Vintage eyebrow shapes

[~*Red*~]

This might be a little off topic, but I'd like everyone's opinions on this. I dye my hair black (it's naturally a light brown), but my eyebrows are quite dark naturally. They are a dark brown, not quite black though. Every time I go to get them waxed or see a hairdresser, they ask me if I want them dyed black.

Now I've always read that your eyebrows should be a little lighter than your hair color, which mine are (and I don't think the difference is too drastic). I just get the impression that dying my brows to match will just be too harsh. Opinions?

If it were me, I would dye them, as I do when I dye my hair red. (my natural color is black ..brows and hair)

But, if you are unsure, you could try using a wet black powder or if you can find it, a black eyebrow wax to color in, and see how you like it.

Right now, my hair is a dark brown with some mahogany in it. In the day I do an auburn (B.E.) wet eye powder, and at night, I prefer my black (Benefit) eyebrow wax. Some may say it's harsh, but I really like it, and don't find it to be harsh at all. I like perfect brows.

Play with coloring them in a little and see how you like it!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

My natural brows are reddish-blonde and barely there. If I don't draw mine on, it looks like I have no brows at all. My grandmother is the same way.

So I cut what little I do have off (yes, with scissors!) and draw them on very fake looking in the late 20s/early 30s style. Lots of gals in here have put down my eyebrow choice in the past, but I've been doing this for almost 10 years now and I think I look odd any other way. Any thicker and, yes, I have used the old "Groucho Marx" line!

I recently died my hair black from blondish red, so the brows went black, too! At first I did them in a charcoal black because I thought BLACK BLACK would be too drastic, but my husband urged me to "be a grizzly" and the black black looks really good with my black Colleen Moore bob and porceline face!

Just FYI, here's my everyday brows: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Amy_Van_doren/oldschoolamy/DSCF2275_smaller.jpg

I really have no rules when it comes to makeup -- and I'd never put down someone else's choice. Just do what you think looks good on you

 

[Camille]

This might be a little off topic, but I'd like everyone's opinions on this. I dye my hair black (it's naturally a light brown), but my eyebrows are quite dark naturally. They are a dark brown, not quite black though. Every time I go to get them waxed or see a hairdresser, they ask me if I want them dyed black.

Now I've always read that your eyebrows should be a little lighter than your hair color, which mine are (and I don't think the difference is too drastic). I just get the impression that dying my brows to match will just be too harsh. Opinions?

Ooh, I don't think I would dye them, but it's a tough one. As you say, I think they'd be too harsh.

 

[pennycarrol]

Pigeon Toe, if I were you, I would dye them!! I love when hair and eyebrows are the same color!! I dye my hair to be a redhead (I'm naturally a brunette)! I bleach a little bit my eyebrows and redraw them with an auburn eyeshadow. I love the result and most of the time people ask me if it's my natural hair color. By the way, Pigeon Toe I always thought that black was your natural hair color, it's beautiful with your red lipstick!!

 

[anabolina]

I agree with Penny and Red PigeonToe and die mine a slightly darker shade of red then my hair. I suppose I always heard your brows were supposed to be darker then your hair. Whatever you like. Note if you wash your face, the color of your brows will fade more rapidly then the dye on the rest of your head.

 

[pennyseranade]

I agree with Red, I would play around with coloring them in before you dye them.

My brows are a dark brown, not quite black, and I color my hair to almost the same color. My natural color is a medium to dark mousey brown. NOW if I was going red or auburn I agree with the other ladies to dye the brows. I tried reds for a while and with my dark brown eyebrows, it looked fake. At the time I was too chicken to dye my brows to match.

 

[pennyseranade]

Also I think someone mentioned earlier in the post about overplucked eyebrows that aren't gowing back. There is a company that sells a serum which helps stimulate regrowth. Many women have had success getting overplucked brows back with it. I can't speak from experience...mine won't go away no matter how much I pluck. Here's the link. Check out the serum specifically for brows and lashes.

http://www.skinactives.com/products/hair_serum.htm

 

[zaika]

fftopic: that is one of the most frightening photos i've ever seen. those groucho glasses thingies scare the crap outta me!! lol

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

I overplucked mine last month and they weren't even 'even' so i've been letting them grow back and I look like sasquatch!
lol

 

[fernande]

This might be a little off topic, but I'd like everyone's opinions on this. I dye my hair black (it's naturally a light brown), but my eyebrows are quite dark naturally. They are a dark brown, not quite black though. Every time I go to get them waxed or see a hairdresser, they ask me if I want them dyed black.

