Thin eyebrows were a mainstay of 90s fashion. Supermodels, musicians, and actors alike fed the skinny brow trend.
Like all trends, thin eyebrows are coming around again. Lots of celebrities have been spotted on social media (and even on the red carpet) with much thinner eyebrows than we’ve seen in recent years.
Thinking about thinning out your brows to jump on the skinny eyebrows trend? Don’t reach for the tweezers just yet. There’s a lot you need to know about safely removing eyebrow hair so you don’t leave yourself with permanently overplucked thin brows.
This article tells you all you need to know about:
In 2022, many style outlets reported that thin eyebrows were back. Celebrities like Doja Cat, Millie Bobby Brown, and Nicola Peltz Beckham have all been seen sporting a thinner brow in recent weeks.
Although not all Instagram looks translate offline into the real world, the thin brow trend has taken off before meaning there’s a high chance we’ll see a return to skinny eyebrows again.
This may not sound like great news if you’ve spent the better part of a decade growing/taming/styling (delete as appropriate) your lustrous and thick brows.
That being said, all trends come and go so it makes sense that bushy brows will inevitably be back as well. So even if you want to jump on this year’s skinny brow bandwagon, you should probably know how to shape and thin your eyebrows without permanently damaging them.
00s thin eyebrows are much more experimental than 90s brows. The 90s brow trend was all about eyebrows that looked naturally skinny where all you needed were some tweezers and a brow pencil to shape.
However, the new modern trend requires a total brow shape overhaul. Celebrities like Doja Cat and Bella Hadid have removed their natural brows in favour of a full pencil-thin brow redesign, channeling 90s brow trailblazer Gwen Stefani.
The brow design isn’t the only difference, however. There’s also a big shift in how these looks are being achieved. Instead of plucking (which can risk serious disruption of your eyebrow hair growth cycle) celebrities have taken to shaving or bleaching their brows to create a blank canvas.
Overplucking can cause permanent damage to your brows. It’s a major cause of eyebrow hair loss, and one of the most common reasons people seek eyebrow hair transplants.
Repeated plucking damages the hair follicles. Eventually, this trauma can cause the follicle to stop producing hair, leading to sparse eyebrows. When times change and you want to regrow your eyebrows, this may not be possible as your brows tend to grow back in uneven patches due to overplucking. That’s why it’s essential that you avoid overplucking your eyebrow hair.
While tweezers are OK for removing the odd straggly eyebrow hair, there are safer ways to thin your eyebrows.
Beauticians are trained to shape your eyebrows using the most appropriate techniques for the look you want. So this is probably the safest option, especially if you haven’t experimented with brow removal before.
If possible, avoid threading, as this can also cause irreversible eyebrow hair follicle damage.
Makeup can help you create the illusion of thinner brows without actually touching them. Use concealer and foundation to cover up your brows. This is also called brow blocking, and it’s used by makeup and drag artists to achieve bespoke brows. Here’s how you can block your brows with makeup:
If you want to go the whole hog and remove your eyebrows fully, shaving them is a much better option than plucking. Shaving doesn’t impact the hair follicle in the same way as plucking, so it can be safer than using tweezers to get the look you want.
Shaving can irritate your skin. Use the right technique and apply soothing skin balms to prevent rashes and skin irritation.
Plucking your eyebrows can become a habit. But you don’t need to constantly attend to your brows. The eyebrow hair growth cycle is usually 3-4 months long, so you don’t need to take out the tweezers very often [1]. Restrict your eyebrow hair removal to no more than once every 2 months.
If you’re plucking your own eyebrows, it’s easy to overdo it. But if you make a mistake (such as overplucking on one side), try not to overcompensate on the other.
You might look a bit lopsided for a few days, but it’s better than losing your eyebrow hairs completely. This is another good reason to see a brow technician if you’re new to shaping your eyebrows, or if you want to get thin eyebrows safely. Learn more about how long it takes for eyebrows to grow back and what you can do to help them along.
Even if you’re keen to experiment with a new eyebrow shape, you may not want to go full Doja Cat and completely remove your brows. Here are some more subtle ways to wear thin eyebrows in 2023.
Pamela Anderson’s trademark skinny brows are back in the limelight. Coordinated with dark makeup and modern brown lipstick, subtle, narrow pencil-thin arches can add 90s glamour to your look.
Thin eyebrows don’t have to look highly stylised. Light shaping can give you a natural finish that suits lots of different face shapes. Here are Cate Blanchett and Halle Berry sporting narrow, natural-looking eyebrows.
Ultra-thin eyebrows are a current catwalk favourite, so if you want to push the brow boundaries, this is a look to try out. Just remember to cover or shave your brows to the required length — don’t pluck them.
If you accidentally overpluck your brows, the best thing to do is to give them a few months to grow back. There’s always a chance they might recover. Try solutions like Minoxidil for eyebrows, which is proven to stimulate eyebrow hair growth [2-3].
However, if you don’t see any regrowth within six months, you may need to consider other options.
Common treatments include:
As one of the UK’s leading eyebrow transplant clinics for more than 45 years, we’ve seen first-hand the risks of the thin eyebrow trend. Remember that many celebrities have professional stylists to ensure they don’t damage their existing brow hairs (and the money to fix it if things go wrong!).
UK eyebrow transplants cost £3,820 on average. So it can be expensive to restore your eyebrows if you don’t take care of them. That’s why we recommend consulting a professional before you make any dramatic changes.
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