Splurge vs Steal: SUQQU Eyebrow Liquid Pen and Soap and Glory’s Archery (Beautyholics Anonymous)

If you watch Lisa Eldridge‘s YouTube videos (if you don’t, go subscribe now!), you’ll notice she uses the SUQQU Eyebrow Liquid Pen frequently on herself, her models and her clients. I’ve been very curious about that eyebrow pen for as long as I’ve watched her videos but I can’t get SUQQU in Australia so that’s a notion I had to give up.

But not for long! Luckily I remembered about the Eyebrow Liquid Pen when I was in Japan so I made sure to pick one up. It comes in 2 shades, Moss Green and Brown. Initially I didn’t know the name of the colours nor which shade suited me so I checked with the sales assistant. I chose the one with the darker shade that leaned closer to charcoal grey that suited my hair colour (the other one is a slightly lighter brown). When I asked her what shade the darker one was, she said it was Moss Green. I know! Green for eyebrows?!

It’s actually not green but a dark charcoal grey. I’m baffled as to why they call it Moss Green because surely this will confuse online shoppers who do not get to see the eyebrow pen in action.

There are two things I find fascinating about the SUQQU eyebrow pen:

It’s very, very light. You might think that the eyebrow “ink” has dried out in the pen because unless you press hard and draw on the same spot over and over, you’ll barely see any ink. Initially I thought I bought a dud and that the ink had dried because there I was, drawing on the back of my hand and there was barely any product!
It’s the most smudgeproof eyebrow product I’ve ever used. I rubbed the hell out of that back-of-the-hand swatch and nothing came out. There was absolutely no smudging at all.

I think it was a very good idea for the eyebrow pen to be so light because when you use feathery strokes on sparse eyebrows, you won’t make the mistake of making your eyebrows too dark and unnatural. Essentially, what you do with the pen is to draw individual hairs in. The results are full yet very natural-looking brows. You won’t run the risk of harsh lines unless you purposely fill them in that way.

After using this a few times, I find that I don’t really need this eyebrow pen as I do have full brows. I usually just use Benefit’s Gimme Brow for a quick filling-in of the brows and Hourglass’ Brow Sculpting Pencil if I want a more defined shape. However, the SUQQU Eyebrow Pen will be perfect for makeup beginners with sparse brows because you just can’t get it wrong. It’s so light and easy to use that it’s almost foolproof.

Having said that, SUQQU’s Eyebrow Pen is pretty expensive especially for those just dipping their toes in makeup (RRP 3240 yen in Japan or £20 in the UK. Approximately AU$34 to AU$37). A cheaper alternative would be Soap and Glory’s Archery Brow Tint & Precision Shaping Pencil (RRP £10, approximate AU$18) that has a similar felt-tip and will also give you pretty much the same results. The Archery pen is equally smudgeproof (the only way to remove it is with makeup remover. It’s difficult to remove with just water alone unless you rub hard). The shades are also quite similar, it also goes on light (although not quite as light as SUQQU’s) and is very easy to use. The Archery Pen also comes with a wax pencil on the other hand to keep the brow in place, a feature that the SUQQU Eyebrow Pen does not have.

For a makeup beginner or lover on a budget, I highly recommend the Soap and Glory Archery Pen because you get the same results as the more expensive alternative. However, if you’re looking to splurge on a brow product, then do check out SUQQU’s Eyebrow Liquid Pen because you will not be disappointed. Again, it does draw on a very light so do bear that in mind lest you think you bought a dried out pen.

Unfortunately you can’t get SUQQU nor Soap and Glory makeup in Australia which is a huge bummer. SUQQU is available at Selfridges in the UK (ships to Australia) and Soap and Glory is available at Boots. Sigh, why can’t we also get the good stuff here?