Just as Snapchat filters need to scan certain points of your face to process a full face shape, eyebrows are key to our own visual system of processing faces. In fact, research has shown that eyebrows are “critical for emotional expression, as well as facial recognition.”
If eyes are the window to the soul, then eyebrows are the window to what’s on the surface. And not to be superficial, but they can really help a girl look good (and are a surprisingly marketable commodity — just ask Cara Delevingne). Lucky for us, there are plenty of celebrity eyebrows to draw inspiration from to help us achieve great brows. Get ready to flip through some of the most recognizable and in-demand celebrity eyebrows right now, along with tips on how to make them yours.
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Images: Getty
The Top 10 Most Coveted Celebrity Brows
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Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne's brows mean business. Literally. This year alone they helped her land one of the biggest beauty contracts on the market as Rimmel London's newest brand ambassador. Just like Tyra Banks' five finger forehead and Cindy Crawford's trademark mole launched their massively successful careers, Cara's distinctively thick and bold arched brows have given her a name in the industry. So, what's Cara's trick to keeping her bushy eyebrows on point? Not letting a single person near them, including herself. She says, "They just grow. I'm lucky with the shape — I inherited it from my grandmother. I pluck a few, but I don't shape them." Noted.
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Camilla Belle
Camilla Belle originally burst onto the scene as Joe Jonas' romantic fling, but now she is better known as a talented indie actress — and that girl whose photo you tore out of a magazine and brought to your local brow bar. Camilla's brows, while thick and bold, are maintained through a combination of trimming, plucking and gelling. They are high-maintenance full brows. Those of you looking for a more wild and bushy look will need to look elsewhere for inspiration.
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Beyoncé
Beyoncé nails the length of her full natural eyebrows, which is a tricky process that comes down to her face shape and certain points on her face. There is a way to determine the proper length of your brows and all you need is a pencil to figure it out. Once you've got a sturdy, long pencil, hold it vertically along the side of your nose so it hits the inner corner of your eyelid. Your brow should line up with the edge of the pencil. If it doesn’t, aim to grow that out. Meanwhile, take a soft brow pencil and fill that space in. Then take your pencil and run it diagonally from the corner of your outer eyelid up toward your temple. It should ideally hit the end of your eyebrows or show you where your brow should end otherwise.
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Eva Mendes
Despite sharing that she has a rogue right eyebrow and proclaiming her only beauty regret thus far to have been previously bleaching her eyebrows, Eva Mendes' brows are a hot commodity. How's that for inspirational? No matter what your eyebrow past or current insecurities, you too can have great brows. To achieve Eva's signature arched look, remove stray hairs from below the middle of the brow. This creates a fake lifted look, which gives the illusion of a slimmer face shape.
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Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez's body isn't the only shapely thing she owns. Check out those brows! They are full, light and soften up her angular face. Just like many other celebrities, Jennifer has grown out her brows over the years for a fuller look that balances out her face nicely — and you can, too. Just be patient and avoid any tweezer temptation.
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Megan Fox
Megan Fox has seriously gorgeous brows that open up her face and highlight its angular shape. While she has allowed her brows to grow in full, she has not gotten to this shape on her own. You can also achieve a similar shape through the use of eyebrow powder, which adds density and volume, and with a stencil to guide your strokes. Alternatively, you can use brow pencils, but powder is easier to clean up when mistakes are made and creates a softer, fuller look.
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Lily Collins
Lily Collins is the queen of the bushy natural brow look. They're even more wild than Cara Delevingne's, so they are definitely not for the faint of heart. Proof that we ladies are a bold bunch, this tutorial on how to achieve Lily's brows has a hefty view count of over 800,000.
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Amal Clooney
You may know Amal Clooney for her A-list actor husband or her impressive career as a human rights lawyer, but did you know she has seriously enviable brows? They're thick, dark and give her face incredible definition. These are powerful brows and they make you take notice. If you're looking to make a bold statement with your brows like Amal, then try using a liquid brow pencil, which will give major definition and saturation to your arches.
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Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra has perfectly shaped, mirror-image brows. "Everyone says your eyebrows are supposed to be cousins or sisters, not twins, but mine aren't. They're identical twins, and I make sure they look like that," she shared with InStyle. So, this is the woman you need to look to if you've determined brow symmetry is your destiny. Her daily brow process is fairly straightforward: comb brows upward with an eyebrow brush, use a brown pencil to line the base of the brow, brush brows back to natural placement and blend.
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Hilary Rhoda
Hilary Rhoda has a similar philosophy to her brows as Cara Delevingne: don't touch them. It appears our natural instinct as women is very much to eliminate or limit hair growth wherever possible. It could also be that the pencil-thin eyebrows of the 90s still live deep in our subconscious minds and have a way of taking control when faced with a tweezer. Despite the minimal tweezing maintenance of her brows, Hilary is a keen product advocate for Estée Lauder Brow Setting Gel, which she glides on every morning.
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Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland nails the length of her full natural eyebrows, which is a tricky process that comes down to her face shape and certain points on her face. There is a trick to determining the proper length of your brows and all you need is a pencil to figure it out! Once you've got a sturdy, long pencil, hold it vertically along the side of your nose so it hits the inner corner of your eyelid. Your brow should line up with the edge of the pencil. If it doesn’t, aim to grow that out. Meanwhile, take a soft brow pencil and fill that space in. Then take your pencil and run it diagonally from the corner of your outer eyelid up toward your temple. It should ideally hit the end of your eyebrows or show you where your brow should end otherwise.
