CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland on Friday responded to a lawsuit filed by the family of Tamir Rice with several defenses, including that the 12-year-old died and his family members suffered because of their own actions.
Eyebrows have a true purpose for being — to help keep sweat out of our eyes, and convey a wide range of emotion through facial expression.
But they’ve also had a starring role in beauty trends for thousands of years.
Ancient Egyptians darkened brows with kohl (Tend Setter: Cleopatra), and the Greeks wore false 
eyebrows made from dyed goat’s hair. The Celts dyed brows black with berry juice, and it was quite the “in” thing for Byzantine women to pluck brows into a straight line, and finish the look with a thick, black line drawn directly under the brow.
Plucking most or all hairs off the face, including brows, and rubbing oil on brow areas to block follicles (to keep hair from growing back — a strategy that actually works) was the trend in the Middle Ages. (Trend Setter: Queen Elizabeth I).
During the 1920s, silent film stars kept brows very thin, believing thin brows would make it easier to convey emotion and expression without sound, according to The Encyclopedia of Hair. 
This “thin brow” trend continued on into the 30s when “talkie” movie stars, like Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, removed their brow hairs completely, creating new ones with a pencil.
But, some actresses bucked this beauty trend and started to play up their brows, using them to play up to the camera. In Gone With the Wind, Vivien Leigh, the British actress who so perfectly played Scarlett O’Hara, was skilled at conveying all kinds of emotions — especially scorn — just by raising her right eyebrow.
Since the 1940s, the natural look — thicker, fuller brows — has been the prominent trend, with a few “thin brow” years here and there, like during the “Swinging Sixties” when all the emphasis was on eyes (Trend Setter: Twiggy). And every year there’s a new twist — bleaching, piercing, coloring, trimming, threading, waxing — to further emphasize the importance of brows as a key beauty accessory.
Which brings me to now.
Beauty arbiters have proclaimed 2015 the year of the full, prominent brow (again). Many fashion designers are showing models touting the “No-Makeup Look” (a beauty trend I embrace and have written about), natural hair (ditto), and full, lush brows. I’m not suggesting you blindly follow the trends, but I do believe that brows could be one of your best — and easiest to get — beauty accessories, at any age.
Why are full brows so “must have” right now?
A few reasons . . .
Women in midlife have often over-plucked over the years (especially when the grays start showing), slathered on too much cream and lotion in brow area (blocking follicles from sprouting new hair), and have basically given up on ever having the brows they really want. I know, because I was one of those women.
But, there are ways to “fake it until they become it.” Take a look at this short video in which one of the country’s top brow experts told me all the things we can do, and should never do, to have the beauty accessory of the moment — big beautiful brows:
Want more tips? Visit www.bestofeverythingafter50.com.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
Since I live in the Midwest, I’m always happy to say goodbye to January.
Generally, January is the harshest of the winter months. The rest of winter is no picnic either, and it’s not like I’m happy to say hello to February. Personally, I find February to be far more depressing.
The Super Bowl has been in February recently, but it’s been falling on the first or second of the month. After it’s over, there’s not much to do except shovel snow and watch TV. I’m not much of a basketball or hockey fan unless it’s the playoffs, and baseball still seems light years away.
On the last day of January, the night before the big game, it started snowing about 7:30 and didn’t stop. I was really looking forward to the Super Bowl party the next day, but I didn’t make it. Most of my friends didn’t, either.
After the game, I was alerted that the plant was closed on Monday. It was the fifth largest snowstorm to hit Chicagoland, and that’s saying something. When I looked outside in the morning, I forgot all about Groundhog Day (silly little whistle pig.)
The following Sunday, going through football withdrawal, I decided to watch the Grammy awards for the first time since 1989 (the great Best Hard Rock/Metal debacle.) The show was OK, I guess. I saw Kanye run up on stage, seemingly about to rip the award from a startled Beck’s hands, before thinking better of it. At least I could follow the water cooler talk at work the next day. Usually I’m clueless.
Personally, the hardest part of February is Valentine’s Day. Last year, I wrote about how it’s my least favorite holiday. This year, it was a perfect day to stay in. It was cold, the winds were howling, and I was happy to have no obligations. I was playing on the computer, and with tongue firmly in cheek, decided to have a little fun.
