Have you ever been really involved in a conversation, really listening to someone? Looking intently into their eyes while they’re speaking and then suddenly just have a random crazy thought ricochet through your mind. Mine was, “I wonder what they would look like without eyebrows?” This popped into my head a few days ago, and for a little while, everyone I made eye contact with, I wondered, “What if they had no eyebrows?”
I knew a guy once who had some kind of disease right before he hit puberty, and it caused all his hair to fall out, and it never grew back. He had no eyebrows, no eyelashes, no facial hair, no hair what so ever. But you kind of got use to it. No hair on his head, no eyebrows, no lashes. Just smooth as could be. It was just him. Seeing him with no eyebrows just kind of went along with his whole outward appearance. Plus, he wore glasses, which helped only a bit hide that he had no eyebrows.
Then I knew a guy who decided to lighten his hair and eyebrows with some kind of spray-on hair lightener. I can’t remember what it was. But it was something you were supposed to leave in for just a little while and then wash it out. He tried that but wasn’t happy with the results. So he decided to put it on his hair and eyebrows and leave it overnight. When he got out of the shower the next morning, he looked in the mirror, and he had no eyebrows. Boy, was he surprised, and he looked surprised continuously until they grew back in.
So this one crazy thought that popped into my head has caused me to linger over the question of “What purpose do eyebrows serve?” Well, I read online that your eyebrows help to keep dirt, sweat, and moisture out of your eyes. The arched shape actually diverts all of this around your eyes. So see!!! There is a justification for having eyebrows.
Some women I know that came of age during the 60’s really ruined their eyebrows. I think they shaved them off and then drew them back on. Now years later, they have no eyebrows. So they have to continue to draw them on. I know one of my aunts had little teeny tiny eyebrows. She said she shaved them off when she was in elementary school, and that’s how they grew back. I’m sure she did this after watching her older sisters shave their eyebrows.
But mainly, I think eyebrows help us express ourselves. We can show shock, confusion, questions, and a whole host of other things. For instance, at a family gathering, someone started a conversation topic that I thought might be controversial for the older generation. Without even giving it a thought, I simply raised my eyebrows, and they took the conversation down another happier path. Several years ago, a friend had botox in her forehead to remove that frown wrinkle that can show up there. The botox basically paralyzed the muscles in her forehead for a while. It was sort of weird to have a conversation with her. She would be very animated while she was talking, but her eyebrows stayed utterly and totally still.
Click here to see celebrities with their eyebrows removed. So the next time you’re having an animated conversation with someone, just pay attention to the eyebrows. They really say it all.
Christopher Walken – No eyebrows.