In the past two months I’ve seen my social feed swell with photos of unnecessarily spiky eyebrows (dragon brow); greased-up brows with hairs brushed askew (feather brow); and unkempt eyebrows designed to look deliberately messy (barbed-wire brow). The weird new brow designs have been cast as the new beauty craze by the internet at large, but let’s investigate if they’re really a trend.
Dragon Brows: “The Ferocious New Beauty Trend Taking Over Instagram”
First seen: April 30 via @harlibi.
Major publications that have written about it: Pop Sugar, Allure.
Number of public photos tagged with #Dragonbrows on Instagram: 3.
Number of those photos that are duplicates: 1.
Have the teens caught on? Don’t be ridiculous.
Have the Kardashians appropriated it? Not yet.
Has Forever21 started selling brow-art kits in the plastic bins near the register? No, but the day is nigh.
Is this a trend? Uh, no.
Feather Brows: “A Trend Now and It’s Tearing Everyone Apart.”
First seen: April 9 via @stella.s.makeup.
Major publications that have written about it: Teen Vogue, Refinery29, Mashable.
Number of public photos tagged with #Featherbrows on Instagram: 170+.
Number of those photos that are duplicates: 91.
Have the teens caught on? They’re too sophisticated for this.
Have the Kardashians appropriated it? Maybe in a few years, after they “invent it.”
Has Forever21 started selling brow-art kits in the plastic bins near the register? Don’t give them any ideas.
Is this a trend: No.
Barbed-Wire Brows: “The Latest Badass Trend to Hit Instagram”
First seen: March 10 via @athenapaginton.
Major publications that have written about it: Today, Marie Claire, MTV.
Number of public photos tagged with #Barbedwirebrows on Instagram: 22.
Number of those photos that are duplicates: 11.
Have the teens caught on? No. Children are the future.
Have the Kardashians appropriated it? Any day now.
Has Forever21 started selling brow-art kits in the plastic bins near the register? I wouldn’t put it past them.
Is this a trend? Of course not.
