The way you shape your eyebrows has always been an easy way to accentuate and define your favorite facial features. But over the past couple of years, brows have taken center stage. More and more beauty lovers are experimenting with new eyebrow trends in 2022 — and rediscovering old ones.
“We’re in a new time,” celebrity brow artist Joey Healy tells Bustle. “We want to get dressed up, we want to do our makeup fully, we want to celebrate makeup, beauty, and fashion.”
Per usual, the ’90s and Y2K nostalgia have a stronghold on beauty culture. This is even prevalent when it comes to how eyebrows trends will be influenced this year. “Let’s face it — the ’90s were a whole vibe,” says Benefit Global Brow Expert Jared Bailey. “People who are drawn to that style of fashion and beauty tend to lean into it hard. If you’re going to commit to a wolf cut, feathered bangs, or butterfly clips, you’re probably also going to want a slimmer, more tailored brow.”
From the infamous thin eyebrow look to fun, blinged-out face jewelry, Bailey and Healy break down how everyone will be coloring, shaping, and accessorizing their brows. Read on for the five eyebrow trends they predict will be huge in 2022.
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Eyebrow Lamination
If full eyebrows are more your thing, no need to worry. They’ll still be very much on trend for the new year, just with a more modern and feathered twist. Bailey predicts eyebrow lamination as one of the big 2022 eyebrow trends you’ll be seeing everywhere.
“Brow lamination is a chemical process done by professionals that opens the bond of the hair and repositions it into an upward, more lifted shape,” he says. He notes that the trend started to gain steam before March 2020, and it’s coming back now that more salons and spas are reopening.
To recreate a version of the look at home, all you need is a clear brow gel, a makeup or eyebrow brush (or a clean finger), and a micro-lining brow pencil. Bailey says to start with your clear brow gel and let get it a bit tacky and thick by taking the wand out of its tube and air-drying it for 30-45 seconds. Then comb product through the brows evenly. He says you want hairs to be saturated with product, so be prepared to re-dip the wand once or twice.
Once eyebrows are evenly saturated, let them dry for about 45 seconds to a full minute (they should feel slightly tacky). Grab a clean spoolie brush and brush your eyebrow hairs upward and outward. Finish by adding a few hair-like strokes with your micro-lining pencil to add density. He suggests going one to two shades darker than your natural color to get those ultra-thin strokes.
Higher Arches
Slightly different than thin eyebrows, an arched eyebrow, Healy explains, is about that one part underneath the arch that sits a bit higher than the rest. “People want to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” he says. “So having a higher arch is a wonderful way to have the eye look refreshed, especially because we are still wearing masks and we cannot see the rest of the face.”
He suggests placing a dot of cream highlighter under the brow and patting it out with your fingers to instantly create the illusion of a higher arch. Another way to achieve the lifted look is through microcurrent tightening. Healy says at-home facial devices like NuFace tighten and firm the muscles of the face, which can result in temporarily higher arches.