The “Boy Brow” era has come to an end, and the thin-brow rebellion is just beginning. It’s safe to say that Pamela Anderson’s nineties brows walked so that Gabbriette’s could run—but is it worth it? Eyebrows are often referred to as “the garden of the face” because they require significant commitment. They take time to grow, need regular maintenance, and are something many of us take pride in. The thought of ditching the brows you’ve built brick by brick can feel intimidating and daunting. Luckily, hair grows back, and you have me (a survivor of brow blindness) to guide you through joining the thin brow movement.
I’ve had light hair my entire life, and I used to feel insecure about how faint my eyebrows were because it often looked like I didn’t have any. As I got older and my hair darkened, I craved fuller brows. Then, on one fateful day in 2023, I was floored by a photo on Gabbriette’s Instagram (this happens fairly often) showcasing her razor-thin brows. I shut my phone off, grabbed my favorite tweezers, said a humble prayer to my makeup mirror, and took the plunge.
The best advice I can give when carving your new brows is to start with a clean face, prepped with skincare. Begin by tweezing (with a CLEAN tweezer) any stray hairs you normally would to achieve your natural shape in its simplest form, it will give you a better idea of your brow structure rather than diving in blindly. I personally found it easier to start tweezing underneath the brow first, as it’s much easier to achieve an even look this way rather than starting from the top (we want our brows to be sisters, not living in different area codes). I also recommend taking baby steps toward thinner brows (think of it as a test drive). You can always tweeze more, but you can’t put the hair back.
Adjusting to the new look took a second, but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with it. Reflecting on my old brows, I realized how much they covered my face. I had always thought of my hair as my security blanket, but it turns out my eyebrows were too. The only downside? The new responsibility of tweezing them every few days to keep them intact, which can be time-consuming and tedious. Nonetheless, I don’t see myself going back to the boy brow anytime soon, and I can’t wait to see you try this look, too.
