It’s fair to say that there has been an extreme evolution in brows over the years! Much like fashion however, some stages in history have a tendency to repeat themselves. I have looked for defining icons of each decade to give an insight to the general look of the brow at each stage. We have thin, we have bushy and we have… the 2010s brows.
1930s
Jean Harlow
Thin, drawn-on brows were the main craze of the 30s. Celebrities sported the look on movies, events, photographs… making it an envious look for people everywhere. Actresses such as Jean Harlow and Billie Holliday encouraged more of an arched brow. Make-up was starting the route to becoming more affordable so it began trending worldwide.
1940s
Katharine Hepburn
The thin brow hasn’t quite left just yet but it could now definitely be described as ‘well-groomed’. Stars like Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich sported this kind of look throughout their fame in the 40s. The brow arch wasn’t as severe as the previous decade and I would say that this was the greatest difference.
1950s
Grace Kelly
This decade saw a lot more of a ‘natural’ trend seeping through. This meant less plucking and more letting the brows breath. This look, modelled by Grace Kelly, became an inspiration to women of the decade.
1960s
Diana Dors
We’re lifting. There were two memorable looks of this decade, the really full brow – modelled by stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor or the ‘lifted brow’ – modelled by stars such as Diana Dors. This would mean a typically thicker front end of the brow, leading from the bridge of the nose, and then a thin end to the brow, almost as though the brow is rising instead of arching.
1970s
Faye Dunaway
It’s the return of plucking. During this era, the brows were not the central feature of the stage. Typically, during this ‘disco’ era, more emphasis would be payed to eyes with large lashes or to lips with a beautiful colour on them. The arch remained poignant in this decade.
1980s
Brooke Shields
Well, what a difference a decade makes. The iconic 80s brow, fluffy and full. Brooke Shields was a large influencer in this movement as she sported such bold and bushy brows, something that encouraged a lot of people to wish for the same. Typically, stars would just brush up what they had.. No product, no tweezers, just love for what they were given.
1990s
Jennifer Aniston
Companies in the grooming business were booming once again with the return of the thin brow. Minimal product was used to just go over that small, thin line that was left of brows. Eyebrow pencils were increasing in popularity to accentuate the well known ‘pencil-thin’ brow.
2000s
Paris Hilton
Not a lot changed in the years between the 1990s and 2000s. They certainly didn’t grow much thicker, that’s for sure. Possibly the only difference really is a little less product.
2010s
Cher Lloyd
Possibly the worst trend in eyebrow history and my guess is that a large part of the people reading were involved in such a monstrosity, myself included. Why did we actually do this to ourselves? Thick at the front, obvious differentiation between brow and product and to top it off, we’re withering down to nothingness at the end of the brow. Lovely.
2020s
Rosie Huntington-whiteley
I would say that we largely redeemed ourselves with the beauties that are ‘microblading’ and ‘brow lamination’. The dependancy on brow products have withered away and instead, we now like to enhance the hairs that are already there and give them a bit of a face-lift. I personally adore this trend and hope it sticks around for a while.
So there you have it, brows throughout the decade! Do you have any family throwbacks to a brow stage on this list? Maybe your mum was a follower of the 90s brow? Or were you a victim of the 2010s? Let us know and send in your pics to @thestudentaspect on Instagram.