I just bought this month’s Vogue and was shocked to see Rihanna on the cover sporting skinny brows. Are we heading for a micro-brow revival?
It is worth noting that Rihanna is also wearing hi-vis Prada gloves and is balancing a bouquet of fuchsias on her head in the Nick Knight-shot image. So it’s all a bit tongue in cheek. But it’s her eyebrows that have raised mine. I am one of the victims who championed the 90s micro brow look. Twenty years on, I desperately regret overplucking my brows back then. So, the Rihanna photos trigger particularly painful memories.
Unfortunately, history suggests that micro brows could be due for a comeback. The spindly look was big in the 1930s, as seen on Marlene Dietrich, in the 60s, via a more natural incarnation on Mia Farrow and in the 90s, as modelled by Pamela Anderson. Logically, the next likely instalment will therefore probably fall on or around 2020.
Yikes.
Some say that micro brows look powerful and creative – but from my perspective they are not flattering. They overexpose our features, reducing balance and harmony.
In Rihanna’s case, the look seems to have been temporary, probably created by squashing her existing brows with glue, then covering them with concealer and foundation before drawing on two new lines. In real life you would have to wax or pluck yours off. But you could find that it unbalances your face and the hairs might never grow back. Which happened to me.
So, there you have it – tweeze with extreme caution!
