Victoria Beckham and Others Wear Bold Brows on Spring Covers and in Ad Campaigns

5/7/10

Victoria Beckham and Others Wear Bold Brows on Spring Covers and in Ad Campaigns

She's known for wearing the hottest styles, but Victoria Beckham's latest look is truly hair-raising: In the May issue of German Vogue, the former Spice Girl rocks dark, dramatically defined brows.

Yes, bold eyebrows -- made popular by Brooke Shields in the '70s and Madonna in the '80s -- are back and bigger than ever.

And this month, they're plastered all over the newsstands: Julianna Margulies wears darkened arches on the cover of W, while Sarah Jessica Parker's brows look a little bolder than usual on the U.S. edition of Vogue.

This sudden visibility comes as no surprise -- bold brows were the most talked about trend on the Fall 2010 runways, with top shows like Chanel, Prada, and Narciso Rodriguez showing super-defined arches. The trend stands in stark contrast to the past few seasons, when barely there bleached brows were all the rage.

Besides Beckham, Megan Fox, Katy Perry, and even Lady Gaga have said ta-ta to their tweezers.

The look can even be seen in fashion advertisements, like Scarlett Johansson's dreamy Summer 2010 Mango campaign.

The general population is catching on too. The Daily Mail reports that the number of women seeking eyebrow transplants -- a $5,300 procedure grafting hair from the scalp to the brow -- has doubled in the past 12 months in the U.K. Yeowch!

Scarlett Johansson bushy eyebrows Mango summer 2010

Scarlett Johansson's bushy eyebrows for Mango Summer 2010

To get a look that really stands out, makeup artist Dick Page suggests using gray tones on the brows, as he did backstage at Narciso Rodriguez. "The brows create a strong, architectural line," he tells StyleList. To bold out the brows, Page mixed Shiseido Accentuating Cream Liner in Black with white cream eye shadow for a gray mixture he applied to the arches using an eyebrow brush.

For a more subtle approach, a sharp eye pencil is key: Apply with feathery strokes to mimic the brow hair. Choose a shade slightly darker than your natural brows -- brunettes can go for a dark brown, while blondes should stick to light brown or taupe.

And if anyone gives you flack for your standout arches, take a cue from Beckham, who doesn't give a darn if you diss her new look. She tells German Vogue, "I lack the ambition to try and make everyone like me."

So there!

For the step-by-step on how to define your brows, follow our Eye Brows 101 video.