The eyebrow is an important part of female facial beauty. Unlike men who pay little attention to the size and shape of their eyebrows (unless they meet in the middle), women shape and color their eyebrows with great care. Like all fashion trends, the concept of the ideal shape of the female eyebrow has changed over the years. Eyebrow beauty consists of whether the hair density is thick or thin and where the maximal arch point exists. For example, the 1980s were known for thick eyebrows. That changed to more thinner ones during the 1990s and 2000s and now thicker eyebrows are coming back in vogue again. The arch point of the eyebrow, an entity that can be affected by both Botox injections and browlift surgery, has also changed. According to a recent study published in the Clinics of Plastic Surgery in September 2012, the arch of the eyebrow has been gradually moving outward from the lateral limbus of the eye (outer area of iris) to the lateral canthal area. (eye corner) In addition, the height of the arch of the eyebrow has also been decreasing over time. The ideal female eyebrow today  is defined as starting near or below the orbital rim near the nose with the maximal arch of the brow (peak) at the lateral canthus in younger patients (can be closer to the middle of the brow in older women) and the tail of the brow located an inch or slightly less (20mm to 25mms) above the lateral canthus.

The shape of the eyebrows, particularly in women, has been an important part of facial aesthetics for thousands of years. The shape of the eyebrow arc and how it has been deemed attractive has changed over the years. Eyebrows have been thick or thin and have had either a flat or more high arched shape. Eyebrow shape styles do change over time. But a recent study suggests that there is more to beautiful eyebrows than just their shape…their projection from the underlying brow bone also appears to be important. In a paper presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgery, the projection of the eyebrow and its effect on aesthetics was studied. Measurements were taken of the projection of the soft tissue from the top of the eyelid to the eyebrow which was called the oblique frame. People that had higher oblique frames, particularly after fat grafting, were rated as more attractive. This study indicates that good positioning of the eyebrows with adequate projection can positively influence facial aesthetics. In today’s era of burgeoning aesthetic indications for fat grafting, it appears that the eyebrow has not been forgotten.

The one patch of hair that both male and female share are the eyebrows. With few exceptions, everyone is born with a pair of them. Their functional role in mammals is to protect the eye from water and debris from above. But humans go to great lengths to modify their natural hair pattern. Unlike the Egyptians who frequently shaved off all of their eyebrow hairs as a sign of beauty, keeping them is a more contemporary part of facial aesthetics. The desireable shape of the eyebrows has changed over the years in many subtle ways for women. Female eyebrows should have an arch which is peaked at the center of the browline and has a tail which tapers off as it descends out toward the temples. Thin and thick eyebrows have been in and out of vogue for women but the desire for an arched form has largely remained unchanged. The shape of the male eyebrow is less aesthetically important other than being more of a straight line, not having a unibrow, and keeping longer wild hairs in check. Non-surgical procedures like Botox and browlift surgery can change the shape and position of the eyebrows on the brow bone in both favorable and unfavorable ways.