Eye-brows are considered an integral part of any face. They arch protectively over the eyes, increasing their attractiveness and framing our faces. These hairy appendages have seen a wide variety of “trends” that are set by the society and/ or celebs. These are useful in protecting our eye-sockets as it traps any dust or debris that might fall from hair. But, most importantly these are useful in communicating our expressions and feelings. The “Eye-Reading” talent is understand the emotions as depicted by the eye-brows and the fore-head muscles.
So, let’s coming to the journey of fashion and trends and rituals as seen by these eye-brows are countless- from completely shaven look to untamed and bushy to painted, uni-brows, long archs, soft archs- they have endured lot many “decades” when it comes to trends.
So, lets have a look at various fashion trends of our time.
1. Ancient Egyptians:
Ancient Egyptian women had arched brows which were often darkened with mineral powders. When a cat died at home, everyone of that family would shave their eyebrows; but when a dog died, everyone in the house would shave their whole body as well as their head in mourning.
2. Ancient Greece and Rome:
The ancients esteemed purity, so women left their brows untouched with uni-brows which were considered a sign of beauty. If one didn’t have a natural unibrow, they would create one with black paint.
3. The middle Ages:
With forehead being a prominent feature during those times, women often removed their eyelashes and shaved eyebrows. While in the later part of 15th century, everyone started dying their hair reddish blonde being inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s reddish blonde hair.
4. Victorian Era:
Women who applied makeup were grimaced upon as only prostitutes had the permission to apply it- hence, ladies often left their brows quite shaggy and natural.
5. 1920-1930:
Prior to this decade, natural eye brows ruled the roost- but with celebs wearing their eyebrows extremely thin and straight by extensive plucking, which gave quite dramatic and brooding look became a rage.
6. 1930-1940:
Women had dark, shiny and tweezed brows with dramatic and rounded arches rather than being straight.
7. 1940-1950:
A softer and natural look was preferred in this decade with heavy and prominent arched brows.
8. 1950-1960:
Thick, dark brows drawn in, to achieve a more enhanced look which became a defining feature of the face.
9. 1960-1970:
This decade was quite a roller coaster for the eye-brows trends- Sophia Loren shaved her brows off entirely, then painstakingly pencil them back in using super-short, precise strokes; While Audrey Hepburn‘s straight, natural brows remained popular with most of women, Edie Sedgwick’s contrast brows- black brows in contrast to her platinum hair also gained popularity.
10. 1970-1980:
There are 2 different contrasting brow looks during this decade- thicker and natural brows was preferred by the hippies while the thinner brows with more pronounced arches were preferred by disco enthusiasts. However, “natural and tamed” brows was favoured by regular women.
11. 1980-1990:
Bushy brows ruled the fashion and trends chart this decade; those with light brows, made it bushy with the help of brow pencils and eye-shadow powders.
12. 1990-2000:
Super-thin, over-tweezed brows ran widespread with many celebs sporting this look- that went horribly wrong for few years, with the natural brow look boomeranging by the later part of the decade.
By: Archa Dave
