A high forehead and where the arch sits

Why forehead height changes what a brow does

I'm Jisun, the owner of London Brow in Seoul. The brow is a line drawn across the face, and what sits above and below that line decides how it reads. On a high forehead there is a large, plain area above the brows, so the brow becomes the border between that area and the eyes. Everything about it is more visible: its height, its thickness, and especially its arch. A small change in arch position that would disappear on a short forehead stays noticeable on a tall one.

You can see this in a mirror by looking at proportions rather than at the brow itself. Pull your hair back, face the mirror in daylight, and look at the distance from hairline to brow compared with the distance from brow to chin. Then notice where your eye goes first. If it goes to the forehead, the brow is not holding the middle of the face, and arch height is often the reason. If it goes to the eyes, the brow is already doing its job and I would change less than you might expect.

The arch position I test first

Arch position has two parts: where along the brow the highest point sits, and how high it rises. For the first, I usually start from your own hairs. Brush the brow and find the point, somewhere over the outer part of the eye, where the hairs stop climbing and begin to turn toward the tail. That is where your brow already wants to peak, and moving the peak far from it means working against the hair for the rest of the brow. People differ here, which is one reason I do not use a fixed position.

For height, I test rather than assume. With a pencil I draw the arch slightly lower and softer than most people expect, step back, and look at the forehead. On a high forehead a lower arch with a fuller body usually makes the upper face look shorter and calmer, because the brow sits closer to the eyes and leaves less empty space above. Then I draw it a little higher and we compare. The right version is the one where your eye stops going to the forehead first. That decision is yours to make in the mirror, not mine to make from a rule.

What I avoid: the thin, high arch

The shape that works least well above a high forehead is the one many people were taught to want: a thin brow with a high, pointed arch. Thin means the brow has little weight, so the forehead dominates. High means the arch adds even more space between brow and eye, and a pointed peak draws a sharp vertical line upward into the forehead. Together they make the forehead the main event of the face. On a short forehead the same shape can be fine; proportion is doing the work either way.

What I lean toward instead is thickness held through the body of the brow, a soft upper line without a sharp corner at the peak, and a tail that does not drop too far. The upper line matters more than usual here, because it is the edge that meets the open forehead. A gently rounded top sits into the space; a hard, straight top edge with a sudden peak cuts across it. Whether your hairs allow a rounded top is something I can only see on you, which is why the pencil comes before any promise.

How to ask about arch height in the consultation

Bring a straight-on photo with your hair pulled back so the whole forehead shows, and one with your hair the way you usually wear it. The second matters because a fringe or a side part changes the visible forehead completely, and I design for the version you live in. Look at the bare photo first and mark, even just in your head, where your brow currently peaks and whether that peak is pointed or rounded.

Consultations at London Brow are translation-assisted over WhatsApp, so simple sentences are best: 'I have a high forehead and I think my arch is too high and thin. I would like to see a lower, softer option.' In the studio, ask me one direct question: how did you choose the arch height for my face? I should be able to point at the peak of your own hairs, at the forehead proportion and at the two pencil versions you compared. If I cannot, ask again before anything is decided.

Common questions