canadian beauty blogger Archives

Hi Everyone!

Today, I’m sharing my favourite brow products!

Check out my other Hits & Misses posts!

MAKEUP || Primers | Foundations | Powders | Concealers | Mascara

SKINCARE || Eye Creams

BRANDS || Bobbi Brown | Burt’s Bees | L’Oréal | Maybelline | Nude by Nature | NYX | TULA | Volition Beauty

Before you read this post, please remember that we all have difference preferences and skin types. These are MY hits, misses and likes. You might love something I don’t like or dislike something I love.

My brow products of choice are pencils and gels. A few times I’ve used an matte shadow as eyebrow powder, but I prefer pencils. I’m not patient or skilled enough to use pomades.

Two years ago, I wrote a similar post reviewing brow products I’ve tried (read my post). I’ve tried quite a few products since then and found some that I like more.

I’ve also written a few comparison posts (with swatches), check them out below:

Lancôme Brow Shaping Powdery Pencil vs. Benefit Precisely, My Brow

Dior Diorshow BoldBrow vs. Benefit 24 Hour Brow Setter Shaping & Setting Gel

I don’t think they sell the Dior Diorshow BoldBrow anymore, they came out with a new product to replace it.

HITS

Colourpop Brow Boss Clear Gel – My friend recommended this clear gel and it’s my favourite clear gel that I’ve tried. It comes out of the tube white, but dries down clear. It leaves my brows feeling soft and not crunchy at all!

Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel in 5 Deep – One of my favourite tinted brow gels.

Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil Ultra Fine Shape & Define in 6 (read my review) – This has been one of my favourite brow pencils I’ve tried.

NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Black – A great drugstore micro brow pencil. This is a fave of mine as well.

LIKES

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel – This brow gel does get a bit crunchy, but it keeps my brows in place. I just wish the wand wasn’t so huge. It’s like a mascara wand. I would prefer a thinner one.

Lancôme Brow Shaping Powdery Pencil in Soft Black 09 (read my review) – I liked this brow pencil, but it felt like a waste to sharpen so much of it away. I prefer retractable pencils that you don’t have to sharpen. This pencil is nice for a natural look.

Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Brow Pencil in Dark Brunette – I wanted to try a different brow pencil, so I grabbed this Kevyn Aucoin one. It’s the first product I’ve tried from the brand. The shade is a good match for me, but it wipes off more easily than other brow products. I wouldn’t repurchase it.

NYX Fill & Fluff Pomade Pencil in Ash Brown – In my NYX Hits & Misses post, I put this in the HITS, but this is going into the LIKES section for this post. It’s a HIT for the products I’ve tried from NYX, but there’s other brow products I prefer. This is another pencil that I like from NYX. Although I prefer the Micro Brow pencil because it comes with a spoolie. This one comes with a little oval/paddle brush so you can diffuse what you drew on. You get a more filled in look with this pomade pencil.

MISSES

Benefit 24-HR Brow Setter Shaping & Setting Gel (read my review) – I don’t know if it was just the sample I got of this, but it was kind of tacky. When you pull the wandout, you would see a string of product from the wand to the tube. It kind of reminded me of clear lash glue in that way.

Benefit ka-BROW! Cream-Gel Eyebrow Color in 5 Deep – I got a deluxe sample of this and it’s just too intense for me.

Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil Easy Shape & Fill in 5 Deep – I prefer micro pencils so this was too thick for me. I prefer hair-like strokes instead of the filled in look.

Burt’s Bees Natural Brow Pencil in 1610 Brunette* – This only comes in two shades and the darker shade is too light for me. It was too waxy for my liking.

Maybelline Eye Studio Brow Precise Shaping Pencil in Deep Brown – This pencil was way too waxy for my liking and it never sharpened nicely.

Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Brows Eyebrow Gel in Perfect Brown – I just wanted to try some Charlotte Tilbury products so I bought this during the sale. I love the size of the brush and the colour was nice. It’s a nice product, but I don’t think it’s anything special and it’s the most expensive gel I’ve tried.

