ONE: In 1995, inspired by Gong Li in the film Shanghai Triad, I plucked my full eyebrows into thin lines. I felt satisfied at my handiwork. My grandma, meanwhile, warned me not to over pluck because my eyebrows may never grow back.
TWO: Kayle, a British colleague of mine boasted bushy, robust brows. They were, in my eyes, a wonderful blank palette. One day in 2000, Kaye and I were having our hair cut at a salon in Seoul. The salon owner styled both Kaye and me. At the end, she asked Kaye if she wanted her brows tweezed. Kaye said yes, and after a few seconds emerged looking straight up like Kate Winslet. The owner turned to me and asked if I wanted my brows trimmed. I said yes. IF I COULD STOP TIME AND REDO THAT MOMENT I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD! The salon owner, despite standing only a foot from me, called across the room to the ajumma sweeping the floors. She pointed for her to come do my brows. The ajumma approached and with shaky hands took an electric shaver to my face. In one swoop, she cut a quarter of my left eyebrow off my face. Fourteen years later it has never grown back.
These days Gong Li is back to fuller brows, as am I, with my left brow limping along. Koreans recognized years ago that full brows vs. thin ones give a more youthful appearance. One can see tutorials all over the web how to create Korean-style eyebrows. Funny, but the site that tickles me the most is a site dedicated to
K-pop idols sans brows.
Gong Li photos courtesy of The Film's the Thing, HK actresses blog, and Hawt Celebs
