Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Pomade

I've been a long-time fan of brow "pomades" or "waxes" and I prefer them over pencils and/or powders. Having lighter brows, it's an everyday must for me! For several years I've used the e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit in medium and it's the perfect shade for me. It's not too light or too dark, and most importantly, it isn't red. I have a problem finding eyebrow products because 90% of the brow tints/pencils/powders/etc. on the market are way too red. Since I have light brows, any warm tones show up really vividly and end up looking much too red. When I first picked up a DIPBROW pot, I chose the shade "caramel" and it was definitely too warm and yellowy. I ended up returning it for the shade "taupe" and, while it's better, I'm still not convinced this is my perfect shade. I'm thinking I need to head back to Sephora and try "soft brown" or even "medium brown." 

Regardless of the shade, I love this product! It makes my brows look flawless, sculpted, and perfectly tinted in just a few swipes with my favorite eyeliner brush by e.l.f. It doesn't budge, and it stays looking perfect all day long. This shade, "taupe," is a bit green or maybe too ashy, but it doesn't have the warm tones like the "caramel" shade, so it's a better fit, but I still think I'd prefer a more neutral shade. Luckily, Anastasia has a pretty large range of shades - I was surprised by the number of options (11 total). You have plenty of warm, cool, and neutral shades to choose from. It's hard to find the perfect shade, I think, without using the product on your brows. Swatching on your hand can give you a preview of the color, but you can't really tell which shade is best without applying it directly. Luckily, Sephora is great about returns!

When going to check this out for the first time, I was expecting it to be really pricey. Anastasia Beverly Hills is definitely a more high-end brand and for brow products, they're usually a bit expensive. However, I was happily surprised with the price. This .14 oz. pot costs $20 and you barely need any product to get the desired look. I use a ton of the e.l.f. pomade in comparison with the amount of this that it takes to get really sculpted and flawless brows. I imagine this would last for a really long time. In my opinion, totally worth it!

I'll let you guys know if I find a shade I like better than taupe! If you've tried any brow pomades or waxes that you love, please let me know!

Until next time - xoxo

Benefit Gimme Brow Review

    

 I love this concept - a tinted brow gel with fibers to add thickness. I have very blonde brows so I'm always trying out new products to darken them, shape them, and keep them in place. I get my brows threaded to shape them, but I don't have much of an arch, so I use some type of gel or pencil to add some shape to them and no matter what I need a product to darken them. Even if my brows are dyed, I still like to fill them in at least slightly. It helps frame your face and your eyes especially. Benefit 'Gimme Brow' is a mascara-like product to help add thickness and volume to brows, while lightly tinting and holding them in place. It comes in a small tube (0.1 oz) with a tiny mascara brush inside. The range consists of 2 shades, light/medium and medium/deep. I use light/medium and it's the perfect light brown with ash tones. The formula itself is also very similar to mascara, with little fibers in it that are meant to attach to your brows to make them appear fuller. I have used this both on top of already filled in brows and alone, and I like it both ways, but for different reasons. On a "no makeup day" I sweep this onto my brows by itself for a little color and to keep them neat. It adds enough color to tint my brows without being a bold brow. On regular makeup days, I fill in my brows (I use the e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit in medium) and then use the Gimme Brow as a setting gel and it adds some extra volume. I like the product for it's tint and it does keep my brows in place all day. Since I have lighter brows, I like anything that makes my brows appear darker and fuller. The only thing I don't like about Gimme Brow is that after a few weeks the product starts to build up on the end of the tube (at the opening) and gets dry and flakey. For some reason this is more of a problem with this than with any mascara I've ever used. 

     Gimme Brow typically goes for $22 and it has lasted me a couple months so far. Even though it has gotten dry on the opening of the tube, the consistency of the product inside hasn't changed. I think I will be able to continue using this tube for another month or two. I like the convenience of being able to swipe this on and I get a tint, additional thickness, and the hold that the gel provides all in one. I definitely think I'll repurchase this when it runs out. Once again, Benefit has made an excellent product!

*Note: The product claims to adhere to both skin and hair, however I don't agree. The tint will color your skin, but the fibers don't adhere to my skin. From my experience, the fibers only adhere to hair.

Here's where you can find Benefit Gimme Brow:
Benefit Cosmetics
Sephora
Ulta
Amazon (priced higher)