Customer Watch: Strong Eyebrows

As discussed in Jewelry Savvy, the shape of a woman’s face is but one possible starting point for helping a customer determine what jewelry will be most flattering on her. The features of her face—the details of that face, if you will—are important considerations in assessing the size and shape of design elements that will best suit her.

The inside front cover of the February 2008 issue of Glamour magazine is an ad for Estee Lauder that pictures a woman with very strong eyebrows. A few pages inside the issue is an ad for Sephora skincare showing another woman with strong, very horizontal eyebrows. When two cosmetic company giants both focus on strong brows, there is a trend in the making.

While strong eyebrows seem to be the look of the moment, this is not a look for everyone. A woman with naturally fuller eyebrows may choose to adopt the style. Women with more modest brows may choose to darken them and emphasize them a bit more.

Eyebrows frame and bring attention to the eyes. Strong eyebrows, however, may in themselves become the dominant feature of a face and draw attention in their own right.

What this means is that the shape and width of those eyebrows move up in the hierarchy of design considerations in adorning this woman with jewelry. This is particularly important because the woman is choosing to make her eyebrows a focal point. She can easily choose to de-emphasize her brows by thinning them out.

A thicker eyebrow, like fuller lips, presents a wider line that may be repeated in the design of her jewelry. The arch of the brow presents a curve that might be employed. Eyebrows with relatively little arch (such as the Sephora model) introduce an strong element of horizontal design. Even a woman with a very round face may be able to wear strong, linear designs beautifully if her eyebrows have a strong horizontal focus.

Notice your customer’s features and the design elements inherent there. Jewelry can repeat the design elements and add subtle emphasis to the customer’s chosen focal point. In this manner, a piece of jewelry is more than just a beautiful object; it emphasizes the beauty of the woman wearing it.