Eyebrows- A Historic Dilema.

We all know that eyebrows (as well as other pesky facial hair arrrrg!) can be a bit of a nightmare. Not only do we have to shape them, fill them, tame them and maintain them but we also have to follow the trends with them. Now, eyebrows may not seem like the biggest thing on the ticking the trends list, but every make-up look has a specific brow need. Not only that but your eyebrows can totally change the shape of your face... Like scarily so...  

Eyebrows- The History Timeline.

We all know the ancient Egyptians loved a bit of kohl. Those signature eyes didn’t make Cleopatra famous for nothing! What we at IKRUSH noticed during our time researching eyebrows (wow that sounds strange...) was that they also made use of kohl on their brows too! That’s right the original Scouse brow came for old Cleo herself. Who can blame the Liverpool ladies for giving the look a go when one of histories most notoriously beautiful women went there first? Who cares if she was just good looking in hieroglyphics, that’s pretty much the equivalent of todays fashion mags anyway... Right? We also have a big thank you to give to Jodie from Desperate Scousewives  for giving it the name scouse brow. Thanks Jodie, may you also go down in history!   Ancient Japanese culture also gave a bit of brow influence. In Imperial Heian culture the women would shave off their brows and repaint them higher up on the forehead, which was considered a sign of absolute beauty. This beauty look also required blacked out teeth red lips and pure white skin. Quite the lengthy regime back then huh? In todays culture we see women doing a similar- although slightly more err permanent procedure with their brows. Yep, we’re talking about the make-up tattoos a la Amy Childs. At IKRUSH we are kind of divided on this, on one hand we love the idea of never having to bother with your eyebrows again and on the other we hate the idea of never being able to change them again. Ohh the problems of the modern woman. How could we forget one of the most famous faces of all time? No, no not Beyonce... The Mona Lisa is one of the most recognisable paintings in history and all down to a coy little smile (hmm perhaps a new dating tip?). One thing that sometimes does go unnoticed is the missing brows. How could we miss that! See what we did there? The 1500’s may not be the most obvious choice for style inspiration but it seems like quite a few models have chosen the bleach blonde brows to create Mona Lisa type eyebrows. Our fav is Emma from the most recent series of Britain and Irelands Next Top Model. Not sure we could brave the bleach ourselves though... Looking on into more present times, one of the biggest influences on the brow came from the hollywood scene in the 1950’s. Diva arched eyebrowswere huge (pun not intended...) with all the biggest stars sporting perfectly plucked arches. From Marylin Monroe’s angular beauties to Audrey Hepburn’s softly raised eyebrows we loved them all. One example of the hollywood arched brow of today is Megan Fox, although people still seem the question whether she's had work done... Oh well at least she is still beautiful! Now we can’t forget the 80’s in THIS timeline can we? Big brows busted out with a love for all the bushiest eyebrows going strong. Madonna was one big star that pioneered the trend despite her make-up artist Debi Mazar pleading to pluck, she still held firm. What a pay off too, other stars followed suit such as Brooke Sheilds the bushy browed babe. Today’s celebs seem to be picking up on it too. We love Cara Delevinge’s bold dark and big eyebrows- a much more plucked version of the 80’s brow.  

Eyebrows- Our Top Tutorials.

  At the IKRUSH HQ we know that when it comes to beauty not everyone is an expert. I mean at least one of the girls will come into the office each week with a different dilemma, so  we are pretty good at finding easy-to-follow tutorials. For the brows, we found one quick tip that helps you get a good idea of the shape you need to get your eyebrows to suit your face. It also debunks a tip that has been doing the rounds for ages! Have a quick look, we swear it opened our eyebrows... I mean eyes...     Another issue is trying to get our brows looking natural. No one wants eyebrows that look super fake, even the celebrities with tattooed brows tried to opt for a more au natural look for their new eyebrows. Our next tutorial Is great for getting natural eyebrows, especially for those who are trying to sort out an over plucked brow!   

Eyebrows- The Options For Upkeep.

  It’s all fine and well knowing how to fill in your eyebrows to absolute arched perfection, but what if your not sure how to get your brows right for a good starting point? We’ll talk you through your options, giving you some pros and cons from each method. Threading is a bit of a growing technique being used at beauty salons at the moment. One of our favourites, threading is accurate and less of an irritant to the skin than waxing or hair removal cream. This is all sounding pretty good but the downside is that it is really, pretty darn sore. Those who are used to waxing may think they can handle it but it’s seriously just a whole other type of pain. SO NIPPY! One tweeter seems to have a bit of an issue with how much her stylist has been taking off too...  

How I think I look after eyebrow threading... pic.twitter.com/kIkrE0fmCt — Dana Abad (@danadanaabad) September 25, 2013

    So that’s our next tip on this method. Make sure your threading expert is really and expert. You don’t want to be walking away with next to no brows! Waxing is pretty painfull in more of a oh-no-it-burns-ahhhh-why-did-you-rip-off-my-skin kinda way. Not to put you off though... It is however a relatively cheap and easy way to get good brows and most beauticians are pretty well versed in using this technique. However, we mention the dreaded red brows for walking home. Bit of common sense, but we don’t recommend waxing right before a night out... Or doing it yourself... That’s through personal experience, bald brows are a no no. The best option for those on a budget or super busy schedual is to simply pluck it yourself!  This may be a bit scary if your a bit shaky handed but our final tutorial of the day brings us to how to pluck and pluck well.   Send us some of your top eyebrow tips on twitter or facebook we love to share at the IKRUSH HQ. Keep an eye on our beauty section for some useful and gorgeous products. By Mhairi O’Neill @IKRUSH_Mhairi