Just because it's in Fashion doesn't make it pretty...

Anyone who knows me well will easily say I have a slight eyebrow obsession- ok maybe not so slight as like any addict, I am consumed with giving great arch as my past Tweezerman tweezer post will attest. The international fashion set wrapped up their beauty duty for Spring/Summer 2010 in Paris and there seems to be a very interesting, some might say alarming, eyebrow trend. As in where are they ? As in where is the pretty?

As the models made their way down the catwalks many designers, including Lanvin and Givenchy, were channeling barely there brow aesthetic. It was as if the late great makeup maestro, Kevyn Aucoin, had hauled out his home bleach kit and went on a lightening spree. It was a "no brow wow" so to speak, with oodles of arches turning shades of an interesting orange or barely there blonde. Faces were left oddly naked looking even when the rest of the features were made up.Without brows, the face looks oddly otherworldly, a celestial terrestrial, or as if a Japanese anime character has come to life. Obviously this is the point- by negating such an important facial feature we are made to see the face differently and the cherry pout sauntering down the runway at influential Prada popped in a new and exciting way.

As someone who has loved his Jolene bleach kit and thrown a lighter shade for many a model on various photo shoots,commercials and music videos, I laughed out loud. While the living, breathing, all things 'must be fashionable' flock, are busily fading away their envious arches and proclaiming this a 'you must do trend', for most real women, a battle with the bleach bottle is a bad idea that many will avoid. It's a beauty moment better left for E eyed club kids and edgily determined fashionistas, tripping over their Manolos and Jimmy Choos in an effort to lighten up and bare it all.

Gorgeous brows give overall balance and are like the latest It bag, one just worn on the face. As many a makeup artist worth their weight in tweezers will attest, an artful arch can take years off your true age and is way less expensive and invasive then a face full of injectables or a loaded syringe of botox. Stripping away the eyebrow is like taking away her hard won and worn beauty armor, no matter how fashionable it makes her. While fashion may dictate the newest trend, most women set their own style and worrying about eyebrow roots and re-growth is beyond the pale, no matter what Miuccia says. While alien beauty has its appeal, few women are willing to give away their power of pretty.