The 50 Most Memorable Eyebrows of All Time
Anyone who has ever DIY’d their eyebrows knows this: Those few hundred hairs above the eyes are essential to communicating emotion. One false move with the tweezers and bam! — you look permanently angry, confused, or surprised. Plus, they’re key to maintaining overall facial symmetry, which studies have shown to be strongly correlated to overall attractiveness. The Atlantic recently dedicated 1,300 words to the subject in an article that covered their importance in nonverbal communication and facial recognition, the haunting fact that ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows off to mourn the death of a pet cat, and the tale of how one woman’s eyebrow transplant changed her life for the better.
Over the years, brow trends have come and gone — now fat, now thin, now mono-brow-lithic — but some iconic arches endure the test of time. Here, the Cut’s 50 picks for the most memorable sets of all time.
Frida Kahlo Proving that a lady unibrow can be sexy.
Photo: Popperfoto/Getty Images
Cara Delevingne Cara is singlehandedly responsible for the bold-brow hysteria, which has resulted in multiple breathless tutorials on beauty webs...
Cara Delevingne Cara is singlehandedly responsible for the bold-brow hysteria, which has resulted in multiple breathless tutorials on beauty websites and a serious uptick in sales of eyebrow-thickening products.
Photo: Danny Martindale/Getty Images
Michelle Obama Watching how Michelle Obama’s eyebrows have changed over the past six years of her husband’s presidency has arguably been even mor...
Michelle Obama Watching how Michelle Obama’s eyebrows have changed over the past six years of her husband’s presidency has arguably been even more fascinating than her fashion choices. Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Bert From
Sesame Street Despite the fact that his unibrow moves as a single unit, this jaundiced Muppet still manages to express an affecting am...
Bert From
Sesame Street Despite the fact that his unibrow moves as a single unit, this jaundiced Muppet still manages to express an affecting amount of emotion.
Photo: Georg Wendt/Corbis
Marilyn Monroe The pointed arch gave Monroe an air of surprised innocence, but the contrast with her blonde hair made the overall effect va-va-vo...
Marilyn Monroe The pointed arch gave Monroe an air of surprised innocence, but the contrast with her blonde hair made the overall effect va-va-voom.
Photo: Baron/Getty Images
Grace Jones Depending on which pictures you look at, Grace’s brows are either eerily erased or drawn on in a line that almost reaches her ears. E...
Grace Jones Depending on which pictures you look at, Grace’s brows are either eerily erased or drawn on in a line that almost reaches her ears. Either way: fabulous.
Photo: Chris Walter/Getty Images
Gwen Stefani '90s and Now While her platinum hair has remained consistent, her brows sure haven’t. After years of skinny pencil lines in the '90s...
Gwen Stefani '90s and Now While her platinum hair has remained consistent, her brows sure haven’t. After years of skinny pencil lines in the '90s, she now has a tasteful Hollywood arch.
Photo: SGranitz/Getty Images
Maleficent Angelina’s Maleficent brows have nothing on the animated version.
Photo: Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
Joan Crawford The high, dark, rounded arches look all the more imposing when one is raised haughtily.
Photo: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images
Jennifer Connelly Low set on her upper orbital bone, Connelly's brows somehow radiate smart-girl vibes.
Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images
Tyra Banks One cannot possibly smize efficiently without the right brow framing.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo When manscaping goes awry.
Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Vanilla Ice When manscaping went awry in the ‘90s.
Photo: David Becker/Getty Images
Lauren Bacall Bacall's arches were consistently perfectly arched and groomed in every single image you see of her. It’s uncanny.
Photo: Scotty W...
Lauren Bacall Bacall's arches were consistently perfectly arched and groomed in every single image you see of her. It’s uncanny.
Photo: Scotty Welbourne/Getty Images
Selena Selena’s brows were perhaps not the ones nature gave her, but that’s okay. The Sharpie inkiness was striking.
Photo: Larry Busacca / Retn...
Selena Selena’s brows were perhaps not the ones nature gave her, but that’s okay. The Sharpie inkiness was striking.
Photo: Larry Busacca / Retna Ltd./Corbis
Chanel Runway Fall 2012 Runway Brows If you could sell brows on Etsy, they might look like these beaded and bedazzled creations from Chanel's the...
Chanel Runway Fall 2012 Runway Brows If you could sell brows on Etsy, they might look like these beaded and bedazzled creations from Chanel's then-creative director Peter Philips.
Photo: ARMANDO GRILLO/Imaxtree
Halle Berry When you have a pixie cut, immaculate brows are imperative. Halle knows this, obviously.
Photo: Vera Anderson/Getty Images
Lourdes Leon Pre-Grooming It’s really too bad Lourdes waxed her baby Frida brow — she was a total doppelgänger for the artist. Minus the mon...
Lourdes Leon Pre-Grooming It’s really too bad Lourdes waxed her baby Frida brow — she was a total doppelgänger for the artist. Minus the monkey. Photo: Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
Madonna Circa
Who’s That Girl Yes, it was an homage to Marilyn, but one look at daughter Lourdes and it’s clear strong-brow genes run in the Cic...
Madonna Circa
Who’s That Girl Yes, it was an homage to Marilyn, but one look at daughter Lourdes and it’s clear strong-brow genes run in the Ciccone family.
Photo: Juergen Vollmer/Getty Images
Rita Hayworth She obviously went to the same salon as Lauren Bacall.