Now I've always read that your eyebrows should be a little lighter than your hair color, which mine are (and I don't think the difference is too drastic). I just get the impression that dying my brows to match will just be too harsh. Opinions?

Hi Pigeon Toe! I think you have the right idea! From a makeup artist prospective, (my former job before launching fully into vintage clothing/shoe-dom) would to pencil them or even dye them not black, but a dark brown- ash if your hair tone is black.
Unless you are doing a really "done" look all the time- (ala' Dita Von teese) a full on black tone might be too harsh for you (and depending on your natural colouring, as you say you have light-ish brown hair) meaning fully "done" is full on makeup, eyeliner, blush, etc...(*There are no hard and fast "rules" for anything-)
I know personally from at one point being a medium brown haired girl going to deep black, that when I dyed my eyebrows to match, and perhaps wasn't having one of those totally "done/ glamourous" days I looked a little like "a fair haired girl with harsh dyed black hair"-...... if you know what I mean.
not the "Raven Haired Beauty" I had intended. I'm not sure what you're going for "look wise" but I always wanted to have a "snow white" sort of look, like I was naturally raven haired with ruby lips. kind of impossible, but hey, that was my ideal!

Anyways- back to the brows-I guess some examples of girls who work this look (of the black hair with slightly lighter brows) (or have at some point in town) would be dark haired beauties like Rose McGowan or Anne Hathaway who both appear to be lighter brunettes than their usual darker looks. (though I think Rose is back to Strawberry blonde again and Anne has lightened up- so go figure!)

This is a picture of my friend Krysten- I did her makeup for this picture. She has naturally black hair (lucky girl) but her brows are slightly lighter. Her natural coloration, is one that many lighter hair girls try to envoke the look of- (maybe that natural "snow white/raven haired beauty" look I aspired to have!) so my point is, her hair is deep coal black and her brows- deep brown. It may not appear that way in the photo- but it is the case-and deep brown pencil combined with her black hair looks gorgeous.

So I guess if you want it to look natural, try that. On her I used Chanel's Dark Brown brow pencil- another good one is Anastaia Beverly Hills (a brow centric line) Brow "POMADE".
this stuff is better than the benefit's eye zings or smashbox's "browtech" because it has more color and less wax. (important!)
http://www.anastasia.net

Anastasia also makes great brow stencils- they have a perfect "1940's brow" one. (its not labeled as such, but if you ask me I'll tell you what # it is)


Another great product is Lip Ink- brow liners. They don't move. I've raved before about their lip products (truly awesome, especially for strong retro red lip looks)
I used these a great deal when doing restorative/therapuetic makeup on chemo patients. (I did some classes on showing women just how to re-draw their eyebrows on, make it look natural) and lip ink's were the best hands down- especially since they don't move-you can really feel secure that when you "put your brows on" they stay on
I would suggest these products for anyone with sparse or somewhat invisible brows. they are great! I like them too because they don't move- I seem to have some kind of oiliness even in my brow area and normal pencils and even powders tend to move or oxidize/change color.

http://www.lipink.com

Whew! all of this brow gabbing is making me realize... I need to tweeze!

 

[Adele]

My eyebrows and I do not get along most of the time. I've had my moments where I've had them the way I want them, but then I somehow lose the shape the next time I tweeze.

In the past I've had the Louise Brooks eyebrows, but now I'm trying to shape them as so:

http://www.doctormacro.info/Images/Wray,%20Fay/Wray,%20Fay_05.jpg

This might be a little off topic, but I'd like everyone's opinions on this. I dye my hair black (it's naturally a light brown), but my eyebrows are quite dark naturally. They are a dark brown, not quite black though. Every time I go to get them waxed or see a hairdresser, they ask me if I want them dyed black.

Now I've always read that your eyebrows should be a little lighter than your hair color, which mine are (and I don't think the difference is too drastic). I just get the impression that dying my brows to match will just be too harsh. Opinions?

You know, I've always had this thought where eyebrows are suppose to be slightly lighter than your hair if it's a dark shade, and slightly darker if your hair is a lighter shade, but seriously, I haven't a slightest clue where I got such a thought.

Nonetheless, I think you ought to shade them darker if you want to try such a look first. In all honesty, I think shading with an eyebrow powder always looks less harsh, and more natural. However, I'm not makeup artist, so it's just my two cents.

