The Great Eyebrow Recession

During the 90's the Great Eyebrow Recession began. Brows were thinned out so much that, in some cases, they were completely shaved or plucked off and a pencil thin line was drawn on instead. They were dramatic to say the least, but like all trends, they went out of style. Now, full, and you might even say "bushy" brows are back. To be honest, I think people have learned their lesson. Eyebrows not only serve a functional purpose - to prevent sweat from running into your eyes - but they also are a sign of age. Think of eyebrows the same way you think of the hair on your head. If you see someone who's balding you perceive them as being older and the same goes for your eyebrows. If you have sparse brows it can add as much as a decade to your appearance. Look at animations of fairytale princesses. Do any of them have penciled in eyebrows? No, they have full, lush brows. And this makes them look not only youthful but innocent as well. Don't believe me...just look at the animations of the female villains in those same fairytales.
While we'll all enjoy not having to spend so much time in front of the mirror with a pair of Tweezerman's many of us (myself included) will face a new challenge. Growing back our long abused brows. You see, over plucking is not something that you can just stop and then next week expect to look like Brooke Shields. Over plucking can cause permanent damage and you may not ever be able to fully regrow your brows. Because of this, brow transplant procedures are becoming more popular. Much like a normal hair transplant, about 400 individual hairs are taken from your head and are transplanted to help return your eyebrows to what they once were. But before you bust open you piggy bank follow my tips for regrowing beautiful brows.

Put down the tweezers. This first step is usually the most difficult. For one whole week DO NOT TWEEZE A SINGLE HAIR. This will help you to see where your eyebrows should be. It's also very helpful to look at old pictures (from before you became a plucking addict) to see what your natural brow shape is. You don't want to try and stray very far from your natural shape.

If you don't know, don't pluck. After the first week you'll have a lot of short little hairs that you'll be tempted to yank out. Only pluck the ones that are very obviously outside of your emerging brow shape. The hairs that show up well below your brows can be plucked, but the hairs on the inside and outside ends shouldn't be touched yet.

Achieving the proper shape. You may like the look of dramatic arches but that doesn't necessarily mean you ought to wear your brows that way. Work with what you've got because trying to change their shape can negatively alter the appearance of your face. (Now get out a pencil or other straight edge.) Your brows should begin at or slightly past the invisible line that goes from the side of your nose and past the inner corner of your eye. Allowing the inner ends of your brows to grow a little closer to each other will make a wide nose appear more narrow. The outer ends should stop past the outer corner of your eye otherwise the width of your entire face will look. Using the straight edge, connect the side of your nose with the outer edge of your eye - this is where your brow should end. To find your arch, use the straight edge to make a line from the side of your nose past the outside edge of your pupil.

Regrowing your brows will require patience. It takes roughly 4-6 weeks for the hairs to grow back. But once they've come back you'll save time and product because it won't take so much effort to get them to look groomed and natural. They truly make a world of difference in the way you look. You may even feel like a whole new woman...