his week, beauty rebel Rihanna sparked an eyebrow conversation we haven’t considered in a while – is it time to ditch the Delevingne bushy-brow? Appearing on the cover of the September issue of British Vogue – looking incredible, as usual, might we add – the singer rocked a pair of skinny brows like we haven’t seen since the noughties, prompting some to speculate whether our eyebrow preferences are about to change once again. Thankfully, the answer to that question is no.
Rihanna’s British Vogue cover
Sherille Riley of Nails and Brows Mayfair, whose past clients include none other than Duchess Meghan, says it’s simply a conceptual look for creative effect. “This is not a trend for everyday wear,” she says. “Thin brows will actually overexpose features and reduce balance to the face.” And while we’re mainly glad they won’t be making a return, we couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic about the stars that truly rocked a thinner-than-thin brow back in the day. Ready for a walk down memory lane?
WATCH BELOW: The woman behind the A-lister’s eyebrows
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Gwen Stefani
Gwen was arguably the queen of the skinny brow 20 years ago – is there anything more iconic than the No Doubt lead singer in her heyday? Plus, those face gems and space buns wouldn’t look out of place on any self-respecting festival-goer these days.
MORE: Rihanna’s Vogue cover shoot is amazing (but please don’t let those skinny eyebrows come back in fashion)
Angelina Jolie
Also in the thin-brow-brigade back in the 90s was Angelina. Annoyingly, she still looks breathtakingly beautiful – here she is posing for a promo for 1995 film Hackers, and at the 2018 BAFTA awards. Has the woman aged at all?
Cameron Diaz
You could draw Cameron‘s eyebrows on with bright orange felt tip and she’d still look stunning, couldn’t you? The main issue back in 2000 was that she hadn’t discovered brow pencil yet, we reckon. The actress actually has finer brows naturally, and chooses not to over-enhance them even today.
Christina Aguilera
Oh Christina, this was a moment. The early noughties saw the singer seemingly remove every single brow hair and opt for a thin line of pencil instead – or did she block them out with makeup? We’ll never know, though we can only thank the beauty gods that her natural face-framers seem to have returned.
Drew Barrymore
Drew was another of the original 90s babes who went to town with the plucking – these days, she owns her own beauty brand and has switched back to the bushy-browed crew, where she truly belongs.
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Jessica Alba
We can’t believe this snap of Jessica from 1999! The actress did a double whammy with straight and skinny – now that’s a commitment. She couldn’t look any more different in the brow department now, could she?
Paris Hilton
Does Paris have any eyebrows in this photo? We’ll let her off, since she was only 18 at the time. We’ve all been there.
Nicole Richie
Paris’ then-bestie Nicole Richie followed suit with her own brow look, of course. These days they’re certainly fuller, though she clearly has a naturally finer shape that she doesn’t over-draw.
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Kylie Jenner
You might be shocked to see that even Kylie had a skinny-brow-moment – as recently as 2010. Now, she prefers a much fuller look, tinting them and filling-in with a pencil to create her structured finish.
Laura Prepon
Then there’s Orange Is The New Black star Laura Prepon, who has earned her place on this list by defiantly rocking her favoured micro-brow shape since the very beginning of her Hollywood career back in the 90s. We have nothing but respect.
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