The Most Memorable Eyebrows of All Time
Anyone who has ever DIY’d their eyebrows knows this: Those few hundred hairs above the eyes are essential to communicating emotion. One false move with the tweezers and bam! — you look permanently angry, confused, or surprised. Plus, they’re key to maintaining overall facial symmetry, which studies have shown to be strongly correlated to overall attractiveness. The Atlantic recently dedicated 1,300 words to the subject in an article that covered their importance in nonverbal communication and facial recognition, the haunting fact that ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows off to mourn the death of a pet cat, and the tale of how one woman’s eyebrow transplant changed her life for the better.
Over the years, brow trends have come and gone — now fat, now thin, now mono-brow-lithic — but some iconic arches endure the test of time. Below are some of our picks for the best brows. For all 50 of the most memorable eyebrows of all time, head over to The Cut.
Photo:Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Audrey Hepburn
The poster girl for gamine’s eyebrows are fuller than you’d expect.
Related: See All of Audrey Hepburn’s Most Iconic Looks
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Photo: Danny Martindale/Getty Images
Cara Delevingne
Cara is singlehandedly responsible for the bold-brow hysteria, which has resulted in multiple breathless tutorials on beauty websites and a serious uptick in sales of eyebrow-thickening products.
Photo:Photoshot/Getty Images
Brooke Shields
Before there was Cara, there was Brooke, whose bushy, dark, strong brow was 30 years ahead of its time.
Related: The Best Products for Faking Perfect Brows
Photo:Georg Wendt/Corbis
Bert From Sesame Street
Despite the fact that his unibrow moves as a single unit, this jaundiced Muppet still manages to express an affecting amount of emotion.
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Photo:Scotty Welbourne/Getty Images
Lauren Bacall
Bacall’s arches were consistently perfectly arched and groomed in every single imageyou see of her. It’s uncanny.
Photo:Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo
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Photo:Chris Walter/Getty Images
Grace Jones
Depending on which pictures you look at,Grace’s brows are either eerily erased or drawn on in a line that almost reaches her ears. Either way: fabulous.
Related: Iconic Photos of Classic New York: Grace Jones, Jackie O., & More
Related: 26 of the Best Short Haircuts in History
Photo:Juergen Vollmer/Getty Images
Madonna Circa Who’s That Girl
Yes, it was an homage to Marilyn, but one look at daughter Lourdes and it’s clear strong-brow genes run in the Ciccone family.
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Photo:General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
Greta Garbo
These thin, often penciled-in brows looked best when paired with a jaunty hat.
For the rest of our 50 most memorable eyebrows of all time, head over to The Cut.