out of 10. The skin over the cheekbone is thin and the needle passes quickly, so the procedure is milder than most facial piercings.
The difficulty with this placement is never the piercing. It is the six months afterwards.
Healing
Three to six months, and it stays vulnerable well past that.
- Weeks 1-2: swelling and tenderness at both openings, some bruising is normal on the cheekbone.
- Weeks 2-10: crusting at both ends, gradual settling.
- Months 3-6: slow maturing. Watch for migration throughout.
Downsize at six to ten weeks if your piercer recommends it, though on a surface bar the sizing is set by the placement more than by swelling.
Watch for migration the entire time: the bar sitting closer to the surface, the skin over it thinning or reddening along the line of the bar, or the openings widening. Any of those is a reason to see your piercer promptly. Removing a migrating surface piercing early leaves a much smaller scar than letting it reject on its own.
Living with one
- Glasses. Frames and the arms of glasses sit close to this placement. Check the fit before you book.
- Sleeping. Face-down sleeping is the enemy of any surface piercing. Back or the opposite side.
- Make-up. Keep foundation and concealer off the openings while healing.
- Towels and clothing catch the ends. Pat dry, never rub, and take care pulling jumpers over your head.
Aftercare is sterile saline twice a day and nothing else. The aftercare guide has the routine.
Related placements
- Eyebrow: above the eye, through the brow ridge, and considerably more stable.
- Dermal: a single anchor, an alternative for this exact spot.
- Vertical tragus: another surface piercing, with the same trade-offs.
Cost
$40 to $90 in a US studio, plus jewelry, and expect a surface bar to cost more than a standard barbell because it is shaped for the placement. Paying more for a piercer with real surface experience is the single best investment on this piercing. Tip 15 to 20 percent.
Frequently asked questions
What is an anti-eyebrow piercing?
A surface piercing on the upper cheekbone, below or beside the eye, mirroring where an eyebrow piercing sits above it. Two openings sit on the same flat plane with a shaped surface bar bridging them under the skin.
Does an anti-eyebrow piercing hurt?
About 3 out of 10. The skin over the cheekbone is thin and the needle passes quickly. It is one of the milder facial piercings to sit through; the difficulty is in the healing rather than the procedure.
Do anti-eyebrow piercings reject?
More often than piercings that pass through a fold or a flap. A surface piercing has no structure anchoring it, so the body can gradually work it toward the surface. Correct surface bar jewelry and a piercer experienced with surface work make the biggest difference.
How long does an anti-eyebrow piercing take to heal?
Three to six months, and it stays vulnerable to knocks well beyond that. Surface piercings do not have a clean finish line the way a lobe does.
Is it dangerous to pierce that close to the eye?
The piercing sits on the cheekbone, well below the eye itself, and a competent piercer places it clear of anything delicate. The concern is not the eye but the placement's tendency to migrate, and the scar it can leave in a very visible spot.
Should I get a surface bar or a dermal?
A surface bar has two visible ends and sits in a channel; a single dermal anchor has one visible end and sits in a pocket. Dermals are easier to place but are not permanent either. Which suits you depends on the look you want, and your piercer should walk you through both.
Sources
- Association of Professional Piercers - Suggested aftercare for body piercingshttps://safepiercing.org/aftercare/
- Association of Professional Piercers - Jewelry for initial piercingshttps://safepiercing.org/jewelry-for-initial-piercings/
- Association of Professional Piercers - Body Jewelry Verification Programhttps://safepiercing.org/body-jewelry-verification-program-2/
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This article is for education only and is not medical advice. If a piercing is hot, swollen, spreading redness, oozing yellow or green discharge, or you have a fever, see a doctor today.