 

[Miss 1929]

Depends on eye color

Mine are light, so I need the punch of darker brows. I have naturally dark brown hair/brows. When I had dyed blue-black hair, it looked stupid to have brown brows! But the dye never lasted very long on my eyebrows, probably due to face-washing, so I used mascara on them - the hairs themselves got darkened that way.
Now that I am my natural color, I find a slightly lighter brow looks a little better - my age may have something to do with that , I am able to wear less harsh looks as I get older.

 

[Naama]

This might be a little off topic, but I'd like everyone's opinions on this. I dye my hair black (it's naturally a light brown), but my eyebrows are quite dark naturally. They are a dark brown, not quite black though. Every time I go to get them waxed or see a hairdresser, they ask me if I want them dyed black.

Now I've always read that your eyebrows should be a little lighter than your hair color, which mine are (and I don't think the difference is too drastic). I just get the impression that dying my brows to match will just be too harsh. Opinions?

My hair is dyed blonde and my brows are a natural black.... but well, I pluck them really thins high arched 20-30's style..... So maybe that's the reason why it works so well.... Maybe you should try to colour them with a brow pencil and see how it looks?


Naama

 

[anabolina]

Ooh, I just discovered the NYC brow powder/wax combo in brown at WalMart and love it. The color is great with my skin tone and hair and it seems to look for natural to me then the brow pencil I had been using. This stuff is awesome and at 2.95 totally worth it for me.

 

[pigeon toe]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

My brows are naturally a dark brown, so I think for now I will keep them the way they are. I'm thinking about lightening my hair just a bit as well (I keep flip flopping on whether I want to stay with the black or go for a really dark brown), so I don't want to do anything permanent.

I've played around with darkening them with brow shadow (I don't know if it's called that, but it's like eyeshadow for brows!), and though it looks good, it is a more "finished" look, and since I don't wear too much makeup, it sometimes looks a little out of place.

 

[Madison Paige]

On the subject of "faux" eyebrows...

Some plastic surgents have started to perform eyebrow implants!! For the women (and men I suppose...?) who have over plucked their eyebrows and can't get them to grow back, or were born with sparse eyebrows, I guess all they do it is take hairs from the very back of your head, where it isn't noticable, and implant the hair folicles into your brow bone in what ever shape you please. I was a little freaked out by this at first, because I guess since it's hair folicles from your head, if you don't trim them regularly, and just let them be, they'd grow extremly long (for eyebrow hair at least)!

I also just read that they figured out how to do these kind of transplants for eyelashes too! And let me tell you, if I had the money and if surgery didn't freak me out beyond belief, I'd have it done in a second, as I have hardly any lashes at all!

Both of these procedures are insanely expensive too, about $4,000-$10,000!!

Just thought I'd weigh in on the subject.

 

[Viola]

I have enough eyelashes for me, and enough eyebrows to give away to the needy. lol

I just cleaned up my brows and gave them a bit more of an arch and a slimmer outline. Of course I suspect I'm the only one who really notices the difference. Steam really helps make it easier, for me, anyway.

 

[Audrey Horne]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

My brows are naturally a dark brown, so I think for now I will keep them the way they are. I'm thinking about lightening my hair just a bit as well (I keep flip flopping on whether I want to stay with the black or go for a really dark brown), so I don't want to do anything permanent.

I've played around with darkening them with brow shadow (I don't know if it's called that, but it's like eyeshadow for brows!), and though it looks good, it is a more "finished" look, and since I don't wear too much makeup, it sometimes looks a little out of place.

I have naturally light brown/blondish brown hair too. I dye it dark/medium brown but I dyed it black for years. My eyebrows are naturally light which looked awful with the black so I dyed them black too. The dye faded really fast so I also filled them in with an angled brush and eyeshadow. I pretty much had to wear makeup with this look though because otherwise I looked incredibly washed out.

In response to considering dark brown, I love it. I loved the black for the contrast but sometimes I think it came across as a bit to harsh/a little goth because I'm so fair. I found with dark brown I still get the contrast I'm looking for but softened a bit. I started out with dark brown and gradually transitioned to a medium brown.
Here I am with black:

Here's brown:

 

[pennycarrol]

Audrey, I think that you're beautiful with brown hair!!! I prefer that shade!!!! But the black is great too!!

 

[pennyseranade]

Audrey,

I love that shade of brown. It looks great on you.