Eyebrows

As I looked across the dining table at my teenage daughter I realised there was something quite different about her.   I studied her for a moment and then noticed that half her eyebrows were missing, not the recent trend of shaving off the complete brow and drawing them back on, no, these looked like they had taken fright at each end and rushed towards her nose leaving two short fluffy blobs. They were now “half” brows looking worried about what was going to happen to them next!  I was wondering what would possess her to do such a thing to her once beautiful brows and realised probably the same thing that also possessed me to shave all of mine off at the age of 15.

Eyebrows it seems have been the victims of fashion as much as hair and clothing throughout the centuries with the Egyptians blackening their eyebrows with kohl giving a dramatically beautiful effect and the Ancient Greeks favouring the uni-brow. In 8th century Japan women would shave off the entire brow and paint them high up on the forehead.

Medieval England saw eyebrows completely shaved off and the hair line plucked giving a vast expanse of forehead a look favoured by Queen Elizabeth I. The 16th century saw the return of the bushy brows and many women took to wearing brow wigs made of bird feathers or mouse skin.

In our recent history eyebrows have gone through rapid changes, the thin high arch of the 20's and 30's, dark, thick and beautifully shaped of the 50's (Elizabeth Taylor was renowned for her beautiful eyebrows) and the more natural look of the 70's and 80's.

There is no doubt that eyebrows are needed to frame the eyes and balance the face and to show emotions through facial expressions. Starting just before the inner corner of the eye and finishing just at the outer corner of the eye or longer if preferred, you can arch them in line with the iris for an awake look or leave them straight.

Colour and shape

You can keep your eyebrows in shape by waxing, tweezing or threading . Sometimes it's easier to have this done by a beauty therapist if you wear glasses. To achieve darker brows you can have them dyed or use a  temporary eyebrow colour applied with brush or pencil. You can purchase eyebrow shaping kits which include stencils and colours for the perfect finish. Another dramatic effect is to have them temporarily tattooed

Restoring patchy or thinning eyebrows.

Loss of eyebrow hair can be caused by:

• Over plucking
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Thyroid problems
• Ageing
• Prolonged use of certain medications. 

A natural solution for thinning or patchy brows is Castor oil, applied before bedtime, gently rubbed in the offending areas can after a few weeks help the hair grow back (this also works on eyelashes). Hibiscus hair oil can also stop fall out, help thicken and encourage new growth, it also helps to naturally darken the brows.
Rapid brow eyebrow enhancing serum available from chemists at a cost of approx £37.00 has had very good reviews with 90% of users being very happy with the results. Although they found it a little pricey initially, agreed it was worth the money for the results.

Happy to say my daughters eyebrows have now grown back to their former glory, just wondering what she will do to them next?