Natalia Vodianova: A Determined Brow
If the cover of May’s British Vogue is anything to go by, my much ridiculed but determined quest to grow out my eyebrows has been totally and absolutely validated. Ha! There is Natalia Vodianova, poster girl for the beauty of a bushy brow, peering out from florals and frills as if to say, “LOOK AT MY OVERGROWN EYEBROWS DON’T THEY ADD TO MY INTOXICATING CHARM?” Why yes, Natalia, they do.
And while her extraordinary beauty might have something to do with the allure, I reserve the right to add her to my list of arguments to support my cause. Other, less persuasive, issues include my spectacularly low pain threshhold and inherent British scruffiness when it comes to personal grooming.
Mainly, however, it is an aesthetic choice. A backlash against the sparse, ‘plucked to within an ounce of their life’ arched brows which dictated the shape of beauty for so long. The relaxed glamour and romantic grunge of recent seasons teamed with the influx of Eastern European waifs who wear it has dictated the reappearence of an altogether more relaxed brow. Just look at Hilary Rhoda and Jennifer Connolly and their Brooke Sheilds-esque 90s beauty.
Natural, brushed out brows were the look of choice of many of the make-up artists backstage at LFW. They give the allusion of haven frolicked about in a country meadow amongst poppies and chiffon, of a beauty that is strong and fluffed all at once. Unfortunately, all of this research seemed to only convince one of my friends. And I think he is just regarding me as a mildly amusing social experiment….
Author: Katy Smail
a Illustration graduate from Edinburgh College of Art in 2007, and has spent the past year in a world of words, pictures, fashion and stories.
She works as a freelance fashion writer, while her illustrations 'like candyfloss sticking to wind blown lips' are found in publications like 'The Talent' and 'Curvy Annual 08', and are sold in 'Luna and Curious', Brick Lane, London.
