Monday, April 20, 2015

Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz.

***New stuff from me and Marianne in the shop! MBMJ, Anthro, Loeffler Randall!***

For years and years and years I didn't bother to fill my brows. I got them shaped and kept them tidy but I never filled them in. Then I got older and something happened - they started to look sad and patchy. (GETTING OLD IS THE WORST.)

So, I started filling them in, first with some ancient Club Monaco brow powder that grossed out Marianne, then with Benefit Gimme Brow (eh), then with the Urban Decay Brow Box (good.) I also have an NYX brow pencil stashed in my bag  just in case. If you're like, "Eh, I don't get the big deal" here's what I'm talking about:

no brows

all the brows

Right? Your brows frame your face and give you expression. You don't have to go crazy, but if you're not one of those hateful people with perfect, dark brows, go ahead and fill them in. Take before and after photos and see what you think. In the picture above I'm using the Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil in caramel because Marianne told me to buy it. It's expensive for the amount of product you get but DAMN DO I LOVE IT. One end is a super-skinny mechanical pencil and the other end is a brow spoolie. It stays all day and looks very sharp. Brow Wiz gives a more "done" look than brow powder but I have pretty much given up on natural. Here's a super creepy close-up with my hair pulled back:

What do you guys like for your brows, or do you leave them alone? Also! It looks like NYX has knockoff versions of both Gimme Brow and Brow Wiz. Has anyone tried them?

PS. I am totally using one of those teenager filtering selfie apps because I got tired of how horrifying my skin looks under florescent lighting. It's best for everyone involved. trust me.


  1. I do every once in a while when I'm trying to be fancy but I take the lazy way and use eyeshadow powder (I do not recommend lol). I have a terrible bald spot in one of my brows that's actually a scar, it drives my poor aesthetician crazy because it makes my brows asymmetrical. So I feel you on the patchy weirdness!

  2. I love me some Brow Wiz for my over-plucked patchy weirdness. A good back up plan is Maybelline's Define-a-Brow. Super cheap and effective. It was my go-to before I discovered Brow Wiz.

    1. I second Define-a-brow! They stopped selling it in my area so I panic bought the entire stock of it at a CVS on a trip to Arizona. I really want to try Brow Wiz but I'll have to wait until I least make a dent in my stash...

  3. Seohora house-brand is a very good and less expensive alternate to Anastasia.

  4. I am loving the new Maybelline Brow Drama mascara. I rub it against the hair growth direction, then again in the right direction. Keeps my brows neat all day, doesn't feel gross and flaky/sticky, and has just enough color to look natural. Bonus: comes in Auburn which is awesome for us redheads whose brows are between Blonde and Brown.

  5. Shisheido brow powder is pretty good (and doubles as excellent powder liner; goes on dark, stays put forever).

    Otherwise I've had great luck with a Clinique eyeliner: the perfect shade and intensity of color for my brows... which they've since discontinued. So very interested in your tips here.

  6. I've used both the brow wiz and the nyx version for my patches. Had good experience with both...even with my ineptness.

  7. All I can say is...BROWS ON FLEEK!

  8. Ok, I ordered some of that magic Anastasia stuff. I've always had pretty good brows, but lately they seem sparser. Apparently, I'm getting old. Ugh!

    This blog is so damn helpful, I swear. Between the entries and the comments, I feel like I've get such good advice!

  9. I use an Avon brow pencil that looks perfect no matter what color my hair is, somehow. I also tried Benefit Gimme Brow and was not impressed. I think it doesn't work if you have sparse, really light brows like mine. It always just looked chunky and patchy.


  11. I have something called- bizarrely, as these Japanese things often are "New Born". Wait, here it is:

    I have no idea why amazon is calling it "eyebrow mascara"; it isn't ; it's just a waxy pencil thing, then there's a secret powder compartment and a spoolie. It's brill- I'm on my 2nd one, the 1st one lasted a long time, too.

    I have dark-haired brows, relatively fine hairs and rather sparsely implanted (and getting more and more so, sigh), but the shape is wide. So if I fill in the actual color of my brows it looks terrible and weird. I've struggled with it for a long time-

    . My hair (on head) is very mixed (naturally) and goes from dark brown (underneath) to light to golden brown where it's more exposed, with a lot of red and it also gets very blonde edges and streaks in the sun (I've never colored it) so I discovered that using a golden brown pencil brings it all together- and makes my eyes look much nicer too.

    It's really easy to use. I don't use the powder, even though it's great, because it made me break out a bit around my brow line.

    I used to like Gimme Brow, but it's not super user friendly after a while- it always seems to clump or something. They have a billion products like that here, I haven't tried any of them yet because I really like this pencil. I've noticed that Sana (brand) actually makes a lot of the stuff I've been using and re-re-re purchasing, great brand.