I’m not exactly sure when very defined brows started popping up, but it seems to be taking many innocent victims down since it hit. Yes, brows are super important to your makeup looks as they frame the face and can either make you look really young if done right or make you look past your prime if done wrong.
Katerina Graham seems to love the look, but I think the square shape and too long ends of her brows age the young actress.
Her makeup would be gorgeous without them I think.
I love the look of a great defined brow like Lala Vazquez, Kelly Rowland, and Kim Kardashian (maybe tone down the rest of the makeup a bit). Or the type of brow that you can immediately tell celebrity makeup artist Sam Fine perfected:
But overdrawn, extra thick, square-shaped brows? Hmm…
It’s best to get your brows groomed at least once by a professional and then do clean-ups at home. If you want to try it at home then try these.
Quick brow tips:
1. To find out where your brows should end, grab a pencil and angle it from the outer tip of your nostril to your outer lashes and where the pencil lands is where your brow should end.
2. Find out where your brows should begin by placing the pencil straight up from your outer tip of your nostril to the inner corners of your eyes. Where the pencil lands is where your brow should begin.
3. Find your arch by taking the pencil again at the outer tip of your nostril and angle it across your eye.
4. When filling in your brows with a brow pencil, use short and light feather-like strokes that mimic actual hair.
5. For more tips check out Beauty Bomb : How to Shape and Care for Eyebrows.
How do you like to keep your brows?
Images via Getty, Kim Kardashian’s Twitter
April 28, 2011 9:53 am
I think LaLa’s are my fav, but in general, if you have a great professional that grooms your brows to precision, I feel that “drawing” them in in very unnecessary. Just IMO
April 28, 2011 10:00 am
YIKES! The overdrawn look is UGLY!!! Unless u are celebrating Halloween that’s fine but everyday no way Jose.
It is way 2 dramatic Kat Graham looks like BeatleJuice wife. Lol
April 28, 2011 10:07 am
All of them look way too dramatic.
April 28, 2011 10:40 am
I like the thick & natural but trimmed and groomed at the ends.
I don’t like this. Its way to tranny-ish esp 1st pic
April 28, 2011 10:47 am
In that trio pic, they all remind me of how drag queens have to over do with the makeup to look more feminine. It’s funny though, because they cover their eyebrows and draw on new ones very similiar to these girls….the defined brow take some faces…and others….it’s a catastrophe.
April 28, 2011 10:49 am
I love myself some Sam Fine! I do agree that brows can totally change your look, age you or soften you… I don’t like overstated eyebrows or too-thin ones. It’s not a good look.
April 28, 2011 11:10 am
those eyebrows look like well-groomed caterpillars
April 28, 2011 11:15 am
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo katerina graham don’t do this!! *sighhh* her makeup usually always on point!!! what is she doing??? those brows look ug-a-ly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 28, 2011 11:34 am
I am crazy about filling in and shaping my eyebrows. I do agree it must be done right with a combination of pencil and eye shadow.
Kat’s eyebrows are a little intense.
April 28, 2011 11:51 am
I only wear my brows thick and natural looking…much like Solange…most of the women around me do defined brows though. I just think they make my face too severe.
She is doing that orange lip tho.
April 28, 2011 12:06 pm
I have naturally thick eyebrows like if I dont get them waxed when theyre supposed to be I will have a uni brow the next day lolz. I like for my brows to maintain some thickness with a little arch and Im good. I like Kellys brows the most.
April 28, 2011 12:45 pm
I agree with Tiffany. Why draw them on? If they are well shaped and defined nothing’s wrong with leaving them the way they are.
April 28, 2011 1:18 pm
Kat’s eyebrows are extreme, but I don’t really mind it. You have to be kind of extreme to rock a necklace comprised of clown heads. Love the defined brow look. My eyebrows are naturally long and scraggly with 0 shape to them, so a nice threading does me well.
This has nothing to do with anything, but that pic of Lala, Kim and Kelly cracks me up because you can totally see the lines of concealer used to contour their noses. Maybe it’s the flash putting them on the blast? I don’t know, but I’ve got the giggles.
April 28, 2011 1:45 pm
the orange lipstick is so good. WHere can i get that ?please help
April 28, 2011 2:37 pm
Blame MAC. I believe that was their “signature brow” recently?
April 28, 2011 2:43 pm
over-done brows just look mechanical to me. there’s nothing natural about them and i really wish women would stop it already.
April 28, 2011 2:48 pm
I concur with everyone who thinks they make one look like a drag queen. Unless of course that is the look you’re trying to achieve
April 28, 2011 2:49 pm
@accent I don’t know what lip color she’s wearing but you can get a similar look with MAC Genuine Orange Chromagraphic Pencil available at MAC Pro stores. Check out macpro.com for locations and customer service (you can order over the phone if there’ s no pro store near you and you don’t have to be a pro to order).
