Battle of the Brows (Pencils) [Drugstore Edition]


Hi glams 💗, 
For today's post I wanted to talk to you all about eyebrow pencils, namely from the drugstore. Over the years and as a makeup artist I've tried out tons of brow products including gels, pencils, powders and creams and have really been able to play with different brands to find what not only works for me but also my clients. I know a lot of times when people here drugstore they think lower quality or cheaply made but that isn't always necessarily the case. Some of my favorite holy grail products come  from the drugstore.  It's  all a matter of what works best for you and what you are looking for


When it comes to looking for the right brow pencil for you the most important thing to consider is COLOR. When working with your brows and filling them in, choosing a brow color that compliments your hair will better help shape the face and make your brows appear more natural. 

If you have color treated hair or super light hair(ie: white blonde) it's important to pick the right brow product that compliments your  most CURRENT hair color vs. your natural hair color. And on the opposite spectrum you want to make sure you don't get a brow product that makes your brows look too dark. I know for me personally when I first started doing my brows I would always pick a black powder and fill them in because I had black hair. Later on I learned that using a dark or deep brown works much better. 

Anyways, after much testing, trying (and tons of embarrassing photos later lol ) I finally found my all time favorite (and super affordable) brow pencil. Below are just a few pencils I've tested over time,swatches of each pencil, and some of my thoughts on each one.

Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what you use to shape your brows! 





Wet n Wild Color Icon Brow Pencil: 
Pros: True to color, easy to use and blend, decent shade range, comes with a lot of product, super pigmented, can double as a liner
Cons: Breaks easily. Doesn't come with any other accessory to help shape the brow( spooley, sharpener,etc.) 
Overall thoughts: This brow pencil was actually the first brow pencil that I used when I started doing my brows. Wet n Wild has actually completely revamped their line and most of their products so if you are looking for something a bit more sophisticated, they have other products(including brow pencils; which I will talk about later). If you are looking for a good pencil in itself, I'd give this one a go. 






Ruby Kisses Go Brow: 
Pros: Buildable. Comes with spooley and sharpener; Comes with a decent amount of product
Cons: Bulky packaging. Some colors are NOT true to color. Doesn't come with much of a variety of color. 
Overall Thoughts: While I love the concept behind this brow pencil I definitely think it needs some work. I like that it came with a spooley AND a sharpener, however it made the packaging a bit bulky and if you travel with your makeup as much as I do it can be annoying to store and pack. Also, while I love that this pencil is buildable  and and not as harsh, I found that it took a long time for me to really build up the color. As far as the color range, I think it can definitely use some work as there wasn't really very many colors to choose from. Unfortunately, this was one pencil where I mentioned making sure the color doesn't make you look ashy and is true to color because I bought a darker shade of brown and it actually colored gray! 



Nicka K Eyebrow Pencil: 
Pros: Decent packaging; comes with a spooley to shape your brows; decent color range
Cons: Gets dull quickly; not as easily blendable as I would have liked; decent coverage 
Overall Thoughts: I thought this pencil  was just okay. I liked it but I found that I had to constantly resharpen it once it got dull, which was pretty often. 





Elf Brow Pencil: 
Pros: Creamy and super easy to work with  and blend; nice color range; not too harsh; comes with spooley 
Cons: Doesn't come with a sharpener once it gets dull; retractable pencil that requires a special sharpener
Overall Thoughts: I really liked this pencil. It was my first time trying a retractable pencil and as someone who steers clear of retractables I thought this one was decent. My biggest problem with this pencil is that once it got dull I didn't really reach for it as much because it was 10 times harder to work with. 



Wet n Wild Color Icon Brow Pencil: 
Pros: Decent packaging, good color range; easy to work with and blend
Cons: Can come off too harsh if you aren't careful with how you apply product; breaks super easy and pencil gets run down very fast
Overall Thoughts: Remember when I was telling you about  Wet n Wild's redesign and new range of products? This was one I was talking about. I definitely like the redesign, packaging and all that good stuff, my only true con was how easy and quick the pencil ran down. As pictured, that was only after a few days of use and it ran down quite a bit. I love just how pigmented these pencils are too but if you aren't careful and don't really brush them out you run the risk of applying too much. 




Jordana Fabubrow Brow Pencil: 
Pros: Good color range, easy to use and blend, decent packaging, durable, long lasting, holds up well 
Cons: None
Overall thoughts: If you follow me on social media( which you totally should 😉), then it should be no secret that this brow pencil has been my holy grail brow pencil for YEARS! I love the color, and how super easy it is to use and work with. The color pay off is amazing and it lasts me a long time for a pencil. I've tried sooooo many pencils and brow products and this one is still by far my all time favorite even more so than the higher end brands! I always get compliments on how good my brows look and most people are shocked to find out that I use this pencil to shape them! 





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