I have struggled with my eyebrows for years. I wish I was blessed with beautiful, thick brows, but I’m a natural redhead, so my eyebrows are not only a light strawberry blonde, but they are also extremely sparse. If I’m not wearing makeup, you may not even realize they’re there. As someone with dark brown eyes who likes darker eye makeup, I felt my lack of brows looked strange in contrast with my eyes.
In high school, I had a revelation that eyebrows were an important part of a makeup routine, but before that I had never paid any attention to my brows. I am by no means a makeup guru, and still, consider my makeup skills to be minimal. The first eyebrow “product” I tried was eyeshadow. I didn’t feel like buying a whole new product so I just utilized what I already had. After about a week I learned that eyeshadow doesn’t last, nor was I able to achieve any shape. Since my eyebrows are so light and sparse, I have to draw a shape myself. So, I went to work. I set out to find the perfect product that would give me my dream brows.
Over the past 6 years, I’ve tried many eyebrow products, ranging from pencils to powders to pomades. Here are a few that made an impression on me.
- NYX Micro Brow Pencil
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This was the first real eyebrow makeup I tried, and overall I thought it was a quality product. However, at the time, I didn’t know what colour I wanted my brows to be, so I bought a red-auburn colour. It looked really weird with my eye and hair colour (which skews my opinion a little bit since I have that negative connotation attached to this pencil) but the product itself was good. Since the pencil has a fine tip, you can precisely fill in your eyebrows to give a more feathery, natural look. It stayed on all day and didn’t fade, and is only $12 so it’s very budget-friendly!
- Maybelline Total Temptation Eyebrow Definer Pencil
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This was one of my favourite products, and I used it for a long time. By this point, I had discovered that I can wear darker brown colours, so I used this one in the shade “medium brown”. I like that this one has a thicker width, so if you’re like me and have minimal brows, it works wonders at filling them in. The brush on the opposite side was also a smaller, spool shape which I found brushed my eyebrows much better than typical longer eyebrow brushes.
- Glossier Boy Brow
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Glossier gets so much hype on Instagram, so I was psyched to try their products, and specifically Boy Brow, an eyebrow gel. However, I wasn’t too impressed. I bought it in brown, and I found it didn’t add much definition or colour to my brows. The first time I applied it, the product immediately clumped and made it harder to apply. It also dried out quickly, and at $20 per tube (plus $8 shipping), I was expecting to get more use out of it. Maybe if you already have thicker brows that don’t need any extra colour or filling in, or prefer natural eyebrow looks, this would work better for you. But if you have lighter brows and are aiming for a more defined look, don’t waste your money.
- Maybelline Tattoo Brow Peel Off Tint
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I was so eager to try this once it was released in Canada. It’s a product you paint over your eyebrows, and after about 20 minutes you peel it off and it leaves a subtle tint. I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was actually impressed. I still do my eyebrows during the week, but on weekends when I’m not wearing makeup and just running errands, I feel much more confident that I have some type of eyebrows on my face. The tint lasts up to a week, and the product itself lasts a few months. If you want a base colour before doing eyebrow makeup, this product works marvellously.
- Benefit Gimme Brow Volumizing Eyebrow Gel
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This product is the same concept as Glossier’s Boy Brow but at a much higher quality. This gel worked much better for me, instantly adding volume and a darker colour to my eyebrows. When I use it with the Benefit’s Precisely, My Brow pencil, my brows look natural yet darker and bolder than they naturally are. It also comes in a wide range of colours and shades. It is a little bit on the pricier side at $32, however, it also comes in a mini size which is only $17.
- Benefit Precisely, My Brow Eyebrow Pencil
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Of all the eyebrow pencils I’ve tried, this is by far the best. It is extremely long-lasting and smudge-proof. I’ve done workouts with this product on and my eyebrows never budge. It also draws smoothly and gives a natural look, while still being buildable. I find this works great with the brow gel because the pencil gives the colour and shape, and the gel adds volume and a little extra colour. Like the gel, it is $32 for a full size and $17 for a mini.
- Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade
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This is by far my favourite makeup product of all time. It’s a waxy pomade you apply with a brush and it comes in a myriad of shades. At first, I had a hard time applying this because it was so different than anything I’ve used before, and a little product goes a long way, but now that I’ve learned how to apply it properly I am in love. Since you must use a brush to apply it you have the freedom to make a feathered look or a bold look. It stays on all day, never budges, and gives me the thick dark brows I’ve always dreamed of. Instead of the Anastasia brush, I use this NYX dupe and find it works just fine. It costs $21, but the small jar lasts ages. I use mine nearly every day, I’ve had it for nine months, and there’s still a decent amount of product left. It is worth the money.