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Vintage eyebrow shapes

Lillemor

One Too Many
Messages
1,137
Location
Denmark
I wish I'd never begun re-shaping my brows! I'm looking at some old photos from before it even occured to me to keep my brows tidy and while the brow hairs may have been undefined and sparse even though they're black, there was nothing wrong with the shape. Now my left brow won't grow out as close to the temple as the right brow and I've been correcting and overcorrecting my brows. I'm trying really hard to keep from doing anything other than plucking the most obvious strays.

I use a dull black eyeliner to draw in the missing part on the left brow because I can't make it look natural with a brown liner. I disagree with those who say that black is always wrong and that brown is always better when it comes to brow liners. Maybe it's true for only filling in but I think the old black liner does that job just fine. I'm worried I won't actually be able to find a black brow liner today.

I cross between the decades now but mainly 20s-30s-50s not so much 40s and timeless-classic-contemporary so I really just want my old natural brow shape back.

If you wear glasses like me, you may want to make sure your brow shape follows the top edge of your glass frames.
 

ShrinkingViolet

A-List Customer
Messages
420
Location
Denmark
I have the same problem with brown eyebrown pencils. Even though I'm a brunette, brown pencils are always too much of a warm coffee brown, and black looks too harsh. The only shade I've ever found to match my eyebrows perfectly is Raven from Alima. It's a very dark grey-brown. Sounds weird but it works. Except it's a powder and I prefer pencils! Aargh.
 

Naama

Practically Family
Messages
667
Location
Vienna
I always use grey brow pencils. My natural hair colour is dark brown, so I have black brows (but they don't grow that full if you know what I mean by that?) and I have dyed blonde hair, and I think the grey works just fine.



Naama
 

Marzipan

One of the Regulars
Messages
166
Location
Western Mass
I've always been a fan of the thick eyebrow. I find them lush and exotic. Maybe I was Frida Kahlo in a past life.

So as much as I love the 30's and 20's I could never do the full-on face. However, Audrey's brows were probably a little too fuzzy for me too...
 

Lillemor

One Too Many
Messages
1,137
Location
Denmark
I've never heard of grey brown or grey brow liners before but I'm very excited about the idea. I'll ask next time I'm at a beauty counter. They'll probably think I'm weird.:eek:
 

i_am_the_scruff

A-List Customer
Messages
365
Location
England.
Lillemor said:
I've never heard of grey brown or grey brow liners before but I'm very excited about the idea. I'll ask next time I'm at a beauty counter. They'll probably think I'm weird.:eek:
Not at all! I'm sure they've been asked questions much stranger than that :)
 

hnich

New in Town
Messages
7
Location
Canada
I have naturally straight brows (not that you can see through my bangs!) but I tidy it up a bit, to try and give it the 'natural' but still attractive shape. When I colored them in, I drew in a few hairs at the top to create an arch, and extended the line at the end to give the most modern shape my brows would allow
Lately I've been experimenting with making them even more obviously 1920s by plucking from the top instead of the bottom (normally the biggest 'no-no' in eyebrow shaping!), which creates a thinner line that looks closer to the eyes than before. It's a little drastic to mess with, but I'm pleased with the results, I actually think this looks more interesting/attractive on my face, where normally my brows do nothing for my eyes.
I'm not too worried about them staying this way if I change my mind since my eyebrows grow like beasts, but I do find rubbing a bit of jojoba oil helps mine to grow back a bit quicker
 

Blondie

Practically Family
Messages
724
Location
Nashville
I like my eyebrows to be a pointed shape kind of like an upside down V but NOT that exagerated , anyways recently i had my eyebrows "threaded" by an Egyptian lady instead of waxed , i HIGHLY reccomend it, AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Miss_Bella_Hell

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,960
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I never really did anything to my brows but "pruning" them, but then I saw this product at Marshall's (I recognized it from Sephora where it was of course much more expensive) and picked it up. <3 !!

P184208_hero.jpg


I love it! It's brows in bloom by Anastasia. It comes with a wax to smooth brows down, two eyebrow powders, an applicator brush, and a highlighter. Helps me fill in and reshape my brows if I need to!
 

HadleyH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,811
Location
Top of the Hill
mysterygal said:
hopefully I get this right! I believe it was the 30's (or was it the 20's) that ladies would actually shave their eyebrows then stencil them on.

Yes i think it was in the 1930s, at least in this 30s still of Jean Harlow they look shaved and stenciled to me! :eek: What can you do, fashion is fashion LOL[huh]

Jean_Harlow-01.jpg
 

Laura Chase

One Too Many
Messages
1,354
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
I would love to try going 30's with my brows, but I simply cannot figure out what type of face this suits and what type of face this really doesn't suit? I mean, it'd look strange at first no matter what, but maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it?
 

Inky

One Too Many
Messages
1,743
Location
State of Confusion AKA California
waaay back in 1980 in my old punk rock days I shaved my eyebrows off (and my head, but that's a story for another day!) and kept them shaved off for about five years. (scary picture of me in 1984 here!)

It was very odd at first as you lose your "expression" without your eyebrows. I got very adept at drawing them on for work and had a 30's look to my make up and short bobbed wig that I wore to cover my bald head at work. Practice Practice Practice.

And boy it was bad when I was running late and forgot my eyebrows - I'm just grateful they eventually grew back, though not completely, because I heard many horror stories about them not coming back at all.

The 30's ladies look so elegant with their penciled in brows, that's for sure.
 

HadleyH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,811
Location
Top of the Hill
Inky! wow, that picture does capture the spirit of the 1980s well! he he! :p ...and yes, those 30s ladies looked quite glamorous!


Laura Chase, i wouldn not recommend to shave your eyebrows because they might never grow out again, the risk is too high! :(
 

Redhead

New in Town
Messages
22
Location
Northern California
I had a theater costume teacher of mine who was in her late 60s and told me an eyebrow horror story. When she and her sister were teenagers it was the fad to have drawn on eyebrows so her sister shaved them off. THEY NEVER EVER GREW BACK. For the rest of her life she hated the way she looked without her natural eyebrows, so beware of the razor blade!

Personally, the thicker (but manicured) the better.

Regards,
Chandra
 

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