Thinking About Thinning Your Brows? Brow Experts Weigh In

If you’re tempted to thin out your brows but don’t quite trust your own judgement, here’s some good news: TikTok has a filter exactly for that.

As a woman who uses the internet to her full advantage on all things beauty, I’m not afraid to admit that I also took my cue from that exact filter, titled thin eyebrows by user @suderkek or Sude. The effect has amassed more than 3.6 million videos over the past few years, with the apps’ natives taking a liking to it as a modern redux of the 2000s trend. Think Lil Kim, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears then; Manon, Gabbriette, and Bella Hadid now. It’s an easy trip back to the Y2K era without the ’90s plucking trauma still lingering in the back of our minds—just put on the blue frosted eyeshadow, an ultra glossy lip, and consider us sold.

It’s easy: film a before video without the filter, an after with it, stitch the two side by side, and let your audience decide. Maybe ask your friends or older sisters who’ve sworn off tweezing. 

The ordeal isn’t exactly the most reliable if you’re looking for a DIY masterclass, but it’s good enough to show you the finished look before you commit to it in real life. What it doesn’t show, though, is the gruesome process of figuring out which hairs to shave to get the right shape, or the commitment it takes to actually maintaining it.

Not everybody is built for a thin, sculpted brow. Even if you are, keeping that shape intentional takes a lot of effort and upkeep. So before you reach for the razor yourself, we went looking for a second opinion. Filipino makeup artist Mickey See and longtime brow specialist Pia Lee, the woman behind Kilay Alert, share a few thoughts on what to consider before taking some hair off your brows.

Mickey See on thin brows: why face shape comes before the trend

Manila-based makeup artist See has had a hand in some of the lushest brows to grace the country—more specifically, the faces of multi-hyphenate Liza Soberano, Miss Universe Philippines 2026 Bea Millan-Windorski, actress Ellen Adarna, and dancer Rochelle Pangilinan, among others. 

So it doesn’t come as a surprise when he reveals that it’s just not part of his practice to entertain trends concerning eyebrows. “My main consideration is the shape of the face and the brows, not what’s popular.” 

But if you really want to achieve that modern take on the Y2K trend, See recommends keeping it simple. “Keep your natural brow shape. Add definition if you have to, but do not make it thinner than it needs to be.” 

How brow specialists map your shape: symmetry, muscle pulls, and balance

If you’re really committed to thinning your brows, Lee, a brow specialist, offers a more individualized approach. 

To take the guesswork out of shaving your brows completely, she recommends leaving it to the pros. Lee shares, “We study facial symmetry. We have what we call muscle pulls—the client’s expression. We don’t have a stencil that we follow. You look at how the client speaks, you look at the angle where it’s beautiful, and we bring out what their beautiful expression is. It really depends.”

She adds that the same brow shape won’t suit everyone. “You can’t say, I want this brow, this is what you do to me. It doesn’t work like that. Every client has their own brows. We always say that the brows don’t have to be symmetrical, they don’t have to be uniform. They have to be balanced. That’s why our motto in our clinic is kahit hindi pantay, basta bagay.”

How your eyebrow arch affects your facial expression 

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Where you take the hair from matters, too. “Our expressions are normally on the eyebrows. And then, we have emotions that we create, so it needs the right spacing in the eyes. You look at the symmetry, the distance of the eyes to the eyebrows,” Lee shares. “If it’s too high, it makes you look like you’re always awake. And if it’s too low, it makes you look like you’re always sad.”

Therefore, where you remove the hair can change more than the brow shape itself. It can shift the space between your eyes and brows, and with it, the expression your face naturally takes on, which is perhaps reason enough to leave the razor to the pros.

How to trim your eyebrows for a thinner look without shaving

If you’re just looking to shake things up, you don’t necessarily need to start taking hairs out—sometimes, all your brows need is a good trim. In an interview with Allure US, brow expert Kristie Streicher says that for trimming, the idea is to take away some of the bulk, while keeping the brows looking naturally full.

To do this, Streicher recommends brushing the hairs upward with a spoolie, then snipping only the ones that extend noticeably beyond your natural brow line. “Cut one hair a little longer and one a little shorter, so your eyebrows don’t get a crew cut,” she says.

A thin brow, whether ’90s-esque, Y2K-inspired, or simply your own modern take, has moved beyond the trend cycle to become another brow option. The experts’ advice, however, is consistent: what’s trending matters less than your natural brow shape, facial structure, and expression. So before you reach for the razor, take a cue from the experts above—or better yet, let one help you figure out what works for your face.