Updating the Classics : Eyes, eyebrows, lips and beauty marks on the ‘90s face resemble looks once popular in the ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

Faces, like fashion, change with the times.

Eyebrows have gone from the pencil-thin arches worn by Garbo in the ‘30s to the caterpillar size made popular by Brooke Shields in the ‘80s. Lips swelled from the Kewpie doll pout of ‘20s movie star Clara Bow to the bee-stung smackers of ‘80s movie star Kim Basinger.

The face of the ‘90s is shaping up to be a curious collage of features from the past. In Orange County, makeup artists and plastic surgeons who make it their business to follow facial trends are discovering that today’s fashionable face is actually an update of some old classics.

Eyes, which have recently replaced lips as the focal point of the face, are taking on ‘60s glamour, according to Julia Cross, makeup artist with Stevens & Cross Cosmetic Studio in Newport Beach.

“It’s the ‘60s influence but it’s been revised,” she says. “We’re doing the top-heavy eye, but we’re not wearing white lipstick.”

A sure sign that the ‘60s are back: Cross is fitting more clients with false eyelashes.

“They frame the eyes and give the face a more glamorous look,” she says.

Heavy eyeliner, which had been retired along with bell bottoms and beehives, is once more in vogue.

Cross draws a thin line of black eyeliner along the entire upper eyelid, extending the line slightly beyond the outer corner. In the ‘60s women drew the line out much farther, Cleopatra-style.

Many credit “Bugsy” actress Annette Bening with bringing back a shapelier brow, perhaps the most important feature of the ‘90s face. Thinning out the brow can be hazardous, however, if one doesn’t have Bening’s classic beauty, according to makeup artist Richard Stevens, Cross’s partner.

“Too many people will over-pluck and lose their brow. A brow has to balance with the other features,” Stevens says. Actress “Kathy Bates made her brows way too thin. They made her eyes appear more round. People who are classically beautiful can get away with thin brows because they have other things to make up for them, like beautiful bones and nice lips.”

Those who aren’t sure which hairs to pluck should seek out a professional makeup artist.

Shadow on the eyelid and brow bone has been simplified to keep from competing with the stronger brow and heavier lashes, according to Caren Lazarus, makeup artist and owner of Design Visage in Orange which specializes in make-overs for brides.

“Everyone’s requesting a cleaner ‘40s look,” Lazarus says.

Instead of contouring the lid and brow bone with four different shades of colorful eye shadow, Lazarus is dusting the area with a couple of neutral powders.

“Don’t leave it bare. The eyelid should look like flawless skin,” she says. “I use a compact powder you would normally use on your face.”

She brushes lids with Clinique’s Super Powder, using blush to define the contour of the eye.

“There’s also less blush and foundation on the face,” she says. “Everything is more natural.”

Lazarus has gotten away from heavy contouring under the cheekbones, keeping the attention on the eyes and lips.

Eye shadows, lipsticks and blushes all have matte finishes, she says. There’s nothing shiny or frosty on the face.

Lips are still full, but they’ve deflated a bit since Barbara Hershey appeared with swollen, collagen-injected lips in “Beaches” and sent thousands of thin-lipped women running to their plastic surgeons and dermatologists.

Instead of pumping lips up with collagen, many women are making the most with what they have thanks to the artful use of lip pencils and lipsticks.

Wielding a sharpened lip pencil, Stevens makes lips look larger by following the outer edge of the lip.

“Most women have no idea where the edge of the lip really is,” he says. “I can always get more lip than a woman thinks she can.”

Beauty marks, once sported by glamour queens in the ‘40s and ‘50s, are also back thanks to mole-bearing supermodels and such stars as Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Madonna.

“Customers are definitely into a Claudia Schiffer dot above the lip,” Stevens says.

Makeup colors that are strong this season include deep, strong shades for lips like those worn in the ‘50s and ‘60s and neutral, muted shades for the rest of the face, according to Jan Thielbar, a makeup artist and owner of Make-Up Creations in Irvine.

“Burgundies and cranberries are wonderful for lips--even oranges and hot pinks,” Thielbar says.

Eye shadows are primarily taupe or brownish in color--not the artificial purples and pinks of the ‘80s--and blended well on the lid. Blush has very soft rose and peach tones brushed lightly over the cheeks.

When makeup fails, some people turn to plastic surgeons for that ‘90s face. Doctors, too, have seen changes in how people define beauty.

Bruce Achauer, a Costa Mesa plastic surgeon, has seen the ideal nose literally change shape over time.

“Years ago people wanted a cute nose with a little dip,” he says. “It had an artificial look. Now people want a straight nose that’s much more natural-looking.”

Cheeks have become less pronounced and therefore more natural, according to David Benvenuti, a Newport Beach plastic surgeon.

Anyone contemplating permanent changes should remember that facial features go in and out of style.

“Don’t go too faddish,” Cross says. “History repeats itself. In the ‘60s, brows were real thin. A lot of people plucked theirs all out and then they couldn’t grow them back.

“You don’t want pluck out all your eyebrows now and be stuck in a look when the Brooke Shields brows come back.”