2017 Was a Really Wild Year for Eyebrows

Remember when we thought Cara Delevingne’s bushy eyebrows were a lewk? Those were the days. Now you can see a set of full, untweezed brows and not bat an eye because they barely register on 2017’s Brow Barometer. That’s because this year has introduced us to everything from dragon brows to bauble brows to feather brows. Are they at all wearable in real life? Uh, not really—which is why they exist only on Instagram. But to discount them entirely would mean ignoring a big movement in the world of brows. Even if you wouldn’t show up to work on a Tuesday with dragon brows, the fact that dragon brows even exist indicates a new openness to beauty experimentation.

For years, brows have defined more than your face. Some have turned women into bona fide icons, from the skinny brows of pinups to Brooke Shields to, yeah, Cara Delevingne. But these days you know the brows better than who’s actually wearing them. (The “who” can be summed up pretty tidily by Insta-famous makeup artists and vloggers.) But—as we asked ourselves once squiggle brows happened—why is this happening?

“I think the focus on brow trends this past year came from a combination of people wanting to find new, exciting ways of using their brow products and wanting to push the envelope by creating unique, avant-garde applications,” says Alyssa Anderson, artistry and creative marketing manager at Anastasia Beverly Hills (and, P.S., an Insta-famous beauty influencer in her own right). “The easiest way to be noticed is to do something new that no one else is doing.” That’s a plus on social media, where beauty vloggers compete for fans. As we learned with crazy beauty hacks, if you come up with something bizarre enough, it could can pay off in terms of the almighty follower count.

That’s what happened to Stella Sironen, the makeup artist who created feather brows. (Technically, her friend did it. He’d been brushing her eyebrows and absentmindedly parted them, and the two cracked up.) “I realized immediately that a middle-part brow was something that had never been done before in makeup, so I decided to do my own version and post it on Instagram,” says Sironen. “I figured that some people would find the look unattractive and some would think it was revolutionary.”

Unsurprisingly, that was exactly the result. But what Sironen didn’t expect was the jump in followers. Before her post, she’d had about 28,000 followers. After feather-brow-gate? 82,000 and counting. People even recognized her when she was out and about.

On the flip side, Sironen also received death threats about the brows. (PSA: If you feel the need to send a death threat over eyebrows—weird or not—you should take up deep breathing or something.) Some of this weird, irrational anger may have come from the reporting about these trends. Stories entitled “‘Split brows’ are here and WTF is wrong with people” and “Someone started this ‘eyebrow ponytail’ trend as a joke, and it’s already gotten out of hand” beg for clicks—and also fuel the rage. People are on edge these days, especially online; if you don’t believe us, please direct your attention to a little website called Twitter. These admittedly absurd, for-the-‘gram-only brow trends are often portrayed in a light that makes them an easy target for haters.

But while the brow looks themselves work best through the lens of social media, it seems to be having real impact on brow makeup IRL. According to the NPD Group, sales of brow makeup increased by 8 percent over the course of 2017—all the way to $356.6 million in November. Maybe not so surprisingly, Kat Von D is even releasing a collection of brow powders in a rainbow of colors.

Still, it’s hard not to feel tired with the onslaught of these “trends.” What’s next, holographic brow color? (This is not a recommendation!) But love them or hate them, they carved themselves a spot among the most talked about beauty looks of the year. Here’s a look back at the most extravagant.

Feather Brows

The brows that started it all, the feather brows are the work of Sironen and her glue stick. (Seriously.) And, depending on what you do with them—e.g., one fan’s homage with a less drastic part and gold glitter—it can be surprisingly pretty.

Peacock Brows

After posting her initial feather brow, Sironen went the extra mile and added a peacock detail using body paint, eyeliner, and (of course) a glue stick. In the caption, she posed a thoughtful question to detractors: “I know that brows are a sacred part of the face but consider this: [If] there is lip art and eye art and tons of different forms of creative makeup, why is experimenting with brows so strange?”

Barbed Wire Brows

In retrospect, brows started off relatively tame. (The key word being relatively.) These barbed wire brows caught attention beyond the beauty world—and, to be fair, they’re somewhat wearable. The only risk you really run when wearing these is someone reaching out and trying to smooth them down for you.

Dragon Brows

Inspired by Sorenson’s feather brows, this makeup artist turned her brows into dragon spikes. Good if you’re going to dress up for a costume party as Daenerys Targaryen, mother of dragons, and not so much for anything else.

Gucci Snake Brows

Girl, Gucci had better have sent you all the free swag for this.

Squiggle Brows

Consider this a more cerebral—and, uh, literal—take on the Gucci snake brows. It’s a beauty influencer’s take on the wavy brows first spotted on Korean rapper and visual artist MLMA.

Brow Braids

Lest you start trying to grow out your brows in an effort to get them long enough to braid, know this: It’s the work of Photoshop. (Although it definitely fooled so many commenters that makeup artist Eros Gomez had to add a note that he’d edited it.) Even if your brows were long enough to braid, the process would likely require seriously small hands. (We can think of someone we’d recommend…)

Split Brows

No brows were harmed in the making of this look. Instead, makeup artist Diana Reda used makeup to create the illusion of a “split” brow and then smoothed it out with FaceTune.

McDonald’s Arches

Beauty queen Huda Kattan gets it. By September, everyone’s feeling some brow fatigue. So, in a parody video of brow trends, Kattan gave a tutorial on how to create the most absurd brow of all: golden arches.

Nike Brows

If you weren’t yet all aboard the brow bandwagon, these Nike-inspired brows had an underlying message: Just do it.

Lightning Brows

Ah, so it is possible to love Harry Potter too much.

Brow Crown

Dragon brows got an upgrade fit for a queen…if said queen were on Instagram and had a few spare rhinestones (or, hell, let’s just make them diamonds) lying around.

Bauble Brows

These ornament-inspired brows aren’t actually a bad idea if you have a holiday party on the cal—and four hours to spare, because this one looks like it took some time, not to mention a steady hand. And a magnifying mirror. And did we mention time?

Christmas Tree Brows

Drawing ornaments around your brows is one thing. Actually decking them out with rhinestones? Probably not that doable, though it does admittedly (we say, somewhat begrudgingly) make for a festive look.

Related Stories:-The Biggest Beauty Trends of 2018, According to Pinterest-A Definitive Timeline of How Beauty Hacks Officially Went Off the Rails-10 Secrets of Women With Amazing Brows

2017 Was a Really Wild Year for Eyebrows

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