The Eyebrow Trade

Eyebrows
(image: vivaadonis.com)

Like most men, I don't pay much attention to eyebrows. I take a Popeye the Sailor approach to them: "I am what I am." My wife occasionally persuades me to trim them, and my hair stylist gives my brows a clip. However, I don't agonize over thick vs. thin.

Apparently, according to an article in today's Financial Times, women do fret over the proper eyebrow. The principal issue seems to be whether a thin or thick brow fits the zeitgeist. The anxiety has turned into a very profitable business for the beauty trade's eyebrow experts. Ironically, in an age of discoverable data, these select few browmeisters are typically found via word of mouth. Lucky offered a somewhat dated article on the topic that named names who work the brow biz in high-wealth American cities. However, for all intents and purposes, eyebrow envy appears to be one of the beauty world's more obscure districts, in which brow bars form its soul.

My interest in eyebrows does not require digesting overheated articles and rehashed press releases. Some entertainment remains free: the observation of the human face is among them. The evaluation of thick or thin might even make badly directed, poorly written TV bearable to watch, although there's more than enough tawdry programming to furrow anyone's brow.