Fellow Millennials, TikTok Is Urging You: Stop Doing This to Your Brows

It’s well documented that there are a few things TikTok (more specifically, Gen Z) just can’t get behind, from side parts to concealer lips. But surprisingly, there’s one millennial look that they want us to bring back: bold, super-defined brows. Yes. While in recent years, makeup has taken a less-is-more approach—ala clean girl aesthetic—my For You page is not having it. Let me explain.

My feed has been flooded with showing the difference between 2016 versus 2025 brows. I was prepared for the youngsters to poke fun at our ‘block brows,’ but the comments took me by surprise. Many shared, “I’m totally a 2016 eyebrow girl,” “I’m still in 2016 and I’ll never go to 2025,” and “2016 provides more structure, pulling the whole face together.” Same girl, same.

In the last couple of years, trying brow laminations or achieving the look without getting the treatment was all the rage. There was a shift in more natural, barely there makeup instead of bold brows. But long gone is relying only on brow gel and gently drawing hairs in sparse areas for a feathery finish. While the 2025 way of doing things isn’t necessarily bad, some with finer and/or thinning brows prefer the 2016 version to give the illusion of thicker brows. 

As TikTok creator Tao shows above, use a brow pomade (or pencil) and brush to line your brows. Then start filling in the brows, focusing primarily toward the mid to end of your arch.  Just go a little easy on the brow pencil and consider gentle strokes. We don’t want any cases of brow blindness here. Then use a spoolie to gently brush hairs for a fuller, blended appearance. Finally, apply concealer (about one to two shades lighter) above and below the brows for a clean, defined finish.