Dark brows were shown to make a person look younger in a study that was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology because humans appear to (subconsciously) correlate distinct contrasts in facial features with youth. Given that eyebrows do tend to pale with age, that makes sense.
Jamie Long, Lead Stylist at HD Brows advises, “It's certainly true that certain brow shapes can make you appear older. The type of brow that is going to suit you will depend on your face shape. “Darker eyebrows are ideal for looking younger, as they provide a greater contrast to the surrounding skin on the face.
Fuller = More Youthful
Full, bold brows are a subtle sign of youth and good health. At some point in the aging process, our hair begins to thin out and become more sparse, which is why thin brows can be associated with aging. Over-plucking and drastically thinning your eyebrows can make you appear older than you are.
Like we said, your eyebrows should be darker than your hair color—with one exception. Those with black hair may find a deep black color to appear too harsh, depending on the look they're going for. If that's something you can relate to, you may prefer a softer brow.
A wider gap often creates more of a youthful and softer look that some people prefer over the structured finish of brows that are closer together. Bear in mind that tweezing further back than the inner corner of your eyes can look unnatural.
For women of all ethnicities, brow color faded with age—so darkening them may really make people look younger, the researchers say. Though the study was only done in women, the findings likely apply to men, too.
Dark brows were shown to make a person look younger in a study that was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology because humans appear to (subconsciously) correlate distinct contrasts in facial features with youth. Given that eyebrows do tend to pale with age, that makes sense.
But when it comes to the colour — NO, they don't always have to match your hair. The rule of thumb for maintaining a flattering eyebrow shade is: For lighter hair colours like grey hair or chemically lightened hair, your eyebrows should be two shades darker than your hair.
The end of your brows should be darker than the front to balance out the face. The light hits the centre of your face, so unnaturally dark brows always look odd. Not only that, dark brows towards the front give the illusion of an impending frown, weighing down the centre of your face.
The most sought-after eyebrow shape is the soft angled eyebrow shape. The soft angled shape goes straight up and then gently curves round at the top and down. The goal for shaping the eyebrows on a long face is to make the face appear shorter.
The tails of the brows get lighter and thinner with age, and you may also notice some patchy areas. Fill the tail area with a brow pencil, then go over the whole eyebrow with tinted brow gel. Fill in with brow powder for patchy spots to make your arches appear fuller. The added contrast will give a fresher appearance.
With the above in mind when considering whether your eyebrows should be lighter or darker, I'd suggest the main rule of thumb is… “…to have your brows similar to your hair colour! You can't go wrong! If you wish to go for a slightly different colour, I'd recommend only 1-2 shades darker or lighter!”
"My general rule would be to keep it as close to the shade of your hair as best as possible, or one shade darker," she says. Going too dark can look severe. And if you have virgin hair, but want to fill in your brows. This advice goes for makeup products, too.
Don't ever neglect the top of your brow, where stray hairs can grow as well. Tweezing at the bottom will create that nice lift you want, but cleaning up the top will get rid of any pesky stray hairs that tend to grow in random spots.
Promoted Stories. Dr Lisa Welling, the study's senior author, said: "Thicker eyebrows were preferred in female faces. "It could be that relatively thicker eyebrows signal other qualities, such as a tendency towards more grooming."
A study has shown that men prefer women with thicker eyebrows, especially those who want a long-term partner. The shock result emerged from a study into how facial features are ranked for attractiveness. Researchers at Oakland University in Michigan asked almost 1000 men and women to rate a series of images.
If you have lighter hair, it's best to go for a brow shade one or two shades darker. Conversely, if you have darker hair, try going one to two shades lighter with your brow colour. Not only will this look more natural, but it's also much more harmonious.
A good rule of thumb? Try two shades darker than your natural hair color and go from there! When trying out different eyebrow shades, be aware that your gray/silver hair may be cooler in tone than your natural hair color, so the eyebrow pencil you've been using all these years might be too warm.
"Fill brows in with a color that is slightly lighter than brow hair," Ahnert says. If you have dark brown hair, use a light/medium brown brow pencil. If you have light brown hair, use a taupe/dark blond pencil, and so on.