EYEBROWS IN THE PAST
What kind of brows were “wanted” in the past?
Over time, women’s ways of shaping eyebrows were changing kaleidoscopically.We can probably still remember the brow-overtweezing-and-recreating craze. Still, it wasn’t the only fad in brow shaping and make-up. Let’s put back the clock a bit.
Clara Bow’s brows in the 1920s
The beginnings of women’s fight for independence and against stereotypes associating bold make-up with women of easy virtue (the 1920s reality). What kind of brow look was in? Extremely thin, tweezed, defined with a black pencil, generally, the end of the brows was drawn downward to give the face a slightly melancholic, sullen look.
Marlene Dietrich’s brows in the 1930s
The craze for skinny brows followed in the subsequent decade. Women tended to give the brows a more round shape which was supposed to correct the face expression. Totally shaving the brow hairs was a common practice; women simply used make-up pencils to create a totally new look.
Grace Kelly’s brows in the 1940s
Only after a decade, drastically thin brows were abandoned and women turned back to nature. In that period, they preferred dark and naturally-enhanced eyebrows yet a black pencil was no longer their favorite. A bit bolder and thicker brow arches looking very natural came in style.
Marilyn Monroe’s brows in the 1950s
A craze for natural, bold eyebrows was dragged to the next decade when women liked to make the brow arches even bolder. They made their faces more feminine by having their brows softly arched. Generally, they would use a natural-color or slightly darker pencil to get prettier, fuller-looking brows.
Sophia Loren or Twiggy’s brows in the 1960s
The colorful 1960s and hippies. Freedom ruled, also in make-up. Girls wore their brows just the way they liked. Still, there were two main approaches: soft, modest, round brows or very bold arches they would draw hair by hair. In both cases, the inspiration flowed from movie stars and catwalks.
Donna Summer’s brows in the 1970s
Nearly 50 years passed and women returned to the craze for skinny, overtweezed brows. Even though they used a brown pencil instead of a deep black one, the thin, semi-circular and hard-angled arches were in.
Madonna’s brows in the 1980s
Luckily, the fascination with super-skinny brows didn’t last long and women returned to natural shape. The so-called bushy look was in, which means thick and dense brows that aren’t tweezed at all. 100% of nature.
Christina Aguilera’s brows in the 1990s
Still, the end of the millennium was the time of the biggest changes. Skinny, unnatural-looking brows were back again. To make things worse, some girls liked to add some circons, glitter, etc. It was also the time of experiments e.g. creating cartoonish or double brows.