Benefit Gimme Brow

Brows have become my new thing, I'm realising that my face just doesn't look right without at least my brows filled in. That said as much as I like my Beautiful Brows powder when I am doing a full face of makeup, alone it draws more attention than needed to my brows, and not in a good way.

So on a recent trip to Sephora, Dubai, I was quickly convinced that Gimme Brow by Benefit was the product I needed. Named as a ‘brush on fibre-gel’ it has a tiny wand to add a tint to the skin and the hairs, so it fills in gaps and keeps hairs in place at the same time.

Spot the fibre-gel brow

Like all Benefit products the application is designed to be foolproof. The wand is tiny, so all the hairs are caught, without catching forehead or eyelids at the same time. The color is buildable, and the gel doesn't clump or leave your brows feeling "crispy," in fact, once applied, I barely notice it. It lasts all day and, as it claims, it seems to be water resistant but is definitely humidity resistant! That said, it does come off easily with makeup remover, which is always a good thing.

There are only two shades available, light/medium and medium/deep, I use the latter. For me, it's one of those no-makeup makeup products, great for use everyday, but if I need/want more defined brows I would opt for a powder/pencil product only because my brows are sparse and fair to begin with. If that isn't the case for you though, then this could be the perfect product. It just hope the colour selection is expanded to cater for blondes and redheads too!

Gimme Brow costs £17.50 for 3g and can be purchased directly from Benefit, or Boots and many department stores.
    

Beautiful brows

For the purpose of this review, I believe the photograph speaks for itself.

I picked up the Beautiful Brows kit when I attended Salon International last year. I was convinced after the saleswoman demonstrated the product in the exact way I have shown above. The difference is quite striking for someone like me who has thin and fair eyebrows, but even on those with fuller brows the kit works really well to provide definition.

The kit included the brow powder in my shade (chocolate), three brow stencils, a double-ended brush, a lipstick and a mascara, for £30. 

The application is quick and simple. All you need to do is choose the stencil that closest matches your shape and place it over your brow and then, using the fluffy end of the brush, apply the powder against the direction of the hairs. You only need a small amount of powder to fill in the brows and the slanted brush can be used for any missed areas or to add more definition. After you apply the powder you have approximately 10 minutes before it sets to fix any errors, after that the powder stays in place all day. I typically apply my brows at around 8am and remove my makeup at about 10pm and there is minimal fading.

Beautiful brows say that the brow powder is made using a unique, highly concentrated mineral in pigment powder that is smudge-proof, water resistant and designed to last a full day. I was told that if you use the product every day it will last for 3 years! I have actually purchased this product before, when the brand was in its infancy and was selling the power, brush and stencils for £10! Unfortunately, before I had even created a dent in it I smashed it all over my bathroom floor but even though I have tested other products before repurchasing this has remained my favourite.

I really like the product can make my eyebrows looked much more groomed than they are, my eyebrows were long overdue a shaping session in the above picture, but the product hides this. Because I am not great at shaping my brows using the stencils to heavily shade in the area and then pluck all the hairs that aren’t in that area is an easy way for me to shape my eyebrows.

I’ve only ever seen Beautiful Brows at beauty and hair shows but you can purchase the kit on their website for £35.

Billion dollar brows

I’ve mentioned a few times my hate of dealing with my eyebrows, so when I was invited to an event to see Billion Dollar Brows — a new treatment from LA — I was intrigued. 

In my experience my eyebrows never look perfect straight out of an appointment. Because you only see the result after the hair has been removed, if the shape is wrong or the brows are too thin there is nothing that can be done about it.

What makes Billion Dollar Brows (or BDB) unique is the use of a Brow Buddy — a specialist tool — which shows you where to start, arch and end your brows. The tool takes into account your facial shape, to give you symmetrical, beautifully shaped brows and for the first time I walked out of an appointment feeling even!

At the event I watched the transformation of women with all sorts of brow shapes, those who had never plucked and those who had gone too far!

The first step in the treatment was to use the tool to draw lines where your eyebrows should be. The tool can be bent so that from your nose, the line for the start, middle and end of your eyebrows can be drawn in and then joined to get the overall shape. The next step is to wax the shape and tidy any stray hairs using tweezers. Finally the look is finished off usually by filling in any areas with powder and using a concealer to cover up any redness from the waxing, and a highlighter to add extra definition.

