Eyebrow blindness is not as serious a condition as it sounds but thanks to TikTok, it is a phrase you need to know the meaning of to keep up (see also: girl dinner, rat snacks etc).
The term has trended in recent weeks after celebrities and style-conscious vloggers shared their regrets about how they followed trends.
Another connected term ‘who let me walk around like this?’ is also being shared.
The response shows that while some trends might go out of fashion, talking about one’s eyebrows never will.
Here is what you need to know about it.
@jamilamarriott Replying to @jamilamarriott and I fundamentally disagree with it being a thing because even though I'm judgemental about other people's brows, it's not for me to say what they should do with their face. it's about their personal expression #eyebrowblindness #capitalism #genz
♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) - Tommy Richman
What is eyebrow blindness?
This trending term is creating a safe space for internet users to confess the times they have been swept up in the eyebrow trends of the day.
This could be the overplucked eyebrow trend of the 1990s or the heavy block look of the 2010s — they were both cool once.
But old photos have embarrassed participants who followed the craze like sheep — if the animals had eyebrows to style.
“The whole thing is meant to imply that these people had no idea how extreme their eyebrows looked back when they were going too hard on the brow pomade,” writes Nicola Dall’asen in Glamour.
“The beauty industry has historically told women and femme people that the most desirable eyebrows are the ones they don’t currently have. The eyebrow ideal has flip-flopped between thick and thin like clockwork at the turn of pretty much every new decade.”
Drew Barrymore
— Jo Coyne (@Jopolkadot) March 19, 2022
1990s pic.twitter.com/N3A1RUAPhv
When did the eyebrow blindness trend begin?
The trend went viral in June 2024 when TikTokers jumped on the bandwagon to post their experiences of… jumping on the bandwagon over eyebrow trends.
Eyebrow blindness videos now have more than 160 million views, with users sharing their regrets at mimicking Drew Barrymore’s eyebrows from the late 1990s and Cara Delevigne’s thick and bushy variety from the 2010s.
Erin Docherty wrote in Mamania: “In the early 2000s, not only did I pluck and wax my brows, but one time I literally shaved the entire middle section of my brows, leaving a gaping space the width of a men's razor. Meaning? I had, like, a four-finger space in the middle of my brows and zero eyebrow tail.”
She added that she still met her husband on the night her eyebrows were at their faintest.
What other trends have taken off recently?
If we surrender to TikTok and let it rule our fashion choices like pictures of Barrymore once did, then pared-down beauty is the way to go.
Natural beauty has been to the fore in recent years after ‘no-makeup makeup’ took centre stage over the bold, bright looks of a bygone age.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this coveted look is by investing in a tinted moisturiser — a must-have for the summer of 2024.
Desiring a firmer jawline is not new — but ‘mewing’ is a recent trend that has seen young people placing their tongues to the roof of their mouths, horrifying their teachers.
This might not help you but one thing that can — or, at least, might — is chewing gum that promises to get your jaw meeting its fitness goals. Yes, this is also a thing now.
As for hair trends, Zendaya has popularised the bootcamp braids thanks to her red carpet turn when promoting her recent tennis film Challengers.
Other female cuts to look out for include hourglass layers, boyish bobs, and the refreshing low-maintenance blonde.