Brow Gels

Product	Price in CAD	Size	Cost per gram	# of shades available
Colourpop Brow Boss Clear Gel	7 USD = 8.85 CAD	3.10g	2.2	clear, 4 tinted
Anastasia Strong Hold Clear Brow Gel	29.50	7.85g	3.8	clear
L’Oréal Brow Stylist Boost & Set Volumizing Brow Mascara	13.49	3.2g	4.2	4 tinted
Benefit 24-HR Brow Setter Shaping & Setting Gel	32	7g	4.6	clear
Anastasia Clear Brow Gel (mini)	12	2,5g	4.8	clear
Benefit 24-HR Brow Setter Shaping & Setting Gel (value)	51	6g	8.5	3 tinted
Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel (mini)	19	3.5g	5.4	clear
Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel	32	3g	10.7	10 tinted
Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel (mini)	18	1.5g	12.7	10 tinted
Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Brows Eyebrow Gel	30	1.33g	22.6	4 tinted

Brow Pencils/Pomade Gels

Product	Price in CAD	Size	Cost per ounce	# of shades available
Benefit ka-BROW! Cream Gel Eyebrow Color	32	0.1oz	320	8 shades
Burt's Bees Brow Pencil	13.99	0.04oz	349	2 shades
Mini size Benefit ka-BROW! Cream Gel Eyebrow Color	19	0.05oz	380	3 shades
Maybelline Eye Studio Brow Precise Shaping Pencil	10.99	0.02oz	550	4 shades on Maybelline, 2 shades on Shoppers Drug Mart site
NYX Fill & Fluff Pomade Pencil	12.49	0.007oz	1784	8 shades
Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil Easy Shape & Fill	32	0.01oz	3200	12 shades
Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil Easy Shape & Fill (mini)	19	0.005oz	3800	3 shades
NYX Micro Brow Pencil	12.49	0.003oz	4163	8 shades
Anastasia Brow Wiz	28	0.003oz	9333	10 shades
Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Brow Pencil	32	0.003oz	10667	4 shades
Lancôme Brow Shaping Powdery Pencil	35	0.003oz	11667	9 shades
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil Ultra Fine Shape & Define	32	0.02oz	16000	12 shades
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil Ultra Fine Shape & Define (mini)	19	0.001oz	19000	12 shades

To Try

I have the Anastasia Brow Wiz in my collection, but I haven’t tried it yet. I bought it earlier this year and wanted to finish my Kevyn Aucoin pencil first.

Dior Diorshow Brow Styler Ultra-Fine Precision Brow Pencil
Dior Diorshow Pump ‘N’ Brow
Fenty Beauty Brow MVP Ultra Fine Brow Pencil & Styler
Hourglass Arch Brow Micro Sculpting Pencil
Hourglass Arch Brow Shaping Gel
Milk KUSH Fiber Brow Gel
Nudestix Eyebrow Stylus Pencil & Gel

What are your fave brow products?

Love,

Products marked with (*) were sent to me.

Hi Everyone!

As the new year approaches, I thought I would review my 2019 beauty expenses since I don’t plan to make any beauty purchases in the month of December.

Check out my previous beauty expenses posts:

2017 | 2018

My 2019 Beauty Budget

Category	Estimate	Actual
Skincare	$600	$700
Primers	120	100
Foundation/Powders/ Sprays	120	225
Concealers	100	150
Eyeliners	60	20
Brows	100	100
Mascara	100	50
Lips	0	90
Blush	0	40
Highlighter	0	75
Bronzer	0	50
Miscellaneous	600	350
TOTAL	$1800	1950

For my estimated costs for 2019, I didn’t include a section for lip products, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, eyeshadows, nail polish or hair because I already had a lot of things that I wanted to finish before buying new products in those categories. I ended up buying products in the blush/bronzer/lip/highlighter categories though…oops! The miscellaneous section includes hair products, makeup tools, makeup removers, etc.

As you can see, I went $150 over my proposed budget of $1800. I’m going to do my best to get the skincare category from $700 to $500.

My 6 most expensive beauty purchases of 2019:

Tula Illuminating Face Serum – $83.30 (15% off, bought on TULA Canada before they got rid of the Canadian website)
Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel – $73.95 (15% off, bought during Sephora VIB Sale)
Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer – $58.65 (15% off on Armani-Beauty.ca)
Clé de Peau Concealer – $55 (more than 40% off, bought at Shiseido Warehouse Sale)
Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado – $51 (20% off sale at Kiehls.ca)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder – $49.30 (15% off, bought during Sephora VIB Sale)

Most of my purchases were from Sephora, the drugstore or a brand’s website (e.g. Kiehls.ca, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Smashbox). I only purchased a few items from Winners this year. I’ve tried to cut down on the makeup purchases from Winners because they’re usually discontinued items that I can’t review on Instagram or my blog.

Did you have a beauty budget this year? Did you stay under budget or go over like I did?