Geisha Eyebrows

When maiko and geiko/geisha put on their distinctive white makeup, the paint also covers up their natural eyebrows, which makes them quite hard to see from a distance. To prevent one's face from looking expressionless, they use pink or red and black makeup to paint on new eyebrows. It is sometimes said that while a maiko's sleeves become shorter when she becomes a geiko, her eyebrows become longer; however, in practice it appears to be up to the wearer's taste and what fits her face. Often though, the eyebrows of very new maiko are short, to make her face look more round and thus, youthful.