THE DESIGN: FACIAL HAIR

THE UNIBROW

CHARACTER: Frida Khalo (1907-1954)

The character was a surealist Mexican painter. She is of Indigenous Mexican, Spanish and German descent. She was well known for self-portraits. Her signature unibrow is featured prominently in her paintings, even more pronounced than it appears in photography. Frida was known to have had Polio in her youth, and a major accident later with a street car, and suffered chronic pain. She identified as bi-sexual. She was married to two different men, both artists, but openly had multiple affairs with men and women. At times she was known to be a heavy drinker, and had overall fragile health. She was a vocal member of the Communist Party, and a feminist. She was born and died in Coyoacán, Mexico, but lived much of her adult life in the U.S. in San Francisco, New York City and Detroit. She passed away at age 47 following a hemmoragic miscarriage after a failed abortion. I will depict her at the age near the end of her life. Her artwork did not gain poularity in the U.S. until the 1970's. She remains an icon and role model for Communists, Feminists, Artists and the LGBTQ+ community.

DESIGN STATEMENT:

I will approach Freda Khalo's look by creating a facial hair appliance to blend a unibrow with my natural brows. I will use dark brown hairwith just a couple grays, matched to my own brows, and to reflect her age of 47.

RESEARCH

A photo of Frida Khalo that shows her iconic unibrow

One of Frida Khalo's many self portraits featuring her unibrow.

This is an image of Charlie Sheen. It is a good example of the direction of natural hair growth between the brows.

This is an image of George W. Bush. It shows some salt and peppery unibrows.

This is a 19th century Iranian painting showing two sisters with a "monobrow"

This is an image of Sophia Padjipa, a current day Runway model credited with the current comeback of the unibrow syle.

This is a photoshopped image of NBA's Anthony Davis from satire site, "The Onion," claining that his unibrow had grown to now go all the way around his head.

This is an image of me today. Wth not much hair between my brows due to years of wax, lasering and electrolysis to reduce it.

PRODUCTS, MATERIALS, AND TOOLS

Supplies:

Plastic wrap
Clear packing tape
Permenant marker
Wig lace
Wig block
colored paper
blocking tape
blocking nails
Dark brown human hair

Other Products:

Spirit Gum
Spirit gum remover
Mehron cream makeup in mid-tone, highlight and shadow colors
Mehron cream makeup in cheek color
Red lip color
Translucent powder
mascara
eye liner

Tools:

ventilating hook
reading glasses and magnifier
scissors
plastic velcro

THE PROCESS

CREATE A TRACING

Wrap plastic wrap over the brow area and have a partner help hold it tight
Trace the area where the Unibrow will be. I also marked the hairline above.
Cover the area with clear tape.

BLOCK THE PIECE

Tape a bright colored paper in the block under the area where the piece will go. I started with blue, then switched to pink. It just needs to contrast with the lace and the hair for easier visibility
Position the tracing in the corect place on the head, matching up the hairline
place the wiglace over the tracing and block in place with the blocking tape and nails

VENTILATE

Knot one hair at a time in the outlined area.
1. the outer tips the will blend with the natural brow are knotted way from center
2. gradually transition the direction to diagonal, then upward toward the center
3. knot facing downward at the center bottom for just a few hairs

MAKE-UP (optional)

Apply midtone, shadow and highlight as basic ensemle look. leaving are of facial hair to be applied clear. Powder.
Add a red lip and rosy cheeks
Add minimal eyeliner and mascara
Try adding mascara to the upper lip hairs to give a hint of moustache.
Add a braided updoo with flower accents.

APPLY THE UNIBROW

Apply spirit gum to the lace back on the unibrow, and the skin
Allow to dry until tacky
press piece in place
touch up adjacent make-up as needed
comb to blend the piece with the natural brow
apply brow gel or mascara to the unibrow and natural brow

On head block with outward corners ventilated.

Knotting in different directions to simulate real brow growth

Completed Ventilation before cutting

Trimmed to 1-1 1/2 inch and applied

REFLECTION AND CRITIQUE

The ventilating process took a while to get the hang of with the aide of reading glasses and a lighted magnifier. The application went smoothly. The brow gel and mascara were helpful in blending with the natural brow. It was difficult to get the hair of the unibrow to lay down as flat as the natural brow, so I ended up fluffing up the natural brow to match better. In retrospect, I did not curl or style the unibrow at all, but maybe I could have used some heat to smooth it all down before applying. I think that the minimal make-up and hair additions helped really tie in the overall look of the charachter. Hope I did Frida proud.

SCHEMATIC

FINAL LOOK

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