The contemporary society''s interest in beauty and appearance becomes greater and faces are a body part that enables others to identify emotional conditions and represent impressions. When we meet someone for the first time, his face works as an element for us to develop his images and assume the personality. Therefore, the importance of impressions is even more highlighted. One of the tools to produce good impressions is makeup. Most of all, eyebrows makeup will most greatly affect to form our own impressions. Eyebrows are an element to determine the direction for facial images and often stand for impressions and personality. Hence, eyebrows makeup is more than an element of makeup. Rather, it is an important means to change your impression and image more positively. Most of the previous papers about eyebrows centered around emotional factor assessments based on personal visual standards or emotion-related assessments. However, such studies generally referred to visual perspectives of researchers or were limited to measurement pertaining to forms of eyebrows, presenting a limit that communication between researchers and test participants tended to remain subjective.
Based on this understanding, the study applied an arithmetic formula of average rate of change to gradient that differs by form of eyebrows with an aim for quantification. A gradient can be measured from the starting point of your eyebrow to its highest point. The gradients calculated based on this formula were applied to eyebrow-like products for the assessment of facial images with an aim to increase reliability of the emotional element assessment. Average rates of change in eyebrows makeup were then applied to cases where gradients could be calculated for the purpose of measurement of average gradients of eyebrow curves. The samples were selected from female students in their 20s not majoring in beauty-related studies and the methods combined exploratory and questionnaire-based positive studies. Based on the recent trends classified in the previous studies, forms of eyebrows were classified into the six types including Standard Type, Square Type, Arch Type, Horizontal Type, Rising Type and Drooping Type. Actual images of these six types were collected from the previous studies for the calculation of respective average rates of change and the respective averages were applied for the production of the eyebrows product for this study. Also, this was applied to the questionnaire for assessment of emotional elements pertaining to facial images by average rate of change for eyebrows makeup. This was followed by identification of general characteristics of the samples, general perceptions of eyebrows, differences in perceptions of eyebrows based on general characteristics of the samples, assessment of emotional elements of eyebrow forms by perspectives of the samples, differences in emotional images by forms of eyebrows, and differences in emotional images by form of eyebrows based on general awareness of eyebrows and general characteristics as well as correlations between forms of eyebrows and emotional elements of the samples. In the reliability verification of emotional images, four factors of sexiness, maturity, innocence, and naturalness were devised. The methods of analysis included frequency analysis, factor analysis, Chi-square test, repeated measure ANOVA, Bonferroni method, Scheffe''s multiple range test and correlation analysis. The results are as follows. First, the samples of female students in their 20s answered that they were aware of their own eyebrow forms that would make their faces more beautiful and were more interested in the forms of eyebrows than in those of any other facial parts. Second, they understood that eyebrows should constitute major facial parts for makeup and play a critical role to effectively change images and found eyebrows makeup important and essential. Third, female students who tended to wear makeup more often were more interested in eyebrows makeup and recognized that eyebrows makeup affected their facial images. Fourth, the most frequently taken route for receipt of eyebrow products was the internet. Also, the most prominent eyebrow type of the samples was Horizontal Type which was also preferred. Fifth, higher average rates of change related to more maturity and sexiness while lower average rates of change stood for more naturalness and innocence. Sixth, based on the correlations with emotional images by forms of eyebrows, Standard Type, with an average rate of change, 0.3 was related to maturity and naturalness. Square Type, 0.38 of average rate of change was represented by maturity and naturalness while Arch Type, 0.44 of average rate of change stood for maturity and sexiness. Horizontal Type with an average rate of change, 0.18 was represented by naturalness and innocence while Rising Type with an average rate of change of 0.14 was associated with naturalness and innocence.
The methods and results of this study are expected to present an accurate foundation based on the application of specific values and terminologies rather than visual or perceptional assumptions originating from the researcher''s personal deliberation to assess images by forms of eyebrows.