| Eyebrow | |
|---|---|
| A man's unmodified eyebrow and eye | |
| Latin | supercilium |
| MeSH | Eyebrows |
The eyebrow is an area of thick, delicate hairs above the eye that follows the shape of the lower margin of the brow ridges of some mammals. Their main function is to prevent sweat, water, and other debris from falling down into the eye socket, but they are also important to human communication and facial expression.[1] It is not uncommon for people – women in particular – to modify their eyebrows by means of hair addition, removal, makeup, or piercings.
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The main function of the eyebrow is to prevent moisture, mostly salty sweat and rain, from flowing into the eye. The typical curved shape of the eyebrow (with a slant on the side) and the direction in which eyebrow hairs are pointed, make sure that moisture has a tendency to flow sideways around the eyes, along the side of the head and along the nose. The slightly protruding brow ridges of modern humans could also still play a supporting role in this process in this way it helps them make expressions. Together with the brow ridges, the eyebrows also shade the eyes from sunlight. Eyebrows also prevent debris such as dandruff and other small objects from falling into the eyes, as well as providing a more sensitive sense for detecting objects being near the eye, like small insects.
Eyebrows also have an important facilitative function in communication, strengthening expressions, such as surprise or anger. Many makeup artists view eyebrows as a major feature in defining the face. The eyebrows shape the human face and give definition to one's eyes and forehead. Depending on the shape of the eyebrows, it sometimes can cause what is known as a false facial expression (such as a person's eyebrows shaped to seem as if the person was angry, but really isn't).
In a study published by MIT, where subjects were asked to identify celebrities with either their eyes or their eyebrows digitally edited out, the subjects were able to recognize the celebrity 46% of the time with their eyebrows edited out, compared to 60% of the time with their eyes edited out. The findings indicate the importance of eyebrows in providing cues to an individual's identity.[2]
Eyebrows are a major facial feature. Cosmetic methods have been developed to alter the look of one's eyebrows, whether the goal is to add or remove hair, change the color, or change the position of the eyebrow.
Several options for removing hair to achieve a thinner or smaller eyebrow, or to "correct" a unibrow, including tweezing, waxing, threading and electronic tweezer. The most common method is to use tweezers to thin out and shape the eyebrow.[3] Waxing is becoming more popular.[4] Lastly, there is threading eyebrows, where a cotton thread is rolled over hair to pull it out.[5] Small scissors are sometimes used to trim the eyebrows, either with another method of hair removal or alone. All of these methods can be painful for some seconds or minutes due to the sensitivity of the area around the eye but, often, this pain decreases over time as the individual becomes used to it. In time, hair that has been plucked will stop growing back.[6] Some people wax or shave off their eyebrows and leave them bare, stencil or draw them in with eye liner, or tattoo them on. In Western societies, it has become more common for men to pluck part of their eyebrows.
To create a fuller look, eyebrows can be cloned in an eyebrow transplant: Individual strands of the eyebrow are mimicked to create a natural-looking eyebrow of the desired shape. Eyebrow brushes and shaders are used to further define the eyebrow. A fairly recent trend in eyebrow modification is in eyebrow tinting: Permanent dye, similar hair color, is used on the eyebrow, often to darken them.
An eyebrow lift, a cosmetic surgery to raise the eyebrow, usually to create a more feminine or youthful appearance, is a new phenomenon.[7] They can be affected during a face lift or an eye lift. More recently, doctors inject patients' eyebrows with botox or similar toxins to temporarily raise the eyebrow.[8]
From the 8th century, many Japanese noblewomen practiced hikimayu, shaving or plucking the eyebrow hair and painting smudge-like ones higher on the forehead. Shaving lines in eyebrows is another cosmetic alteration, more common among younger people in the 1990s and 2000s.[9]
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