Before

After

I had my brows done by the lovely Kerie Hoy — trainer and the lady responsible for bringing the  treatment to the UK — who told me that I have a small patch of hair that doesn't grow on one eyebrow, which is what gives the uneven look I have complained about in the past.

The treatment took about half an hour, which makes it more of a treat than a threading or waxing session and I can genuinely say that I was really happy and impressed with the result. I was given the brow powder (shade Raven) and brush to help keep my brows looking groomed after the appointment and was advised how best to fill them in and to only pluck any stray hairs in between appointments.

The cost of the treatment depends on your salon and where you are in the country but you should expect to pay £20 or more and closer to £30 a session in London.

You can find your closest salon and more information on the BDB UK website but if you have any questions I would suggest tweeting them as they are great at responding quickly and they also have a Facebook  page.

My experience at the Benefit brow bar

Benefit’s brow bar were also present at LFWend and offering a discounted price on all their service. Having grown my eyebrows out since my HD brows experience, they were in desperate need of a tidy and I decided to take advantage of Benefit’s special offer.

Because my decision was quite sporadic I didn’t go any of the sensible things a beauty blogger should do like take “before” shots and pictures of the stand but hopefully you can still get a good idea of the service.

I was cautious after my HD brow experience, which I think left me looking uneven. So the first thing I did was tell the “brow man” that I am aware that one of my eyebrows sits higher than the other and is more arched and that I wanted them as even as possible.

The first step was to dye my eyebrows, the colour was left on for 1 minute. The same as HD brows, he mixed a bit of the colour with a blue dye, which is meant to give a more glossy and natural finish. My eyebrows immediately look better dyed, being naturally very fair.

He then waxed my eyebrows, which involved me pulling a few funny faces, and after plucking out the odd hair I was done!

In all not only was this treatment quicker, but I preferred the finish so much more. My eyebrows were even and he caught every hair and I will definitely revisit Benefit in the future.

On the day Benefit were also offering a deal include eyelash dying, which I also tried. This involved me sitting with my eyes closed for 15 minutes with the dye on my lashes. That was the longest 15 minutes I have experienced, especially with the noise and bustle around of other people shopping. The urge to open my eyes was so strong, but at the same time I was very aware that I had dye on my lashes and I was worried what would happen if it did get into my eye.

After the first 10 minutes or so one of my eyes started to tingle, which only increased my paranoia! But I was reassured that it is completely normal and that usually people have one eye that is stronger than the other, which is why I only felt it in one.

I have to admit though, once the dye was taken off I really didn’t see a huge difference. My eyelashes are naturally dark and this didn’t do much to make them look darker or thicker — but they do seem to look more curled and I can notice the smaller lashes toward the inner corner of my eye more.

I expected that dying my eyelashes would mean I could get away without a mascara every day, but maybe that is not what this treatment is intended for? I personally wouldn’t repeat this treatment again, for people with already dark lashes it isn’t going to add much.

ELF brow kit review

My eyebrows are naturally very sparse and fair for my skin and hair colour. I didn't appreciate until recently how filling in eyebrows really frames my face and compliments the rest of my makeup. Along with concealing and foundation, filling in my brows is the thing that I have to do every day as a bare minimum. Looking back at photos before brows I can really tell what was missing!

My favourite eyebrow product used to be a powder I got from the ideal home show about two years ago, I have found the brand online since (cresty cosmetics) and was gutted when I dropped and shattered it all over the bathroom floor!

I purchased the ELF eyebrow kit, in the shade medium, as a replacement, which is a gel and powder combined. The colours are very subtle but defining at the same time which is perfect as I have always avoided pencil products, fearing that my brows will look too drawn in.

I use the brush provided to apply, which has a stiff angled end for applying the gel and a softer brush to apply the powder. I apply the gel first using that to fill in the most sparse areas and define the shape. From my experience the gel alone does not give a lot of colour and only once I apply the powder on top do I see any real definition happening. The colour then lasts the majority of the day, but if I were to go out in the evening I would re-apply.

Before 

After

The kit is from the Studio range and is £3.50. I have been using this since August and barely made a dent in either the gel or the powder so I see this lasting me a very long time!

Generally, I find everything about eyebrow maintenance very tedious! I would like to try dying them myself but I am a bit worried about the potential for that to go very wrong! If anyone does have experience with at-home eyebrow dying I would love to hear about it.