Raising Eyebrows -- A Little Shape, A Dab Of Color Highlight The Beauty Of Your Face

If eyebrows give expression to the face, then faces this fall should definitely be animated.

Gone are the brows that were lightened, thinned and neutered during the recent siege of minimalist fashions. Now, women want color and curves.

Robyn Cosio, a makeup artist who has become the guru of good brows, shapes, waxes and puts expression above the eyes of such stars as Nicole Kidman, Heather Locklear and Darryl Hannah.

"Imagine a face without them," she says of the importance of brows.

Her best-of-brows list includes screen stars from the 1940s - Carole Lombard, Ava Gardner, Gene Tierney. "They're beautiful and it was because their eyebrows were beautiful - streamlined and shaped," Cosio says. "In those days, if your eyebrows were beautiful, they would only do lips and false eyelashes. So what you saw were brows, lips and lashes. You didn't have all that stuff layered on the face like you do today."

Earlier this year, Linda Wells, editor of Allure magazine, credited Cosio's shapely work on her brows with helping her to land her man. Once said, women literally started flying to Art Luna, Cosio's West Hollywood, Calif., salon, for waxing appointments.

"There were 700 calls in two days," Cosio recalls. Now, she visits Peter Coppola's salon in New York one week a month to redefine East Coast faces.

Cosio - and everyone else - recommends natural brows that are noticeable, but not overwhelming. Brows that have shape and color,

but not too much of either.

How can a pro command $50 for waxing them?

Nobody has 20/20 vision," Cosio explains. `"ou can't see yourself symmetrically. It's always basically one eye looking at one brow."

To get the picture of why brows are so important, imagine them as expression marks that balance the entire face. If there's too much brow, the eyes or other features fade away. If there's not enough, you look like someone who's walking in space.

Another eyebrow wizard is Hollywood makeup artist Allen Weisinger, whose clients include Winona Rider, Jodie Foster and Shirley MacLaine.

"Today, the most important look for brows is the semitailored look," says Weisinger, currently featured in a Max Factor advertising campaign. "The end result should be a natural eyebrow. Tweeze a little above, more frequently below. You don't want that artificial plucked look, instead, something that frames the eyes."

Tweezing and plucking are the most common methods for shaping brows, but beware of over-doing. With waxing, small slivers of warm wax are applied, followed by cloths which are quickly pulled off. To reduce redness, cold cloths are applied. If a rash appears, Cosio recommends a cortisone cream.

It's critical not to remove too much hair. Sometimes, due to hormonal changes, age or unknown factors, hair doesn't grow back. Experts suggest that you go to a makeup artist or aesthetician to shape your brows. Then maintaining them at home is fairly easy.

Stacie Simpkins is the manager of the Chanel counter at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. "You should always be careful of trends," she says. "When the brows were getting very thin and arched last year, I told customers, `Let it go by.' "

Once brows are shaped, a little color and gel keep them that way.

Due in stores in November is Chanel's Perfect Brow, $60, a makeup case with three powders, two brushes - and miniature tweezers. Chanel's Brow Shaper, $28, is a wand of clear gel that sets the brow after makeup.

For the budget-conscious, feather the brows with either pencil or slanted brush and brow powder.

Avon offers Glimmer Sticks, $3.75, and Kathleen Walas, director in New York of Avon's global fashion and beauty, says the No. 1 color is brown. If you don't have a pencil or brow powder, eye shadow works nicely, too. Just brush it on lightly.

Simpkins says baby-boomers are good brow customers.

"It seems when they hit their 40s, they're more interested in makeup to accent what they already have, not to change it," she says. "This return to the more natural brow is perfect."