Photo: Columbia Pictures/Getty Images
Angry Bird These birds sure are pissed off. You can tell from the signature black V lowered over their beady eyes.
Photo: Courtesy of Angry Bird...
Angry Bird These birds sure are pissed off. You can tell from the signature black V lowered over their beady eyes.
Photo: Courtesy of Angry Birds
Jack Nicholson in
The Shining It’s a toss-up between what’s scarier here: “REDRUM” or Jack’s devilish brows.
Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images
Greta Garbo These thin, often penciled-in brows looked best when paired with a jaunty hat.
Photo: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
Rooney Mara in
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo No one could have predicted that baby bangs, a nipple piercing, and bleached eyebrows would make ...
Rooney Mara in
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo No one could have predicted that baby bangs, a nipple piercing, and bleached eyebrows would make Mara a fashion darling, but it happened. Photo: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Audrey Hepburn The poster girl for gamine’s eyebrows are fuller than you’d expect.
Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Whoopi Goldberg Nonexistent brows are a bold statement unto themselves. Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images
Lily Collins Forget that her dad is Phil Collins — she deserves every bit of fame she’s achieved based on the strength of her brows alone. They’r...
Lily Collins Forget that her dad is Phil Collins — she deserves every bit of fame she’s achieved based on the strength of her brows alone. They’re like a pair of adorable, fuzzy caterpillars.
Photo: Jason LaVeris/Getty Images
Groucho Marx Accented with greasepaint, these brows were an essential part of the comedian’s schtick — and an incredible boon to the costume indu...
Groucho Marx Accented with greasepaint, these brows were an essential part of the comedian’s schtick — and an incredible boon to the costume industry.
Photo: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images
Cruella de Vil Is arch height proportional to evilness?
Photo: Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
Marlene Dietrich Look at enough pictures of the iconic screen star and you’ll want to start penciling your brows on. Photo: Keystone-France/Getty...
Marlene Dietrich Look at enough pictures of the iconic screen star and you’ll want to start penciling your brows on. Photo: Keystone-France/Getty Images
Camilla Belle If there was a Hollywood brow template, she could be the model, thanks to the consistently perfect arch and shade combination.
Pho...
Camilla Belle If there was a Hollywood brow template, she could be the model, thanks to the consistently perfect arch and shade combination.
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Liz Taylor The black, slightly rounded arch was the perfect frame for her famous violet eyes. (Camilla Belle might actually be Liz reincarnated —...
Liz Taylor The black, slightly rounded arch was the perfect frame for her famous violet eyes. (Camilla Belle might actually be Liz reincarnated — brow-wise, at least.)
Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Ali MacGraw in the ‘70s The perfect girl-next-door brows.
Photo: Ron Galella/Getty Images
Amber Rose Amber’s brows alternate between thin and pointy and thick and groomed — instead of changing her signature buzz cut, she changes her br...
Amber Rose Amber’s brows alternate between thin and pointy and thick and groomed — instead of changing her signature buzz cut, she changes her brows.
Photo: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Rachel Weisz Her brows are eerily yet beautifully old-school Brooke Shields–esque.
Photo: Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images
Mr. Spock/Leonard Nimoy Those brows are not … logical.
Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Zachary Quinto It’s actually a shame they had to Spock-ify his majestic original brows.
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Megan Fox It’s worth peeling your eyes off the rest of her to study her pleasingly symmetric brows.
Photo: Steve Granitz/Getty Images
Dorothy Dandridge These softly tapered arches would definitely not look out of place in 2014.
Photo: Donaldson Collection/Getty Images
Emilia Clarke Whether playing Khaleesi or walking the red carpet, she has the haughty yet flirtatious one-eyebrow-raised thing down to a science....
Emilia Clarke Whether playing Khaleesi or walking the red carpet, she has the haughty yet flirtatious one-eyebrow-raised thing down to a science.
Photo: Vera Anderson/Getty Images
Albert Einstein Such small brows for such a huge brain.
Photo: Bachrach/Getty Images
Carrot Top Is he vying to play a cartoonish villain in the next comic-book live-action film?
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Pam Anderson Pam has been penciling on her brows since her Tommy Lee days. Never change, Pam. Photo: Venturelli/Getty Images
Christina Aguilera Her brows have gotten (thankfully) softer over the years.
Photo: Gareth Davies/Getty Images
Andy Rooney Leave the hat and sunglasses at home — the arches on this noted curmudgeon look like they must have provided all the shade required.
...
Andy Rooney Leave the hat and sunglasses at home — the arches on this noted curmudgeon look like they must have provided all the shade required.
Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Lil' Kim Well, at least her brows have pretty much stayed the same, unlike the rest of her face. Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Eugene Levy The round glasses enhance the magnificent dad brows.
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Kerry Washington Even though she’s a relative newcomer compared to some of the women featured here, we fully expect to see her make a “50 Best Ey...
Kerry Washington Even though she’s a relative newcomer compared to some of the women featured here, we fully expect to see her make a “50 Best Eyebrows” list 50 years from now.
Photo: Jeff Vespa/Getty Images
North West North’s eyebrows are so perfect that everyone on the internet accused mom Kim Kardashian of waxing them. Which she would never do, ‘ka...
North West North’s eyebrows are so perfect that everyone on the internet accused mom Kim Kardashian of waxing them. Which she would never do, ‘kay? Photo: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
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