High Brow, Low Cost

I don’t know what it is about the past few years but we are all starting to take more care of the furry friends above our eyes – thank god! It seems like everyone has a few late 90′s/early 00′s photos of themselves sporting a permanently stunned expression thanks to some over zealous plucking or a just-dumped beautician wielding hot wax. It was a rite of passage. If you’ve read this post which delves into my brow history you’ll know I am naturally more yeti than human so the recent obsession with thick, sometimes bushy brows is a welcome one. With the brow craze has come a flurry of salon treatments to trim, tint and enhance what our momma’s gave us and naturally some makeup shortcuts for those of us wanting instant gratification. When it comes to brow products, getting the right texture and tone is crucial – as my eyebrows are pretty much black it’s not quite as difficult for me but I still don’t want to get out into the sunshine and look like my brows took a trip to the salon to go red without telling the hair on my head. Blondes don’t want to look too harsh but need definition and redheads and light brunettes are constantly looking for the right product that isn’t too ashy or too red. That’s before you’ve even found your preferred texture – powders, wax, pomades, gels, pencils and crayons have flooded the market and all have their merits, but until now finding your perfect match could be a pricey experiment.

Unlike you lucky people in the States, we can’t return cosmetics in the UK and since most brow offerings were from higher end brands it could prove to be a dicey purchase once you’ve left the unnaturally fluorescent lighting of the beauty hall. Recently though some seriously good offerings have been hitting the high street that offer more than the traditional pencil format and I’ve been putting them to the test. As a huge fan of Eylure lashes I was really excited (genuinely!) to find out they had branched out into brows. Their collection is pretty inclusive, from a pencil, to wax/powder palettes, shapers, crayons and even a tint and nourishing oil as part of the lineup. Another brand looking out for our brows is Rimmel, who rarely disappoint me. They’ve launched some new brow gels in a variety of colours which looked promising so I’ve been trialling them alongside the Eylure offerings. Here are my verdicts and the lowdown on the new kids in town:

Working clockwise from top left:

Rimmel Brow This Way Styling Gel (£3.99, currently on offer in Superdrug for a bargain £2.99)
There are four of these beauties in the range going from clear to blonde, medium brown and dark brown. The clear and blonde shades are pretty self explanatory but the medium brown is quite warm compared to the cooler tones of the dark brown. I really like the consistency of the gel and I think the price point is amazing, the only slight downside for me is in the brush as it’s larger than it needs to be in my opinion. It’s not as awkwardly shaped as the Maybelline Brow Drama which ended up all over my forehead but I kind of wish these were teensy tiny like the Benefit Gimme Brow as I find that so nifty and easy to use. Still, these work out really well, and for the price they are fantastic.

Eylure Brow Nourishing Oil (£8.25)
This rollerball oil is a new concept for me, and promises nourished brows that will grow healthily. It contains argan and rosemary oils and is nice to use, although I’m sure you could apply a regular cold pressed argan oil directly to your brows and use the same bottle for your hair and skin. This is handy to travel with though, and whilst it’s hard to properly review with short term use anything that promises to tame my sometimes coarse brow hairs is worth a try in my book.

Eylure Brow Crayon (£6.45)
I’m quite new to the world of brow crayons, but I have really enjoyed using this. I think the texture is very easy to work with and looks realistic in any areas you need to give a little assistance to. There are three shades and I used the darkest which worked well even though it was technically lighter than my brow hairs. I haven’t used the Anastasia Brow Wiz personally but Kate reviewed this as a purse-friendly dupe and I trust her, so if you’re a fan of that and want to save a bit of money, pay heed.

Eylure Brow Palette (£9.95)
I love a good brow palette, but in the end there’s always one unloved shade that stares at you and makes you feel bad for throwing it away even though you’ll never use the rotter. With only one brow shade these palettes make me feel confident there won’t be any compartments left behind on judgement day, but there is also a tinted wax in there to sculpt the brow pre-powder and a matte highlight shade to use under the brow bone or anywhere around your eyebrows if you’ve missed anything with the tweezers. I really really like this although I use my own brush – the ones you get in kits like this never actually have a fine point do they? I also really like the fact that the highlight shade is matte so you’re not going to look slightly spaced out/sweaty if you just want to define your brows and slick on some mascara on off-duty days. Nice little palette, sturdy packaging and a decent mirror inside. I like it.

Eylure Brow Stencils (£4.95)
These stencils are always something that sound like a good idea in theory but that end up in a drawer with makeup bags and that glitter liner you whip out every year for a festival or new years eve if you’re feeling frisky. Don’t get me wrong, these work well if you’re thinking of experimenting with different shapes and can give fair-browed ladies the confidence boost when it comes to shaping and filling in, but they are unlikely to be something you’ll use every day. Unlike other stencils I’ve used before these are easy to wipe clean which is useful since they will inevitably end up covered in your foundation, and they really are useful if you struggle with brow symmetry. Not something I will reach for all the time but if I ever fancy seeing how a new shape would look on me or I can’t seem to get my brows looking right, they’re a good safety net.

Eylure Brow Pencil (£5.45)
This is maybe the biggest surprise of all to me because I don’t think I’ve ever used a pencil for my brows, at least not that I remember. I was always really afraid of harsh brows and sharp, jagged-tipped pencils that would pull on my brows and look silly so I always stuck to powder but this is very very nice indeed. The formulation is waxy enough to melt into your brows but firm enough to easily define a good shape and stay put. I was wearing it in this recent instagram although my brows need threading so they are looking a little unruly but you get the picture. The brow tamer on the other end is the perfect companion and I’m very pleasantly surprised by this, so much so that I feel like a whole new eyebrow world is open to me, the pencil. Really really nice product and I’m impressed by the price.

So there we have my thoughts on the latest high street brow offerings. What do you like to use for your brows – wax, powder, gel, pencil? Let me know, and if you have any suggestions of your own feel free to leave them in the comments!