It didn’t take long for the comments to start. Here are some of the highlights:
Poking fun at myself and laughing with my friends kept my spirits up. I survived.
The next day, I was excited for the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary show, SNL40. Just thinking about it brought me back to the mid ’70s and childhood. I can’t say that the show lived up to my expectations, but I liked a lot of it. Bill Murray as Nick Ocean singing the “theme” to Jaws, Jeopardy and Wayne’s World were my favorite live skits. Even though Valentine’s Day had passed, I still needed the laughs.
On Monday the 16th, I tuned in for the Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life Grammy Salute. I’m sure glad I did. To be honest, I had heard of Lady Gaga, but never listened to any of her music. I was skeptical when she was introduced to sing my all-time favorite Stevie song is “I Wish.” Her performance delivered all the joy and happy memories of the original. She nailed it.
It made me think of my step-daughter. While two years have passed since her mother and I divorced (finalized in February, of course) I still think of her when it comes to music, especially asking her opinion of the new stars. I remembered asking her about Taylor Swift years ago. She thought for a moment, trying to put it in terms I would understand. “She’s kind of like Sheryl Crow, except way younger and hotter.”
About two days later, out of the blue, my step-daughter requested to be friends on Facebook. I was thrilled, and gladly accepted, taking it as a sign that any residual resentment had subsided. A few days after that, I complemented her on a picture of herself she posted, and started to look at her page, marveling at how grown up she was.
It was then that I saw she was friends with her mother (naturally) who was using her maiden name. I clicked on my ex’s profile, and that’s how I learned she had gotten remarried.
What a kick in the teeth. I was shocked, angry and mostly sad. I barely slept that night, and made it through the first half of the next day at work, before requesting to finish the day from home. I didn’t want to break down in front of coworkers.
I’m better now, after having time to process everything.
The way I look at it, it takes two to tango. There’s no point in placing blame or fault. We were married, and we failed. While I would have appreciated hearing the news directly from her, it doesn’t change anything. She’s married again, and I truly hope she’s happy.
But man, I can’t wait to say goodbye to February.
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
As a woman who threw up for more than four decades to control my weight, even as I needed the comfort and “cure” that overeating provided, I have some insights on what the “over love of food” is all about. It wasn’t the problem. It was the answer. The cure for food disorders is not just intervention to change the behavior. It is intervention with a soul that is lost and knows no other way to fill the hurt and the despair.
By age 12, my inner self was very confused and terribly hurt. I had no understanding as to what life was about — and there was no one coming up with answers for me that made any sense. My body was changing and driving me into emotions and urges that I had no guideposts for. All I had was a cultural model that told me that “Twiggy” was cool, I needed to be sexy-thin and that being who I was wasn’t important or valid. I was a young girl morphing into womanhood who knew that a “kiss on a boo-boo” from one of my parents was no longer going to heal my wounds.
I was in a place of serious growing pain. My mind was firing on all cylinders with questions and my soul was blossoming into a knowing that the answers coming at me were somehow flawed and not what I needed. I was floundering and trying to find a place of balance for my feet and my heart. No one was talking about the things that were aching me: Why am I here? What is the purpose of existence? Why does it hurt so much?
I began to find comfort in food. I began to overeat. I used food to fill a gaping hole in my soul where a self-loving and self-knowing me belonged. The food also occupied my mind and distracted me from the pain. My mother was delighted as I showed great interest in food preparation and taking over some of her mealtime chores. There were seven children in my family to feed, so this was no light task. Add two parents to that number, and you have nine mouths to feed at every sitting. I became a constant in the kitchen. This also meant that I could eat with mind-numbing abandon, as I moved from refrigerator to stove.
I had a sister who was 17 months older, and she had found the comforts of food as well — pushing her weight to well over 180 lbs. My mother began terrorizing her about her weight, even going so far as to call her, “disgusting.” I realized my own body was beginning to tip that same scale and I didn’t want to suffer this abuse myself. So, what did I do? I started to throw up. I would overeat to get the “high” and pain-killing comfort of the food. Then I would stick my finger down my throat and get rid of it. I was in control! I had found the perfect answer. I could eat with impunity and stay thin.
