Garden eyebrows are taking social media by storm

In the age of Instagram brows, eyebrows are hardly limited to natural or arched. In recent seasons, brows have been shaped into lightning bolts, embellished with jewels, and painted in rainbow colours. In its latest makeover, the eyebrow has taken on a whimsical avatar—the “garden eyebrow" that adds a touch of springtime greenery to your face.

The brain behind the look is Canadian vlogger Taylor R., also the creator of 2017’s viral Christmas-tree brows. The YouTuber took inspiration from spring and the lack of green spaces in Hong Kong, where she lives, to create a pair of eyebrows flecked with blooms. The tutorial is fairly simple—wax your eyebrows to resemble a messy patch of grass and coat them with green liquid lipstick (green mascara or face paint works too) using a mascara wand. Stick tiny fresh flowers to the “grass", add a few stickers around the brow and let it all dry—voilà, your eyebrows are a blooming patch.

As the #gardeneyebrow trend caught on, social media users spruced up their own brows with flowers and miniature patterns. Some Instagrammers went a step further, coordinating their brows with floral hairdos; one user even recreated the look on a pet dog. “I am so going to use this for an upcoming spring-themed lolitameet," posted one Instagrammer, even as others raised their eyebrows in bemusement at the trend.

Bizarre as the trend sounds, and over-the-top as it is, the garden eyebrow makes for a surprisingly marvellous look, more visually arresting than any Snapchat filter. The lush foliage is a perfect fit for A Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque garden parties or even a music festival, though certainly impossible to wear to work. The look may not be for everyone, but as the 119,000 views of the YouTube video, 36,000 Instagram likes, and a few hundred social media posts show, there are plenty of takers for the artful garden brow.