Oh, the recklessness of youth. Everyone remembers the first time they attacked their eyebrows, whether it was an attempt to emulate your older sister's perfectly tweezed arches (without your mum's knowledge, of course), or getting an equally clueless friend to wax them with Boots' finest at-home strips (ouch).
Perhaps eyebrows were so alluring to us as teens because they were less intimidating than other body hair; or perhaps it was their ability to change the way our face looked – even if it never worked out the way we wanted...
Unfortunately, we have a habit of following the crowd when it comes to shaping our brows, with absolutely no consideration of whether said shape will suit us. The '00s was a particularly rough patch, with celebrities and mere mortals alike launching a full-throttle attack on their eyebrows.
Our theory is that in the '90s, genuinely cool women like Drew Barrymore and Janet Jackson worked pencil-thin brows with panache, which led to a generation of teens hacking away at their own with whatever tool was to hand. By the time the '00s came around, we'd gone too far. There were patches, length issues, regrowth impossibilities and addictions to the oh-so-satisfying pluck.
With big, bold and bushy the shape du jour, courtesy of Cara and her naturally beautiful brows, it's a frustrating time for teens of the '90s and '00s. Regrowth isn't easy, and all hope of rocking thick, luscious brows died with our very first Tweezerman. But your outlook is about to change. Instagram account @historyofoverplucking is here to soothe your nonexistent brow woes and prove that, actually, less is more. Who needs gels and tints and threading?
Click through to see the best examples of teeny, tiny, skinny brows, modelled by the coolest women out there.
The inimitable Naomi Campbell in a Fendi eyewear ad from 1993, proving that a micro fringe and bold brows was as much of a look back then as it is now.
Courtney Love and Pamela Anderson, badass blonde bombshells of the '90s, making a case for tiny brows and extra eyeshadow.
Zooey Deschanel plays William's cooler, vinyl-touting older sister in cult film Almost Famous. We loved her as much for her dissatisfaction with her humdrum hometown as for her relatable brows.
If Aretha approves...
Even the ladies of yore kept their brows in line, as this fresco proves.
A '90s Kate Moss championed the skinny brow, in line with the minimalist aesthetic of the decade.
1948 ballet film The Red Shoes is worth watching for the makeup alone, and is the perfect example of how drawn-on brows can exaggerate any look.
Janet forever and ever, amen. Bonus points for those extreme arches.
Ah Kristin Cavallari; bad girl of The Hills, bad girl of brows.
We adore any look turned out by Anjelica Huston but this one in particular is pure pastel-eye inspiration.
Pearl choker? Check. LBD? Check. Slicked-back, bleached-blonde 'do? Check. Mauve lips? Check. Drew's brows are the cherry on top of her stellar '93 Golden Globes look.
Bigger brows would only draw attention away from Diana Ross' magnificent eyes.
This is pretty much everything we strived for circa 2000. We <3 you, Scar Jo.
Oh Lil' Kim, anything you do – including a silver 'do and gems in the corner of the eye – we shall do, too.
It wouldn't be a nostalgia trip without Gwen. Brows thinner than your liner is no mean feat.
See! Even Renaissance babes had mega thin brows – it's a trend that spans centuries.
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