Bleached eyebrows, past and present

In 2022, bleached eyebrows pretty much define the center of cool.

The trend has been highlighting and fading since it suddenly became mainstream in the 90s, and has recently been loved by everyone from top stars like Maisie Williams and FKA twigs to regular people who just want to enhance their appearance.

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The look first gained momentum in the 1990s when fashion designers like Alexander McQueen and Anna Sui waltzed down the runway with icy cold eyebrows. Celebrities, including Jared Leto and Madonna, soon followed suit.

The late celebrity makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin described eyebrow bleaching as a way to “soften the expression” and “open up the face” in his 1997 book, “Making Faces. Before his death in 2002, he had created this look for such famous figures as Cindy Crawford and Jennifer Aniston.

Fast-forward to this past spring, when superstar makeup artist Pat McGrath bleached the eyebrows of Julia Fox, a well-known (albeit new) fashionista. (She also worked on the actress’ signature black graphic eyeliner look, which Fox launched earlier this year.)

“My goal was to create a look that was both stunning and subversive,” says McGrath, who first dabbled in bleached eyebrows while shooting for iD Magazine in the early ’90s. “The joy of bleaching eyebrows is how it completely changes the way we look at someone’s face. I believe we are entering a new era where people are ready for something other than looking ‘perfect.

Terry Barber, global creative director of art at MAC Cosmetics, agrees with McGrath that the appeal of bleached eyebrows lies in their transcendent beauty, or in his words, “almost alien” beauty.

“It’s the idea of making your face slightly less perfect by taking something away – it’s a little ambiguous,” says Barber, who did bleached brows for Richard Quinn’s fall 2022 ready-to-wear show earlier this year. “Your regular eyebrows are like the frame of your eyes, it determines what shape you draw with your eyeshadow; take it away and the world is your expression oyster.”

This level of uninhibited self-expression is resonating with today’s consumers as more and more people opt for the non-traditional beauty trend of bleached brows that transcends the realm of fashion and celebrity and permeates into everyday life.

TikTok even has a popular “Light Brows” filter created by user @sashaanddiana, which allows users to easily test out their bleached brow look without the potentially daunting commitment.

Emily Claire, a hairstylist at Rob Peetoom Salon in Williamsburg, New York, has begun offering eyebrow bleaching services to clients who come in for haircuts as a way to complete the look. A lot of people will try to use the TikTok filter before they’re actually done,” Claire says, adding that clients also often opt for a bleach and dye combo that leaves blue, russet or bronzed brows at the salon.

With the trend even sweeping through the Kar-Jenner family (Kylie, Kendall, Kim, etc.), who have not only long adhered to traditional beauty norms, but defined and perpetuated them, the look of bleached brows – though perhaps not for those faint of heart – is here to stay.

Here, check out the trends over the decades.

Launch Gallery: A Look at Bleached Brows, Then and Now

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