The Why and How on Strong Brows

With New York and London fashion weeks down for the count (Milan starts today, then on to Paris!) we've seen a fair number of trends emerge. For clothing, black and white, lamé... for beauty, the animal has trended toward a minimal look. For the most part, one thing is still strong, and that's the brow.

Oh, the brow! It frames the eye, it's naturally there, anyway (can't much say the same for eyeshadow, can you?), it's fairly simple to pull together, and it'll work on all of us without making us look like freaks. You never know when you see it on a model, right? Trust on this one — there's no need to go over the top.

We all went through the horror of over-tweezing in 7th grade, against the warning, and to the dismay (and probably entertainment) of our mothers. Like many other things, we can now say that mom was right in this case. Let the brows grow free!

Your brows are beautiful, baby. They are an anchor on the face, framing your eyes (the windows to your soul!) and everyone should have a pair. Even if your tween plucking left you with permanently sparse eyebrows, there are products that'll fill 'em in, products that'll fake density, and for those with abundant brow hairs, products that'll groom.

Take miracle product number one: Benefit's aptly named Gimme Brow. The fiber gel formula adheres to whatever you've got and creates a strong, bountiful brow out of nothing. Perfect for filling in gaps and remedying deforestation.

If you are one of the lucky ones with brows to spare, simply groom unruly hairs into submission with a brow taming grooming gel. Marc Jacobs' new product does this wonderful thing where the caterpillar-ness of the brush keeps grooming looking all natural, but slightly tidier.

Tell me that isn't the easiest thing you've ever done for your face.