THE BROW EVOLUTION
FORGET ABOUT EYELASHES, BROWS ARE THE NEW FOCUS OF THE MAKEUP WORLD. JULIETTE WINTER EXPLAINS HOW TO TRAIN YOUR ARCHES TO BE BANG ON-TREND.
Find out the techniques and products to achieve the latest looks so you can put your best brows forward.
JUST LIKE FASHION trends, brows have always had their own distinct look. In the era of big hair and shoulder pads, it was Brooke Shields’s thick and natural; along came the ’90s and we religiously plucked them into skinny, almost non-existent lines. When the noughties hit, we switched to strong and powerful, a brow movement the Insta-generation have since embraced.
“Brows are the most transformational feature on the face,” says Hannah Mutze, national brow artist at Benefit Cosmetics Australia. “The ’90s taught us not to experiment with brow trends that call for excessive hair removal. This is one trend I can safely say is in the past.” The evidence of past beauty blunders often still remains, while bold, bushy brows catapulted the likes of Cara Delevingne to global modelling fame, generations of women with over-plucked arches spent the last decade testing out all manner of pencils, putties, powders and even tattoo needles to try to bulk up their still-sparse brows.
All this fuss about brows isn’t just driven solely by the ebb and flow of beauty fashions though — they can, in all honesty, dramatically change your entire look. “When shaped correctly, the lines and angle of your brows can make the face appear more balanced, and the eye area look more open and awake,” says Hannah. “They can lift and contour our other facial features, taking years off in the process.” Of course, that means they can also do the reverse — add on years, that is — so it’s best to leave shaping to a brow pro and just learn the tricks for daily fine-tuning.
Exactly how you fix or fill them will largely depend on, you guessed it, current brow trends. This year, it’s all about creating texture — fluffy, natural and shiny — and playing with shadows and highlights. We’ll get to specifics in a moment.
“There’s a big shift away from the Instagram brow right now,” says Amy Jean Linnehan, the founder of the Amy Jean Brow Agency, who has carved out a successful international career sculpting the brows of local and international celebrities. “Fluffy brows are still very on-trend in 2020. Keeping the centre of the brows soft, rather than dark, always looks more natural. I would suggest filling in the gaps and correcting the shape with a fine pencil, then using a powder or 3D brow gel to create a textured effect.”
There are several variations on the natural toned-down brow this year, the easiest of which is the dewy brow. “This look is about creating healthy, textural and radiant brows,” says Hannah. “The most wearable take on dewy brows is simply setting your brows with clear gel — not only does the gel work like hairspray to set brow hairs in place, it also adds a subtle glossy sheen.”
The direction you brush on the gel can make a difference, too. For the past few seasons, brushing brows up has been the most popular technique, but things are shifting. “Windswept brows are now the epitome of that effortless look so many of us covet,” says Hannah. “It’s a wearable take on brushed up, feathered brows and is as simple as brushing the hairs with brow gel on a slight angle towards the temple.”
If your hair is a little lighter in summer (naturally, or otherwise), Amy Jean recommends giving your brows the same treatment by using a light-coloured, tinted brow gel to create natural-looking highlights. “Or, if you’re really artistic, you could try using brow powder to create an on-trend ombre effect,” she says. “It’s all about creating depth. Fill in brows along the base, arch and tail with a deeper colour, then use a lighter colour through the centre of the brow and no colour at all along the top and where the brows start. Use light, feathery motions and blend really well with a spoolie to make this ombre effect look seamless.”
While trends will come and go, there are a few brow rules that never go out of fashion: keeping them on the thicker side is always more youthful; using a product that matches the colour of your brow hair will look the most natural; maintaining definition and fullness is easiest with a regular brow tint — we recommend henna brow treatments, which is kinder to sensitive skin and lasts longer than traditional tints; and shaping is always a job best left for an expert.
If ever you are tempted to tweeze between appointments, remember this advice: “Brows have the capacity to make or break your face,” says Amy Jean. “If they don’t harmonise with your face shape and nose, and the colour of your hair and eyes, your brows can seriously age you.”
“When shaped correctly, the lines and angle of your brows can make the face appear more balanced, and the eye area appear more open.”