Brows options

It's been a week of news dominated by the passing of You Know Who, with too much coverage resulting in Looking Our Best (LOB) shouting at the radio till hoarse. As eyebrows are raised all over the land with this excessiveness, what better subject for this week’s post? (Eyebrows, that is. Not the Tory party's late, er, sweetheart.)

Frida and her famous 'monobrow'

LOB must admit that the most useful item in her make-up bag is a little pot of MAC matte eye-shadow in Omega, applied daily to the fading brows with a small angled brush.  Without this sweep of definition, LOB’s visage has all the character of a boiled egg.  Eyebrows have the power to transform, as evidence all around shows.  Frida Kahlo famously defied convention and exaggerated hers to hirsute glory in self- portraits; one time Bond man Roger Moore based his acting range on lifting one or the other quizzically; current catwalk favourite Cara Delevigne is eyebrow icon of the moment across all media.

Not that any stylish Baby Boomer needs to go to such extremes. Our ‘seen-it-all’ generation knows that eyebrows are as subject to trends as hemlines and have witnessed crazes swinging from the Biba models of the late 60s and their barely-there look, to 80s Calvin Klein muse Brooke Shields whose bushy brows were as much a statement as those over- priced jeans.  Those of us who over-plucked in our teens are now reaping the middle-aged harvest of sparse and unwieldy outcrops. But we’re smart enough to know that flattering eyebrows are not something you draw on with a black pencil in two comedy semi-circles. Marlene Dietrich could carry that look off, but then she was Marlene Dietrich. Audrey Hepburn,

Audrey Hepburn - the benchmark for dramatic arches

on the other hand,  remains a point of reference for young and old alike, and the knowledge that full brows can make the face appear more delicate by contrast. This doesn’t mean that we ladies of a certain age can let them grow so rampantly we look like Sam Eagle. If you must pluck, the experts say to stay away from the actual brow line, and tweeze only the annoying little stray hairs beneath the natural line. Another thing to remember is that eyebrows are often regarded as twins, when in fact each eyebrow can differ slightly – and therein lies the danger of over-plucking to match up.  Threading is still holding strong as the popular method to keep stragglers at bay.  Grown-up colleague Cath is a fan.  “I over-plucked my eyebrows at 19 and they have never grown back fully. I’m wary of using tweezers now. Threading gives a flattering shape, the pain is over quickly, and it lasts longer.”  It’s also relatively in-expensive. By spending a little more, you could opt for a salon dye. In fact, there are so many more brows’ options these days it can get bewildering.   Over to Annie G, beauty supremo at the long established Make Up Forever boutique in Dublin’s Clarendon Street.

“Colour and definition is very much down to the face shape of each individual, and of course with age, we tend to lose our natural colouring. Black eyebrows are too severe -  I believe lighter brows are more flattering on mature faces. On the other hand, not having any definition at all can make us look almost alien.  It’s worth it to get a make-up artist to advise on shape and tone. Eyebrow pencils should be applied with very fine, feathery strokes to fill in any gaps, and preferably with a shade slightly lighter than your natural brow colour. Follow this with a brush of matte shadow to soften and seal the pencil strokes.”  Permanent brows are a whole other world, says Annie. “I have seen some very good results, but you need to tread carefully as you will have to live with them for a long time if it goes wrong.”  She also recommends compact kits to store in your bag,  such as MUFE’s Aqua eyebrow product which comes with special brush and in a range of colours, or the handy brow definer pen.

Marlene - the high brow 30s style

So no reason, then,  for us femmes to become invisible when reaching the proverbial uncertain age. With a bit of luck, we, and those eyebrows, should remain in high definition for another while.  

Spring is the new Winter

There’s a big reason why Greenland hasn’t produced a Karl Lagerfeld.  
 It’s also the reason your style blogger has been trudging to work in the same dark, winters’ garb for what feels like a millenia. Freezing cold weather and getting dolled up to the nines don’t mix, especially when you are of the, ahem, more mature end of the age spectrum and wearing so many layers you can no longer bend your arms and legs. Despite the danger of wandering into the seniors' fashion wasteland of ‘cosy knits’, Looking Our Best finally threw her woolly hat at the whole style thing last week and wore her Christmas jumper to the office. But with Easter just days away, the prospect of guzzling chocolate eggs whilst wearing a reindeer patterned gansay feels just plain wrong.

The Audrey coat, new from Jigsaw

As the snow falls outside, LOB is wont to drift into a reverie….  While still a nipper growing up in the 60s, this would traditionally be the time of year to cast off the winter coat for something lighter in weight and colour. Church on Easter Sunday was very much a dressy-up affair back then. Although family style didn't quite go to the extreme of an Easter bonnet, a pastel coloured mac, or as LOB’s late mama often referred to it - a duster coat - was the stylish mid-decade cover-up over that first lightweight dress. Duster coats were very loose fitting, A-line or swing shaped, with pockets,  three-quarter length sleeves, and either edge to edge, or simple button fastening.  Big sister would be a la mode in a creaky plastic mac, with op art accessories. There was also a trend for two tone macs (most likely in Terylene) with an iridescence that shaded to different colours in the light. The opposite spring alternative to these was the more defined shape of the double breasted trench coat with belt, referred to in LOB’s distant school days by the generic term ‘gabardine’ (in reference to the fabric).

Old style habits die hard, so despite the prospect of a white Easter, this week’s post contemplates a revival of the lighter weight spring coat.

Top of the bunch is Jigsaw’s white 'Audrey' design, very much in keeping with the aforementioned duster coat of the 50s and 60s, with round collar, glossy buttons and simple shape.   Also from this label is the London Trench,

The London Trench look from Jigsaw

a much simpler version of the classic mac in bonded cotton.  Mail order company Boden  have several variations on the Spring coat, such as Florentine, a cotton/linen mix style with lace bodice detail and slightly gathered waist, available in white and navy.  Toast has also channeled the classic duster coat style in their over-sized shower resistant Lana raincoat with chambray lining and bracelet length sleeves. Reiss describe their Spring coat

Blush pink mac from Reiss

as ‘Tudor fit’ which thankfully doesn’t mean Henry V111 style shoulders but is actually a blush pink affair in cotton with nipped waist and asymmetric fastening. 

Still on a regal theme, the ‘Imperial’ trench coat from Hobbs  
 is more figure flattering than the bulkier traditional trench, plus it comes in a feelgood sorbet red. These styles all look great, but  

even though the clocks are going forward this weekend, LOB is wondering if us grown-ups really have to switch to a mac?  
Especially now Spring is the new Winter ….