7. Goat Hair Eyebrows
It would be fair to say that the ancient Greeks were obsessed with the appearance of women’s eyebrows. They attached much meaning to eyebrows, with untouched brows indicating purity and youthful beauty. The pinnacle of eyebrow beauty was the unibrow. It showed great beauty and intelligence. Greek women were known to fill in patchy eyebrows to attempt to create the perfect unibrow. When Kohl or soot failed to produce the desired effect, they turned to a more dramatic solution: goat hair.
False eyebrows would be crafted out of goat hair and attached to the skin with tree resin adhesive. One can imagine how itchy this concoction must have been. However, the French aristocracy of the 18th century took the animal hair eyebrows to a whole new level.
In the Georgian period, high society women would entirely shave off their eyebrows – a somewhat daunting task in an era of straight razors and no penicillin. They would then replace their eyebrows with patches crafted from mouse skins and attached with plant-based adhesives. It’s hard to imagine the sight of a ballroom full of beautiful women in elaborate gowns, only to approach them and find mouse skin patches glued to their faces.