I don't know about you, but my eyebrows are a pretty integral part of my look.

I've spent years taming their wily ways, too: careful tweezing, regular re-shaping and the vagaries of fashion have all had an impact on their thickness and shape, and not a day goes by without me sneaking off to the bathroom for a little look-see, just to reassure myself all is well. Oh, you know how it is. But why the obsession? It's simple -- I reckon brows are important. They're fundamental, in fact, to how you look, providing a framing mechanism for the eyes and face, and adding an essential component to how we express emotion.

I'm not the only one to think they're crucial, so that's why you might have heard the clamour brewing about Givenchy's use of models with bleached-out brows in their new advertising campaign. Shot by hip fash-pack photographers Mert & Marcus, the directional images feature an almost unrecognisable Adriana Lima, the Victoria's Secret model. I say unrecognisable, because her brows have been bleached into oblivion, giving her face an asexual, robotic look.

These are high-fashion, editorial shots, and the average gal on the street knows she's not going to be able to pull off the clothes or the make-up. And that's fine -- what looks incredible on the pages of Harper's Bazaar is not going to find favour in Harmonstown, because high fashion is all about making statements and providing theatre. Wearability is an airy concern that doesn't really enter the picture.

As a trend, though, the no-brow is on the rise, with Armani, Prada and Alexander McQueen all delivering a take on it in their most recent shows. They had some inspiration: some Buddhist monks shave theirs and the Mona Lisa is famously bereft. Photographer Steven Meisel brow-scalped supermodel Kristen McMenamy for Vogue's 1992 'grunge' cover.

It didn't find favour back then, but could it be second time lucky for no-brows? Let's take a little look at the evidence: catwalk beauty trends have sparked off some lasting fads over the years, most notably the smokey eyed, dewy-skinned look so beloved of Irish women, and the inspiration for Uma Thurman's Rouge Noir'd nails in Pulp Fiction sprang from a Chanel show, too. Oh -- speaking of Chanel: thanks to them we can expect minty green talons to be huge this autumn. Uh-oh. Are we're going to see Dublin filled with alien creatures with bleached brows as well?

While a few lone hipsters are bound to ape the trend, it's not going to find favour with the rest of the populace, reckons hair and make-up artist Billy Orr. "The things that look fantastic on the catwalk at London fashion week just don't work on the rest of us," he says. "The girl sitting at her desk on Monday morning with no brows is going to look like someone took them off her at a party at the weekend," he laughs.

Flatter

Threading guru and beauty therapist Neelu White is similarly scathing. "I am passionate about brows," she declares, adding, "this is a silly idea that will do very little to flatter ladies -- unless you want an expressionless, sexless, robotic look about the face." White went one further, polling 75 of her customers to see what they thought of the no-brow trend. The results? "They said it might be high fashion, but it definitely wasn't for them," she reports.

Now that that's decided -- we're wearing our brows loud and proud -- what should we do to keep them in perfect order?

"Arched eyebrows will elongate a round face and help disguise a square jaw," says Estée Lauder's international make-up artist, Alan Pan. "Heart-shaped faces suit natural looking brows which will also soften angular features, and very thick, dramatic brows are great for oval faces or balancing a long face," he adds.

I'd always recommend going to a pro for a bit of advice if you've never tried shaping them, or if you're one of these people who just can't leave well enough alone.

Like, er, me. I've found it helpful to have them tailored professionally every three to four months at a salon or brow bar, and that gives me a template to follow for maintenance.

So, who's good? In the city centre, head to Neelu's Brow Bar, located at Arnotts, where threading is on the menu. No appointment is necessary and you'll be transformed for a mere €18. Likewise, Estée Lauder have two brow bars in Dublin, one in Brown Thomas and one at House of Fraser, Dundrum. A mix of gentle wax and plucking is used, transforming you from yeti to yummy. The cost? €20, redeemable against product purchase.

Once brows are looking their best, keep them that way by plucking out any new growth to keep your nice new shape and doing a bit of judicious colouring-in.

But we're not out of the woods yet. "Avoid making the brows too dark," warns celebrity make-up artist Cassie Lomas, who adds the stinger, "this can be ageing." What should you do instead? "Lightly pencil and blend well to avoid any hard lines," is her advice.

- Kirstie McDermott