Big, bold brows and how to get them

Eyebrows -- those mismatched punctuation marks over your peepers -- are getting a lot of respect these days. (Fact: No two eyebrows are exactly alike.)

According to the consumer market research firm NPD Group in Port Washington, brow products, which generate some $122 million in sales, are the fastest-growing category in the eye makeup arena, with a 28 percent sales increase in the 12 months ending in March 2014.

Whoa. What exactly has raised eyebrow consciousness?

Some believe that supermodel Cara Delevingne, 22, whose eyebrows have their own Twitter handle, @eyebrow_cara, and whose bold, bushy face-framers are her most prominent feature, spawned the trend. Touted by Allure magazine as "one of the most arresting models of this decade," the U.K.'s Daily Mail conjectured that Delevingne was single-handedly responsible for falling tweezer sales.

NPD's global beauty analyst Karen Grant says there's more to it. "I used to think it was just a fashion statement. But for older women who may have stripped off too much of the brow over time, it's about anti-aging. And having so many options -- brushes, powders and creams -- for a natural, young-looking brow, is a savior for a lot of women."

It's not like there haven't been eyebrow crazes before. Marlene Dietrich actually shaved hers off and penciled them in, while Greta Garbo and Jean Harlow's uber-plucked jobs probably launched the tweezer industry.

Fact is, though, thin hasn't truly been in for decades. Elizabeth Taylor's defined, sexy brows -- known as the "diva arch" -- were oft imitated. As a teen, Brooke Shields' strong brows were a banner, and remain legendary. In October, she collaborated with MAC cosmetics on a whole Beauty Icon makeup collection with a focus on brow products.

But this moment belongs to Delevingne, who revealed the secret of her caterpillarlike brows to Interview Magazine. "You just don't pluck them. It's really simple. I mean, I do, obviously, a little bit, because otherwise I'd have a mono-brow, but it's just about keeping them wild, keeping them free and woolly."

Of course, not everybody has that option. Romero Jennings, MAC cosmetics director of makeup artistry, says that while "brow beauty has come to be about thick, groomed hairs, overly tweezed eyebrows are very difficult to recover from." His advice: "Less plucking, less filling, less obsessing." Brow expert Sania Vucetaj, of Sania's Brow Bar in Manhattan, blames hair loss on overuse of lotions. "Stop slathering lotions and foundation on the eyebrow. It's not a healthy thing and blocks up the hair follicle. You'll see, the hair will grow back."

And if it doesn't?

Great Neck facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Andrew Jacono is having success with eyebrow implants. Many of his patients have lost brows because of "over-manicuring," says Jacono. But in some cases, "eyebrow loss, much like hair loss, is genetics," he says.

Jacono harvests hair follicles from a shaved one-inch square at the nape of his patients' necks. Using a hair transplant system, he removes the follicles and manually inserts them, one-by-one, into pin-sized holes made at the eyebrow. It takes about two hours, costs $3,000 and, says Jacono, "will grow in the new location in four to five months." Best news? "Eyebrow hair restoration is a permanent solution," Jacono says.

EYEBROWS SPEAK VOLUMES

There's more to brows than meets, well, the eye. So claims Jean Haner, the San Francisco-based face-reading expert, author and lecturer. "Every feature on your face sends many messages about you. The eyebrows talk to how assertive you are and the strength of your logical thinking." Naturally thick eyebrows indicate more "natural self-confidence," says Haner, adding that their owners "value logic over emotion in their work."

But the thin-browed shouldn't worry. "It's not like there's a good type or a bad type of eyebrow," says Haner. People with thinner brows are not overly judgmental, she says. "They will listen to people rather than assume 'It's my way or the highway,' and are a little more adaptable to other people's needs." That said, if someone with too-thin eyebrows is struggling with self-confidence, says Haner, "You can play with eyebrow makeup and suddenly start feeling more confident. It creates a corresponding inner change."

BROW PARTAY!

Every six weeks or so, a large group of women from the Five Towns beckons Brooklyn-based makeup artist, brow expert and tweezer maestro Carlo Geraci to a home for a "brow party." Usually, it's a gathering of 10 or so, says Estée Stein, 45, of Woodmere, whose dramatic brows are perfectly coifed. "Carlo is so good, and it's a lot of fun," she says. "People socialize and share information and leave with great brows."

Geraci typically charges $80 per grooming, reduces his rates to $40 per person for groups of more than five. He's been doing parties on Long Island since 2007 -- he's done as many as 25 people at one event but will travel for a group of five. And, he says, he can do brows anywhere. "I've done them in corporate conference rooms, on a park bench, a rooftop and in the back of a car on the LIRR heading out to the Hamptons," says Geraci. But despite the brow movement toward big and bold, he says, "As a rule, I do not follow trends. You've got to complement the shape of a person's face and eye shape." To learn more about Geraci, go to carlosays.com.