Never take advice from someone who has bad eyebrows

2014’s major defining beauty trend was thick Power Brows. Inspired by supermodel Carla D, this
Carla's Power Brows
trend swept through Hollywood (And the White House as well – with the First Lady also laying off the tweezer) and soon had girls sporting fans on the inner corners and bold eyebrows. It is not a new trend though. Audrey Hepburn bought the trend to prominence in 1950's in Hollywood. By 60's her eyebrows had become a bit more refined, but they were still thick. This trend of thick eyebrows continued till the 80s. 


The trend died away by the 90s when arched, thin eyebrows ruled the roost all through the 2000s. 

Sadly, the Power Brow trend didn't seem to catch on too much in India. I only sported Alia Bhatt, Kangana & Deepika playing up their eyebrows, but that was generally with an androgynous outfit. Most Indian brands offer little to no makeup for the brows and didn't even respond to this trend of brows. Globally brands responded enthusiastically by offering brow growth serums to eyebrow tinted gels.

I tried to influence some of the women around me, but all I got were confused looks – why would you want thicker eyebrows they exclaimed while raising their dental floss like brows in shock!

I did try out this trend. I stopped going to the salon for threading about 2 years ago, preferring to use a tweezers, and over the last 12 months relaxed my use of the tweezers as well.


The initial two months were tough, as the brows grew in and took some time to settle. But soon I began to see benefits:

  • The tails of my brows that had started to thin, filled in (Btw I also learnt that thinning or loss of outer 1/3 eyebrows may indicate a lower than optimal thyroid activity.
  • The unevenness between my brows reduced. Both my brows have gaps at the arch, but at different places. Letting them grow helped the gaps recover and become less conspicuous

People started to comment that I looked fresh & young. And that is when I noticed how aging thin brows can be for a face. Need more proof? Check this buzzfeed article

Audrey Hepburn with her Power Brows
My current routine involves using a tweezer maybe once every 15 days just to clear any strays below the brow bone, but other than that I have let the brows grow thicker than they were. My brows still don't rival Carla's brows though. I really think this is a good trend in general. Eyebrows tend to get sparse in old age, and if you plucked most of your growth out in your twenties, a lot of it won't grow back at all, making you look older and more severe. 

Plus the kind of look and fullness you get from real brows can never be duplicated as well with makeup.



I generally don’t buy separate eyebrow powders to fill them in. I generally use any matt dark brown eye shadow. If it is a long day, I use Maybelline Gel liner in brown with a very fine eyeliner brush from Vega to fill in the eyebrows with short strokes. Since the gel is waterproof and long-lasting, it doesn’t wipe off with humidity. As a principle I never use eyebrow pencils, I have never been able to make them work for me. 

What was your take on Brows in 2014? Did you let them grow thicker as well?

Comments

  1. I am kind of against threading my eyebrows - never did that! I feel that thicker eyebrows makes you look innocent and young. So, when my friends were threading and tweezing, I was walking with full eyebrows. I do not have thick eyebrows as well so, it was okay. Two years back, I started tweezing the stay hair and using some brown eye shadow (which fades in 3-4 hours). But, I am really looking forward on trying Maybelline Brown gel liner. It sounds such a great option. I am going to try it right now :) Thanks for the beautiful and helpful post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had very unruly eyebrows growing up and couldn't wait to thread them. Even then I got them done first at age 22. Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  2. Honestly..I am a person who found Audrey Hepburn's eyebrows to be mesmerizing.. but sadly, my natural eyebrow shape is quite weird and they tend to look rather unruly If I don't get it threaded. I never like to get mine threaded too thin though. I just get it shaped into a nice thick arch. At least I am lucky to have quite thick eyebrow all through the way so that mine still looks very thick even after I get it threaded..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even I have unruly eyebrows. But I noticed that no matter how much I asked only for shaping at the parlour they wld thin it too much! Only when I began taking care of them at home did they work out!

      Delete
  3. Hi Tanveer.. Could you please do a post about the best tweezers available in India and how to use them and where to buy them... . Also if it ok could you upload a picture of your eyebrows.. Would like to see how thick eyebrows look on an Indian face... Thank you..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been using a regular Vega tweezer for the last 5 yrs. It still good as the day I bought it and shows no sign of damage so I'm gonna continue using that. You can check out my fb profile pic to see how thick brows look on my face.

      Delete
  4. I'm 17 and when I asked a beautician if I should start threading my Eyebrows she said a complete no. :/ but I really hate my eyebrows shape, don't know what to do!! Maybe using a tweezer will help, should I get the plucking done in a parlor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a video on YouTube by lisa eldridge on eyebrows. Google for it. She explains very well how to shape eyebrows with a tweezer. Hope that helps.

      Delete
  5. Happy new year. I loveee reading your posts and am so glad that you are blogging frequently now. I have not been going to the parlor for threading since 3-4 months ... Initially it does get messy but I love my fuller eyebrows.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have thick caterpillars for eyebrows :/
    I would love to try this out but like u said the first two months I will probably look very unruly. To add to that i just cannot tweeze myself! I agree that it makes tye face more youthful. When i was younger i too wanted tge thin arch type thing u see on malaika arora types..now I'm thankful i never went to that stage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sorry but isn't the famous supermodel you're continuously referring to as "Carla" is actually "Cara"?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Hey! Thank you for taking the time out to add your valuable comment. I will revert as soon as possible.

COMMENT MODERATION POLICY FOR ADDICTED TO BLUSH BLOG

I delete blatant self-promotion and comments where it is clear the post material was not carefully read. If you are not going to bother to engage with the post, I am not going to bother posting your comment.

I also delete ALL comments with links - even if the link is to your blog.

Don't be mean to other commentators - it serves no purpose other than showcase your own personality in a bad light.

Popular Posts