Eyebrow modification

Eyebrow modification

A woman's eyebrow that has been modified via waxing

Eyebrows are a major facial feature. Several cosmetic methods have been developed to enhance the look of one's eyebrows, whether the goal is to add or remove hair, change the color, or change the position of the eyebrow.

Several options exist for removing hair in order to achieve a thinner or smaller eyebrow, or to "correct" a unibrow, including tweezing, waxing, threading and electronic tweezer. The most common method is to use tweezers to thin out and shape the eyebrow.^[3] Waxing is also becoming more popular in recent times.^[4] Lastly, there is the option of threading eyebrows, wherein a cotton thread is rolled over hair to pull it out.^[5] Small scissors are sometimes used to trim the eyebrows, either along with another method of hair removal or alone. All of these methods can be painful for some seconds or minutes due to the sensitivity of the area around the eye, but, often, this pain decreases over time as the individual becomes used to the sensation. After a certain period of time, hair that has been plucked will stop growing back.^[6] There are some who completely wax or shave off their entire eyebrows, then, either leave them bare, stencil or draw them in with eye liner, or tattoo them on. In Western societies, it has become more common for men to pluck part of their eyebrows as well.

To create a fuller look, eyebrows can be cloned in an eyebrow transplant, wherein individual strands of the eyebrow are mimicked to create a natural looking eyebrow of the desired shape. Eyebrow brushes and shaders are also used to further define the eyebrow. A fairly recent trend in eyebrow modification is in the form of eyebrow tinting, in which permanent dye, similar to that of hair color, is used on the eyebrow, often to darken them. Generally, these procedures may be performed by a Certified Lashologist or Cosmetician.

An eyebrow-lift, a cosmetic surgery to raise the eyebrow, usually in order to create a more feminine or youthful appearance, is a new phenomenon.^[7] They can be affected during a face lift or an eye lift. More recently, doctors inject patients' eyebrows with botox or similar toxins to temporarily raise the eyebrow.^[8]

Shaving lines in eyebrows is another cosmetic alteration, more common among younger people in the 1990s and 2000s