High brow trends

PERHAPS it’s at Bosco’s non-existent feet we can lay the blame for many of our beauty blunders: maybe it’s hard-coded from the cradle, but us Irish girls often seem to take more than a little inspiration from his look: think frizzy hair and lashings of blusher.

Oh, and then there’s his complete lack of anything remotely resembling eyebrows, probably due to an over-zealous amount of time spent in the bathroom with Marian, tweezing his arches to a single strand.

It was the squeaky-voiced puppet’s reappearance back into popular culture in recent years that brought the comparison sharply back into focus, with the launch of Bosco DVDs in the middle of the last decade.

And coincidentally, at the time he popped back into the cultural lexicon, high fashion began to concur with our eighties-era puppet pal: in 2009, Givenchy sensationally used Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima in an advertising campaign where her brows had been bleached to obscurity. With that came a slew of campaigns and fashion shows where brows were blocked out or bereft. But as ever, fashion is a fickle beast and right now, we’ve come full circle.

Makeup artist Christine Lucignano is delighted at the shift. “I am thrilled that brows have made their way back into importance. I have long been a fan of strong, tailored brows and with the products out there at the moment, it’s easy to be a brow girl,” she enthuses.

In 2012, Bosco’s at the back of the shelf and scripted reality TV programmes Desperate Scousewives and The Only Way is Essex are the shows that are firmly in favour. Likewise, it’s the Scouse Brow we’re looking to emulate now — or as your local salon will sell it to you, HD Brows.

A seven-step beautifying process that involves a wax, tint, shape and more, if nothing else signifies that eyebrows are back with a bang.

And it’s a celebrity favourite too. Cheryl Cole, Danni Minogue and The Saturdays’ Una Healy are all fans of this strong, high-commitment finish, and for around €50, you can try it on for size as well.

But it’s not for everyone. “I think that HD brows suit certain women,” comments Lucignano, adding, “our ‘creator’ decided when we were born which girls would naturally work with HD brows and one has to balance the features on the face. So if you want to have HD brows then you may want to pull back on your other features a bit.”

Cost is a factor too, with the treatment only lasting around four-to-eight-weeks, and if you want your brows to maintain their crisp, sharp profile you’ll either have to shell out regularly or get smart and learn how to get the look for yourself at home.

Not quite your thing? Fret not — here are four more looks to try on for size.

CRYSTAL MAZE

As if we needed any more confirmation that brows were back — and big news to boot — at Chanel’s recent Autumn Winter 2012 runway show in Paris, models walked with more crystals, sequins and glitter than a branch of Claire’s Accessories adorning their brows. As a regular backstage at fashion shows, Lucignano’s got an insider tip on how to ape the look. “Those of us who are not on a catwalk but want to do something in the spirit of the Chanel brows can certainly add highlights with the subtle touch of metallic sweeps of colour onto our finished brows. This can be accomplished with either shadows or coloured brow gels,” she advises.

Difficulty level: You’ll need to get crafty for these so they’re definitely best left for dedicated followers of fashion. Or glue-gun happy members of the ICA. For a quick fix, sweep Urban Decay’s Heavy Metal glitter eyeliner, €18.50, across the brow hair for instant impact.

THE NEW IT BROW

Typified by lots of volume and little plucking, think model-of- the-moment Cara Delevingne, who has loaned her lowering brows to Burberry, Dominic Jones and H&M campaigns as well as up-and-coming actress Lily Collins, whose thick, lush brows are the talk of the town.

Yep, these girls aren’t doing wan and wispy: it’s full-on, luxuriant foliage for them and they’re blazing a trail for anyone who previously had a daily plucking schedule to maintain.

“This new model brow, much like Brooke Shields in her day, was given by nature so we know it works,” declares Lucignano. If you’ve naturally got brows like this then you’re in luck: let them run wild and just tidy around the edges. Right now, you’ve never been more on trend!

Difficulty level: Well, if you don’t have the raw materials, you’ll have to play dress up. “If you are going to try and fake that full and defined brow you need to keep it in perspective with the rest of your features. And, of course, your application is everything: the use of both powder and pencil will be most effective,” she says. Try the Chanel Perfect Brow Kit, €53.90, or Rimmel’s Professional Eyebrow Pencil, €4.65.

WINDSWEPT

Think Victoria Beckham on the May 2012 cover of Harper’s Bazaar China: this high fashion, styled brow is not one for the office. But its upswept appearance is pretty appropriate for breezy Ireland where it’s all too easy to imagine stepping out into a gale-force nine for a pint of milk and retuning home with a pair of these adorning your peepers. Just be careful they don’t stay that way, eh?

Difficulty level: Easy — just brush brows upwards and fix with a bit of clear mascara or Vaseline, but erm, it looks a bit silly to be honest. And if you do brave it for the nine to five, expect to spend your day fending off queries from puzzled male colleagues in particular.

THE LADYLIKE

Not everyone can pull off the full-on graphic intensity of HD brows or can grow this year’s IT brow. Proving there really is a style out there for everyone, burlesque queen Dita Von Teese is the poster girl for retro, elegant arches which come complete with neat tips and a well-defined shape.

Don’t be afraid to extend their length or add extra volume with product — after all, that’s what it’s there for. “I think that great brows can be either natural or dramatic,” comments Lucignano. “The key is that they suit the face as well as the occasion. I think we girls should experiment more with our brows and try either more volume or even changing the shape of our natural brows,” she says.

Difficulty level: Getting a great initial shape is key to this look. Unless you’re very confident with plucking in a whole new look, get a professional shape done first, and then maintain it at home afterwards. Threading is ideal, and a good tweezers, like Shavata’s Heart Tweezers, €27, is a worthy investment for daily upkeep thanks to excellent fine tips and ease of control.