Not going to lie, writing this article reminds me of a time in 2017 that I bleached my eyebrows in my freshman year of college under dimly lit dorm bathroom fluorescents. What can I say? I wanted something different.
In any case, such a dramatic and daring style trend has a thin margin of error, but in the words of Tim Gunn, these celebs make it work.
Most recently, singer-songwriter and flutist Lizzo, 33, debuted a barely-there bleach blonde brow partnered with an Annie Lenox-style blonde bob and polka dot eye look in an Instagram and Tik Tok duo debut. The “Truth Hurts” singer and self-proclaimed “Bop Star” worked with makeup artist Alexx Mayo in order to achieve this look.
“We constantly have this ‘parking lot’ of ideas and this was something I have been wanting to do for a while,” Mayo said in an interview. “A few days before, I found this image of a ’90s supermodel … I showed it to her and she loved it, so I told her, ‘I think it’s time.’”
Among the very first to try out the bleached brow look was Kim Kardashian. She debuted the look in an editorial shoot for SKIMS, a “solutions-oriented” underwear brand in their “OUTDOOR BASICS DROP 1” collection. The models for the shoot, including Kardashian, wore neutral body suits and undergarments, all sporting the forehead-extending effect of the bleached brow in what looks like a desert-styled set. The shoot has been called a “photoshop blunder” and has been criticized for perpetuating unrealistic body standards.
But since this shoot, Kardashian has returned to her dark-browed signature. In typical Kardashian fashion, bold choices are traded in for familiar and safe patterns to maintain a brand that is so meticulous and established.
Others who have donned this trend in recent months are Katy Perry, who bleached her brows for a Tinker Bell costume on American Idol, and Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams for her role as punk Pamela Rooke in a new TV series about The Sex Pistols.
This trend seems light years away from the usual dark and natural brows that have dominated the beauty landscape over the past years. Are we going to see more celebs follow suit? Or is this sudden surge in bleached brows just a matter of circumstance? Either way, it is definitely a means to make a bold impact on audiences, with very mixed reactions.