What I didn’t know was that I had started on a cycle that would hold my body, my soul and my heart for 42 years — anorexia/bulimia. Soon “being skinny” became my single goal, even as eating became my god. My feelings and fears disappeared as every thought and passion I had was now centered on food. I was starving to death — at age 32 I was very proud of being 5’9″ and weighing only 102 pounds — and stuffing myself with food at the same time. Food made it so I didn’t have to hurt. I didn’t have to mature, think or feel when I was in the kitchen creating gourmet meals and gorging on the “fine art of cooking.” I would binge and vomit sometimes as much as 20 times a day. Behaving this way didn’t even seem strange to me — nor apparently to those around me. It was simply what I did. What a great way to hide from my pain and avoid living courageously within my own life.
I finally just walked away from my eating disorder on a cruise ship in 2009 at the age of 54. I consider this event a gift of “divine grace.” A large cruise ship, with food in every corner, is a “Puker’s Paradise.” My body decided — or better yet, my soul decided — I no longer needed this survival technique. It was time for me to put my knife and fork down. I had started doing the work of finding my soul about three years earlier in the rooms of a 12-step program for alcoholism. I no longer needed the mindless comfort and pain-distraction that my eating disorder had graced me with. Why? Because I was finally and fully on my way to learning and loving who I am.
So, when we talk about eating disorders — when we talk about any addiction — we are not looking at the problem. We are looking at the answer that one of our brothers or sisters is using to fill a horrendous hole. This hole is where a conscious and loving sense of ourselves belongs. Healing this hole starts when we admit to ourselves that we are scared, lost and lonely and that we are using food — or some other substance or behavior — to fill this emptiness within us.
I found the beginnings of my self-love in the powerfully honest and accepting rooms of a 12-step program. Perhaps you will find yours there, as well. If you have an eating disorder or any other addiction, please, please know that you are not alone; also that you are not “bad” and that nothing is “wrong” with you. Here’s the link for Over-Eaters Anonymous: http://www.oa.org/.
http://www.robininyourface.com/why-my-eating-disorder-was-the-answer/
Robin Korth enjoys interactions with her readers. Feel free to contact her at info@robininyourface.com or on Facebook.
To learn about her new book, “Soul on the Run,” go to: www.SoulOnTheRun.com
You can also download her “Robin In Your Face” free daily motivational app by going to www.robininyourface.com/whats-new/
Earlier on Huff/Post50:
New Yorkers know hats, the British know shoes, but the Italians, they know bags.
Over the last couple of days at Milan Fashion Week, we have spotted some pretty amazing purses on the streets. After seeing the photos below, we really want to go shopping — either for a novelty clutch or a Chanel Boy Bag.
Herewith our favorite shots from Milan:
Ready for a blast from the past? Ten years ago, Walmart’s plan to undercut Netflix on DVD-by-mail rental pricing failed, and the retail giant turned that part of its business over to the movie service in exchange for a cut of the revenue, referral bo…
Algeria is a place of nearly unimaginable beauty and diversity. From the heights of the Tell Atlas mountains to the bleakly beautiful desert expanse of Tamanrasset Province, it offers truly unforgettable landscapes. The country that inspired the works of Camus, Algeria also reflects the beauty and complexity of an ancient civilization, mingled with the effects of more than 100 years of French occupation.
A new project, SkyCam Algeria, has set out to capture the country’s diverse attractions in a set of incredible photographs taken from drones. Using a GoPro camera, SkyCam Algeria captured the snowy peaks, desert vistas and ancient edifices that make Algeria such a unique — and irresistible — place to visit.
A version of this post originally appeared on HuffPost Maghreb.
Many RPGs have more than one ending, but even then you still have limited ways to control the story or to interact with the characters. Disney Research, however, wants to make real interactive games — ones where your actions can affect how it progre…
You Know, Like One Does
Taking underwater photos of girls in bikinis wearing knee-high mecha-socks might be one of the better jobs ever to have been conceived in the history of work. And if one could also get those photos published in a book and sell it for money, the gig would definitely crack the top 10. Well, someone nailed it.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
