Eyebrows are one of our most expressive features, and the trends surrounding them have changed dramatically over the decades. Here is a quick journey through 100 years of eyebrow history.
1920s — Thin and Painted Brows
Flapper fashion and the silent film era put thin, low-sitting, and curved eyebrows on the map. Clara Bow, with her carefully drawn arches, became iconic — and when makeup finally became widely available to ordinary women, thin and dramatic brows were the hottest trend.
1930s — Hollywood's Golden Age
Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, and Jean Harlow kept thin brows alive but with a more natural touch. Eyebrow pencils became available to everyone, and women everywhere could copy their favourite actresses' looks.
1940s — Naturalism by Necessity
War changed everything, including fashion. Shortages of cosmetics led to more natural brows, and Vaseline replaced the tweezers as a grooming technique. Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall proved that fuller, more natural brows could be just as glamorous.
1950s — Bold Femininity
Elizabeth Taylor rocked full, dark, and well-groomed brows, proving that strong brows could be a woman's most powerful feature. With makeup now available to everyone, women experimented freely with their look.
1960s — The Decade of Eyelashes
Twiggy and the mod movement toned down the brows and let the eyelashes take centre stage. Blondes left their brows almost unnoticed, and the focus shifted to hairstyles and colourful eyeshadows.
1970s — The Decade of Freedom
Disco, hippie culture, and individualism meant there was no single brow trend. Cher favoured full arches while others went thin. Fashion was freedom, and eyebrows got a mind of their own.
1980s — Bushy Brows with a Vengeance
Madonna, Brooke Shields, and a whole generation of supermodels brought back full and bushy brows. Bold eyeshadow and volume dominated, and tweezers were temporarily put away.
1990s — The Ultra-Thin Brow
Drew Barrymore and Courtney Love plucked their brows to within a millimetre of their lives. An entire generation of women still regrets it — struggling with sparse brows that simply refuse to grow back fully. Damn the 90s!
2000s — Sleek Curves
Eyebrows started growing back, but thick and full were not quite there yet. Sleek brows with defined curves and a highlight under the brow arch were the norm. Towards the end of the decade, more natural looks began to take over.
2010s and Beyond — The Great Eyebrow Comeback
Cara Delevingne changed everything. Bushy, full, and well-defined brows were back — and here to stay. Emilia Clarke showed that dark brows paired with lighter hair was a combination to aspire to. Today there is room for everything: from bleached catwalk brows to microblading and brow lamination, and eyebrow serums helping an entire generation recover from the tweezing damage of the 90s.
Give Your Brows a Boost
Want to help your brows along? Xbrow Eyebrow Serum stimulates the follicles and helps deliver noticeably fuller, more defined brows in as little as 28 days. Complement it with the Xbrow Eyebrow Pencil for natural, well-shaped brows — whatever the current trend may say.