April 28, 2011 3:14 pm
I’m eagerly waiting for this trend to die. All four of these ladies are downgraded by these overdone brows.
My preference is to keep mine as close to natural as possible, with a little clean-up around my natural shape. However, I can appreciate other well done looks.
April 28, 2011 3:29 pm
It’s just so unnecessary. In Kat D and Lil’ Kim’s case it just makes them look a little…nuts. They would look perfectly pretty with normal arched eyebrows. LaLa’s arch is nice, though.
April 28, 2011 3:30 pm
Whoa!!! Kat Graham’s brows are way too extreme!!!! love, Love, LOVE her second look though :) Especially that orange lip! And of the three, Kelly looks amazing =)
April 28, 2011 3:52 pm
I HATE this trend. I never got the reason behind very defined brows. If you go too extreme with your brows in general it makes you look harsh and outdated. As mention above, if you take care of your brows and groomed them precisely to fit your face than there is no need to define them because they would stand out on their own
April 28, 2011 4:23 pm
They all four women look a mess!
April 28, 2011 4:35 pm
my gawd them eyebrows are horrid.
April 28, 2011 6:28 pm
thank you for this post! omfg i thought i was the only one who thought girls look RIDICULOUS when they do this to their eyebrows. isnt the purpose of darkening your eyebrows or shaping them to get a “natural” look. How the EFF do any of these look natural? lol smfh women….
April 28, 2011 6:45 pm
I thought I was the only one that didnt see the difference btwn the disaster pic and the pic of Kim K and the other ladies. They all look overdone.
April 28, 2011 7:06 pm
i’m glad I have a AMAZING eyebrow “stylist.” great brows can make a whole face look better sans makeup or with
April 28, 2011 11:24 pm
Another tip, to get a super clean brow put concealer or liquid liner ( I do liquid liner) under the entire brow, mainly paying attention to the arch. Just a super thin line with a small angle brush or a very small concealer brush. And I then dust my facial powder over it. You are talking about crisp, girl please! Best secret ever!
April 28, 2011 11:27 pm
P.S lol it looks more like you can control how your brow looks if you use the liner. And if you make a mistake or if your brow liner is not perfectly straight, noone will know because the liquid line will cover. You are creating the vision of the ideal brow in your mind when using the technique I mentioned.
April 28, 2011 11:36 pm
correction: i kept saying liquid liner in the first statement, I meant you can use concealer or liquid MAKEUP not liquid liner…smh at myself. So you 1. use the brow pencil to shade in gaps (i usually draw a line under the brow then smudge in with a brow brush, then maybe if not enough fill in lightly the gaps), 2. take angle brush (small) or concealer brush (small) and use a very thin line under entire eyebrow using the concealer or liquid makeup, focusing on the shape of crispiness you want at the arch and tail. 3. Dust with powder and VOILA! I had to write that over because those 2 above statements I made were just too confusing. Hope you ladies can use the info
April 29, 2011 5:33 am
ugh! i can’t even blame sam fine because i know this hyper-groomed eyebrow look was birthed somewhere between india and the middle east – women there don’t joke about their brows!
truth be told, some people like contrived eyebrows – and please danielle, can we also, please, address how and when it’s appropriate to wear crazy false eyelashes and how much lash is too much! (i think you can have too much lash…the kardashians and a troupe of many women around me are increasingly of the opposite opinion)
April 29, 2011 10:19 am
Thanks Danielle !
April 29, 2011 12:28 pm
sorry but they look very drag to me
April 29, 2011 12:37 pm
i think lil kim was one of the huge victims of this trend. i think filling in your eyebrows and shaping them is cool but when you get into completely obsuring your natural brow, and making them look huge, it starts to look scary.
April 30, 2011 6:15 pm
actresses used to have them in the forties and fifties
like gail russel, kim novak etc.. it depends on what look you are going for. it can look good on film, but perhaps not so much in real life.
kat gets away with it, but if i were here, i would use it in music vids only.
then again maybe she is not going for the perfect pretty makeup, maybe its supposed to be edgy hmm..
May 1, 2011 9:35 pm
Nothing like a well defined brow but I hate when they are so overdrawn it looks cartoonish (like the 1st pic).
May 5, 2011 8:52 am
Great read. Thanks for sharing!
December 30, 2011 10:49 am
[...] Severely drawn-in and bad-angled brows need not apply. EVER. [...]
October 15, 2012 8:17 pm
It’s great when women highlight their beauty, but I can’t understand the appeal of something that looks so un-natural. Same with the eyelash trend.
http://whatjanesaysandblogs.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/extreme-lashes.html