An ode to Adam Rippon’s eyebrows

Eyebrows are the linchpin of your face, the most important part despite being an afterthought to many. Science says so.

They can beckon or drive people away. They can be an indicator of joy or the centerpiece of resting bitch face. They’re fickle, but when executed well can be someone’s best tool. More often than not they don’t get the respect they deserve. There are a lot of eyebrows out there that are depressingly underserved or over-groomed.

Adam Rippon’s eyebrows are one of the best sets of eyebrows I’ve ever seen.

Rippon is the darling of the Winter Games so far, with interview after interview and many of his tweets providing fans with a bevy of amazing new catchphrases that are bound to live on long past his moment in the Olympic spotlight. From “glamazon bitch ready for the runway” to not being able to explain the witchcraft of his age-defying success, every soundbite seems to be better than the last.

But the tweet that indicated Rippon was one to watch and obsess over in Pyeongchang came long before he was even guaranteed to make the Olympic team, just after Christmas. And of course it was about his eyebrows.

The tweet has been referenced hundreds of times by now, but for anyone who missed it it said,

I was recently asked in an interview what its like to be a gay athlete in sports. I said that it’s exactly like being a straight athlete. Lots of hard work but usually done with better eye brows.

Better eyebrows, or the BEST eyebrows?

To fully appreciate the majesty of Rippon’s face caterpillars, we have to first acknowledge where he started from in the above-the-eye department. How far his eyebrow journey has taken him before he achieved full glory. Just look at this Instagram from his childhood, where you can clearly see he was not inherently blessed with extra-bushy or dark eyebrows.

There are other photos floating around of him as a blonde, with his eyebrows barely making an impression. Can you even imagine? A tough time for us all.

But there’s also this throwback picture from 2012, with Rippon and 2014 Olympian Gracie Gold, that proves Adam has only unleashed the full power of his eyebrows fairly recently. These eyebrows are fine, but they’re not the eyebrows.

Adam’s current eyebrows are strong, flawlessly shaped, not so heavy that they are overshadowing his other (handsome) features, but not relinquishing their role as his dominant trait either. I’m not joking when I say that one of my favorite parts of these Olympics has been getting a glimpse of this magnificent pair of brows time after time.

They are impressive and deserve the attention. Just LOOK AT THEM.

They aren’t important simply from a superficial perspective either. Because eyebrows are so important to the face overall, they can reveal a lot about a person. It took me years to even care about how my eyebrows looked at all, and then multiple trips around the sun after that to figure out how to maximize their full potential.

When my eyebrows are done well they make me feel more confident and driven. When I figured out their optimal state it created a ripple effect of small aesthetic changes that got me to a more open and self-assured place.

In a similar way, Rippon’s eyebrow evolution is a complement to the rest of his story. Figure skaters do their own makeup, so even though they are responding to what the judges want to see from competitors’ appearances the way that each skater styles their hair, or does their makeup, or shapes their eyebrows, is a indicator of how they see themselves or what makes them feel like the best version of themselves on the ice.

From what we know of Rippon’s story, he’s never felt more open on the ice than he does right now. Being publicly out, coming back from a serious foot injury, and having a healthier relationship with food than he did a few years ago all look to have collectively contributed to Rippon being more exuberant and comfortable in his own skin than ever before.

As goes his personality and confidence, so go his eyebrows. They not only serve as welcome beacons to somebody’s face, but can provide insight into how they feel about themselves off the ice or away from the public eye. That Rippon styles his brows the same way on and off the ice says a lot about the way he uses them as both a statement and as part of his . They are emblematic of his personality, not just a facet of his on-ice performances.

More than anything else though, they are some truly outstanding brows. Magnifico.