Honestly, I’m over eyebrows. I’m skilled at many beauty things, but eyebrows aren’t one of them. I can’t master the perfect symmetry, I have zero energy to rectify mistakes and the products just don’t excite me.
That was until I kept stumbling on eyebrow pens that mimic the results of microblading or brow lamination treatments. I usually wear a few products, but mainly Benefit Precisely, My Brow (£21), so when they recently launched their Brow Microfilling Pen, I had to give it a go and see if it was a worthy upgrade. Seeing as they’re such a go-to brand for all things brows.
Whenever I see the word pen next to eyebrows, I have awful flashbacks of when my teen self used a black liquid liner in lieu of eyebrow pencil. Luckily, these products aren’t that.
Let’s get into it. There’s three little tips on the pen, the idea being that you use it to create the look of hair strokes. Three at a time. Each one of the tips has a different length.The product comes in four shades and the darkest one (deep brown) worked on my brows but one shade darker would have been ideal. I was quite surprised at how natural my brows looked and it’s so easy to use and managed to soothe all of my brow woes.
I was so taken with this new eyebrow pen life that I decided to try out some more. Keep scrolling for the ones that have earned their place in my makeup bag.
I can’t even explain how much I love this pen, so much so that I slept with it on. That’s how convinced I was that these were in fact my own brows. The nib is the perfect shape for drawing on mini hairs and the shades are true to life.
This pen is such a dream to apply as the pigment flows into the tips pretty easily, so I wasn’t dragging the pen across my brows. I was really impressed with the blend of fine hairs it re-created while also adding fullness.
All hail Glossier. I’ve had so many video call compliments from using this, so this will definitely be sticking around. The super fine nib gave me really precise brows that didn’t take an entirety to apply.
Come through L’Oréal Paris. This is the exact look I’ve been trying to go for when I’m not wearing makeup but want my brows to look neat, tidy, natural and put together. This pen gives more of a wash of colour to brows than a full on brush of pigment, yet it does the job of clinging to hairs and mimicking a microbladed look.
I can always count on Anastasia Beverly Hills to nail it when it comes to brows and this didn’t disappoint. The finer than fine nib gave me plenty of control to define both the tail of my brows and draw on realistic hairs. My mind might have changed about brow products now, thanks to this.
What I love about this pen is how buildable the formula is. The shades are quite light and ensure a natural finish, but once I applied a couple of layers, I got the ideal amount of coverage. As it’s so workable and doesn’t stick to the skin, I was able to brush my brows and go for a fluffier look.
Up next, how to make your beauty routine work with a face mask.
