9 Celebrities Who Prove You Can Bounce Back From Terrible Brows

Anyone claiming to have lived through the '90s and early aughts without overtweezing their brows is either lying or completely immune to peer pressure. Even celebrities couldn't escape the too-thin, too-far-apart, surprised-all-the-time style of the era. But now that brow trends have rebounded to a fuller, thicker, shapelier place, it's high time to equip yourself with the knowledge that will help you coax your wimpy arches toward Shields and Delevingne territory. In an effort to learn from their journeys, we took a look back at nine celebrities who once suffered from puny brows—but have since made impressive recoveries.

By Stephanie Saltzman and Allure Staff

July 28, 2015

Photos: Getty Images

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1/18
Then
Nicole Richie
Back in her The Simple Life days (remember those?), Paris Hilton's BFF had anemic brows in a shade so light, they blended right into her face.
Getty Images for Curve
2/18
Now
Nicole Richie
About a decade—and what seems like several million hair colors—later, Richie has some of the most enviable brows on any red carpet. That's largely due to the magic of makeup. Richie's makeup artist Beau Nelson starts by brushing the hairs in an upward direction. "I think this step really gives you the real, natural shape of the brow," he says. Then he defines and fills in the brow using what he calls a "subtle ombré" effect: With an angled brush (he likes the one Smashbox makes), he traces a deep-brown eye shadow (M.A.C. Eye Shadow in Concrete) along both the upper and lower edge of the brow in light, feathered strokes, and then fills in the area in between with a lighter shade (M.A.C. Eye Shadow in Charcoal Brown). "You don't get a heavy coating of color, so it looks more natural," he says. To hold the brows in place, Nelson swipes on a coat of clear Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Gett
3/18
Then
Drew Barrymore
In many ways, Barrymore was the perfect embodiment of the '90s; this photo alone includes at least seven noteworthy trends of the decade. Though they were in style at the time, her spread-out, too-dark floating apostrophe brows were anything but flattering.
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4/18
Now
Drew Barrymore
Fast-forward to 2015, and Barrymore's arches are spot-on (we'd expect nothing less from an established beauty mogul such as her). The color of them is a perfect match to her roots, so they're dark enough that they lend a framing effect to her face without causing distraction. Barrymore also appears to have stepped away from tweezers and wax over the last decade in order to let her natural arches grow back. Well played, Drew.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Gett
5/18
Then
Mila Kunis
Back in the day, Kunis went the tadpole route when it came to brow shaping: rounded inner corners with superskinny tails.
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Getty Images
6/18
Now
Mila Kunis
Now meticulously manicured with a strong, angular arch, Kunis's brows are the ideal shape to frame her famously big, beautiful eyes. One reason her brows look so perfect is that there are no sparse spots. To fill in obvious bald spots, grab a pencil two shades lighter than your hair if you're a brunette, or a taupe pencil if you're a blonde or a redhead, and draw short strokes in the direction of the hair growth, suggests Maribeth Madron, a makeup artist at Sharon Dorram Color at Sally Hershberger, a New York City salon. The key to nailing this look is to stay within the natural line of your brows and then blend out the edges with a clean spooley brush.

FilmMagic
7/18
Then
Gwen Stefani
In her No Doubt days, Stefani would have been wise to doubt her lean arches—and that spiky, crunchy-looking hairstyle, too, but that's another story.
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8/18
Now
Gwen Stefani
In addition to a majorly improved (yet still edgy) hairstyle, Stefani has rehabbed her brows impressively. If you suffered a similar tweezer addiction in your past, RevitaBrow can be a miracle worker. After you apply the conditioning serum for several weeks, brow hairs begin to grow back thicker, correcting bald spots.

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9/18
Then
Demi Lovato
Even Disney stars weren't immune to skinny-brow syndrome. Lovato's were not only too thin; they also formed a harsh point at the arch.
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10/18
Now
Demi Lovato
Lovato has been open about how obsessive she is about her brows nowadays. "I do them myself, because one time I got them done and the lady nearly took them off completely, and I've been traumatized ever since," she told us in an interview a few years back. She also let us in on her favorite brow-shaping product: the Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express Eyebrow Compact, which includes stencils, shaping wax, an angled brush, and two shades each of brow powder and eye shadow (i.e., everything you could ever need to get your eyebrows in top shape).

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11/18
Then
Angelina Jolie
Yes, Angie probably regretted that Billy Bob tattoo. But if we were her, we might regret those pointy brows almost as much.
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12/18
Now
Angelina Jolie
As Jolie ditched her rebellious '90s look in favor of a classier aesthetic, she softened the severity of her eyebrows, too. But hers aren't the superthick caterpillars that have become trendy of late—they've become understated and elegant, just like Jolie herself.

Getty Images
13/18
Then
Jennifer Lopez
Jenny from the block, you were the best. Unfortunately, we can't say the same for your pencil-thin brows.
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Getty Images
14/18
Now
Jennifer Lopez
Lopez is one of those mystifying creatures who somehow seems to be Benjamin Button-ing (that's aging in reverse, in case you don't remember the movie). She's only gotten more stunning over the years, and that includes her brows—feathery and just lush enough. To get a similar effect, brush the hairs upward with a spooley brush and then follow with a matte brow gel that won't make the brows look stiff or glossy, like Marc Jacobs Brow Tamer.

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15/18
Then
Jennifer Aniston
Around the same time that her layers was busy sparking a national haircut craze, Aniston's arches were busy withering into teeny lines that were an equally iconic mark of the '90s.
Getty Images
16/18
Now
Jennifer Aniston
She's still inspiring hair envy on a worldwide scale, but just as Aniston's cut has evolved to something far more modern than the Rachel, her eyebrows have also stepped into the twenty-first century. The once-puny arches now begin at the inner corners of her eyes (as they should) and slope subtly upward about three quarters of the way to the ends (as they should).

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17/18
Then
Tyra Banks
Compared with everything else that's wrong with this look, Banks's brows aren't all that bad. But they're not ideal, either. A bit too short and too narrow, they don't do her bone structure any favors.
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18/18
Now
Tyra Banks
A badass pixie cut and a gazillion cycles of America's Next Top Model later, Banks's arches are officially—dare we say it?—on fleek. Because she has a heart-shaped face, the angular shape with tapered ends helps to create balance.