Style

Brow Braiding Is The Most Confusing Beauty Illusion

So. Many. Brow. Trends. Microblading, feather brows, and squiggle brow have asserted their dominance on Instagram recently. And that's not even to mention the extremely thick and high def "Instagram brow" itself. Now, brow braiding is the latest 'grammable beauty trend. But it isn't makeup magic nor does it involve serious digital dexterity. It's totally Photoshopped.

But did you really need me to tell you that?

Eyebrow hairs are super short, and in many cases, they are fine. How can you maneuver the pads of your fingers to grip follicles and then fashion them into a braid? It's counterintuitive and obviously impossible.

Still, that didn't stop Internet makeup artist Eros Gomez from actually attempting a brow braid. The L.A.-based teen told Allure that he tried to create a braid with hair gel but it didn't work. He gave up and showcased his decent photo editing skills instead. It took him about 20 minutes to layer a photo and to craft faux braids in his brows, which was an idea inspired by the brow chains trend.

Instagram became somewhat of a house divided over braided brows and some commenters requested a tutorial, indicating that perhaps they thought the braided brows were authentic.

Gomez was clear in his caption that this is Photoshop trickery and ultimately an optical illusion.

It's a fun look even if it's faux.

Some people didn't love this visual trick. To each their own. As Eros stated, it was just for fun. Don't take it too seriously, brow elitists!

Here's another sampling of the mixed reactions.

It's clearly a divisive look. That said, as of press time, the image received over 171,000 likes and inspired a slew of copy cats, like this braided brow.

Personally, it's not my thing. If my brow hairs were indeed long enough to plait, I still wouldn't do it.