Bleached brows are subversive and here to stay. The I’m-not-there brows, in all of their invisible glory, are a transformative beauty move—one that has made its way from the runways to the faces of celebrities seeking a statement-making look.
“Bleached brows give a more futuristic effect to the face,” explains makeup artist Diane Kendal, who helped jump-start the trend on Marc Jacobs fall 2022 runway, erasing brows to offer neutral complexions and hollowed gazes a “gothic element.” The thing is, as alien as they can seem, bleached brows go from runway to real life more easily than you might think—a point proved by the likes of Julia Fox, Nicola Peltz-Beckham, Camille Razat, and even Kendall Jenner, who ditched her brows (for one night) at last year’s Met Gala. Then 2023 saw Kylie Jenner parting ways with her brows for an evening out in New York and a subsequent Jean Paul Gaultier campaign. In the latter, her platinum mane was complemented by blanched brows—an incredible look, albeit one that, Jenner notes, came at a cost.
With more than 125 million views on TikTok, the #BleachedBrows trend shows no signs of letting up. Here, makeup artists Isamaya Ffrench and William Scott walk Vogue through the beauty of bleached brows and how to take the peroxide plunge safely at home.
Why are bleached brows a thing?
Brows provide a framework to the face—and their absence speaks volumes. “You don’t realize the impact of brows on a face until you’ve gotten rid of them,” says Ffrench. “Eyebrows express a lot of emotions and therefore articulate a lot personality.” For the pro, who often blanches her own brows, it’s a provocative tool for shapeshifting (her specialty) regardless of where you land on the mellow yellow to arctic white spectrum. “Most of the time when I bleach someone’s brows for the first time, they don’t recognize themselves,” she continues. “It creates a blank canvas and I think most people like that little thrill of feeling like you can be a different person.”
Julia Fox and Richie ShazamPhoto: Getty Images
What are the benefits of bleaching brows?
While bleached brows will make your entire face look different, it’s the appearance of your eyes that is most radically altered. “Our brows give structure to our face by defining the lines of the bones underneath them and often, bleached brows makes one’s eyes look rounder or bigger because we’re allowed to see the full space they take up without the perimeter of a brow,” explains Scott. “This look is a great way to see oneself in a new way because it can reveal aspects of our beauty that we can’t always perceive or emphasize with a full brow, like where one’s eye socket is deepest.”
How do bleached brows change the effect of makeup?
Again, the impact is all down to your gaze. “From a makeup perspective, erasing eyebrows, whether that’s done with concealers or full bleach process, is a great way to open up the area around the eyes, which allows for much more freedom in terms of makeup possibilities,” explains Ffrench. “There’s no ‘frame’ to take into consideration so you can do pretty much any shape in any size you want and create something dramatic.” From drawing on entirely new brows (like a Y2K-era razor-thin arch, for example) to extending the shape of a graphic eye design to extreme effect, the possibilities are endless.