Model with unibrow speaks out about being labelled an 'ogre'

Scarlett Costello counts artist Frida Kahlo as one of her inspirations

(scarlettcostello/instagram )

A model with a unibrow has spoken out about how people have called her an “ogre”.

Scarlett Costello, a 19-year-old model who is studying art in Brooklyn, New York, told Teen Vogue that most people praise her for defying feminine beauty ideals with her thick eyebrows and hairy armpits.

“But I’ve gotten some negative comments as well. People have called me an ogre and a pretentious feminist,” she told Teen Vogue.

“I’m a big believer in the idea that everyone looks the best the way their genes intended them to. The confidence of embracing natural beauty is what makes it great,“ she added.

Growing up, Costello's mother encouraged her to appreciate her thick brows. When she was 15, she decided to grow her eyebrows out. “I figured it was more ‘me’,” she said.

When she first started modelling, Costello waxed her eyebrows but let them form back into a unibrow after he modelling agency Ford Paris suggested it would help her score more bookings.

Costello counts artist Frida Khalo, who famously had a monobrow and moustache, as her inspiration for her look, as well as stylist Brittany Byrd, whose eyebrows are pink.

Since the 1990s, the trend in eyebrows has shifted dramatically from pencil-line thin to thick and sculpted. This has also prompted trends including microblading, where realistic hairs are tattooed to give the impression of thick eyebrows. 

Costello is also among the models that agencies are booking with looks that shake up conventional beauty standards, alongside Melanie Gaydos - who has a rare genetic condition - and plus-size models including Ashley Graham.