Three Staple Brow Pencils for Natural Looking Brows

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Thick naturally shaped brows have been making a come back for quite a while now. Time for those pencil thin and perfectly shaped brows are gone and these days the more natural your brows look, the more compliment you’d gather. Fuller brows frame your face and eyes and help detract from any dark circles or imperfections you may have. Of course not all of us are blessed with naturally thick brows, some may have been guilty of over-plucking and in the ‘brow rehab’ phase where you’re waiting for your brows to grow back. I’m sort of in between; my brows are not too thick, not too thin, I can get away with leaving the front bit alone while filling and shaping the arches and end bits. I have never been a fan of overdrawn, tattooed eyebrow look either so my eyebrow routine is pretty quick and simple and only require two products; an eyebrow pencil and a clear brow gel to set and keep everything in place. So today I’m going to talk you through 3 brow pencils that are a staple in my makeup collection to achieve a natural looking brows.

On normal days when I only need a simple, barely there makeup to run errands i.e. go to the shops or go to the gym, the brow pencil I reach for is Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil (I’m in the shade ‘Brownie Points‘). This has a retractable crayon pencil on one end and a felt tip pen on the other end. The retractable pencil has a round nib that is so quick and easy to use and great for drawing and filling in any gaps and I love the ashy dark brown shade, which is very natural and flattering. The pencil glides on relatively easy and doesn’t drag on the lid. The felt tip end is like a brow tint and great for creating light featuring strokes that mimic each strand of your hair to achieve a fuller looking brows.

My current favourite at the moment however, has to got to be Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Brow Pencil in the shade Mahogany. I also did a first impression on this in my previous post so I will keep it short but basically it’s another retractable pencil with a chiseled nib on one end and a spoolie brush on the other end. The shade is perfect for me, another dark brown ashy tone, but what I absolutely adore about this brow pencil is the formula, which is sooo smooth and creamy, glides on like a dream and distributes just the right amount of pigment, making it so easy to draw and shape the brow without overdoing it.

Of course I can’t be talking about brows without mentioning the legendary Anastasia Brow Wiz. This is a such a cult product for any brow aficionados. Similar to the Bobbi Brown pencil, the brow wiz also has a retractable pencil with a spoolie brush on the other end and comes in great variety of shades so you’ll definitely find a shade that will suit and look natural on you (I’m in the shade ‘Soft Brown‘). The pencil itself has really tiny nib that comes in very handy for maneuvering around and mimicking each hair strand. In my opinion this is not the best product for newbies because it does require quite a steady hand and great precision and I have to confess most days I don’t have time nor patience to deal with this product. But on days when I can be bothered to spend more time on my brows the result is very natural and worth the fuss.

What are the products you use to achieve a natural, fuller looking brows?

 

Recent Beauty Purchases and First Impression

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Luna Oil and other beauty purchases

 

A recent trip to Selfridges and SpaceNK resulted, as usual, in some inevitable purchases and today I thought I would do a mini beauty haul and a bit of first impression for you. If you are a fellow beauty aficionado you would likely have heard of the much hyped about Sunday Riley’s Luna Oil. I first spotted this in Claire’s April Beauty Review video, in which she mentioned that she literally saw results overnight and that her pores were noticeably tighter and her acne scars and other hyper pigmentation also appeared to be lighter. Obviously I was intrigued but after seeing the hefty price tag I felt a bit unjustified to put such a burden on my bank account. After all I don’t suffer from either hyper pigmentation or acne scarring so I put the idea aside. What I didn’t expect was the massive hype that followed on this little blue bottle. Literally all the blogs, YouTubes, magazines, everywhere I looked, everyone was raving about this Luna Oil, dubbed the skin’s miracle worker. Eventually (as expected of me) I caved. If it works magic on everyone else, surely it will do the same to my skin? I’ve been using it for almost 2 weeks now and I’m beginning to see what the hype is all about. I can’t say that I saw a dramatic difference to my skin overnight but I did notice my face looking smoother and my pores smaller. But what really made me believe that this stuff actually does something good to me skin was when I put on my makeup the next morning and I had one of those best makeup days when everything you put on just look perfect because your skin as a base is in such good condition. I’m going to continue using this for a month and will do a proper review on it.

My next stop was Selfridges and the first thing I picked up was Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Long Wear Brow Pencil in the shade Mahogany. I recently ran out of my trusty old Hourglass Arch Sculpting Brown Pencil (I used the shade soft brunette), which had lasted me for such a long time. Despite the fact that everyone seem to have fallen out of love with this product, I still prefer it to something like the Anastasia Brow Wiz. I just much prefer the chiseled nib, which makes the whole process of defining the arch of your brows and filling them much much quicker in my opinion. The Bobbi Brown brow pencil has the same chiseled nib but much finer and sharper so it gives a more precise application whilst being easier to work with. The formula also blows me away. It’s not waxy like the Hourglass pencil so it doesn’t tug at your brows or gives you blotchy patches. It’s more like a smooth crayon pencil that glides on effortlessly and give just the right amount of colour that is buildable so you don’t end up with those crazy drawn on eyebrows. The shade Mahogany also matches my brow colour perfectly and if you are a fan of an ashy brown tone and you prefer a natural brow look, this is definitely worth looking at.

Of course a trip to Selfridges would not be complete without a little nose around Charlotte Tilbury’s counter, which is never a good idea because I hardly ever come out empty handed. This time was no exception, I picked up Eyes to Mesmerise Cream Eyeshadow in Bette, something I’d been eyeing for quite some time. I’ve really been into shimmery eyeshadow this summer and especially in the form of cream or cream stick like the By Terry Ombre Blackstar because it’s quick and easy to just swipe it on with a little blending and voila you got yourself a sophisticated yet natural and effortless look in no time. The shade Bette from Charlotte Tilbury is an amber-gold tone, which has just enough shimmer to brighten your eyes without being too disco ball glittery. It is a ‘gorgeous gorgeous’ colour that gives your eyes that sexy smouldering look and will suit everybody and especially when you have a bit of a tan. It’s so creamy and easy to apply and you can literally use your finger to swipe it across your lid and smudge it a bit to blend and you’re done. The formula also contains vitamin E so it feels very cool and hydrating when applied and it does not drag on your eyes.

So I hope you enjoyed my mini haul/first impression this week. Have you recently made any interesting purchases?

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This Week’s MOTD

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This week I feel we have already fast-forward to summer; it has been incredibly sunny and warm. Not that I’m complaining, but when the weather gets this warm any kind of liquid foundations are out the door for me. I just can’t stand the tacky feeling on my face. So this week I’ve gone back to my beloved BareMinerals Original SPF15 foundation, which is perfect for giving a ‘barely there’ feeling that is much needed in the warming temperature. I’ve also eased myself back into using bronzer again after abandoning it for most of the winter. I know this may be the opposite of what most people do but I feel like wearing bronzer in the winter can look a bit unnatural and I don’t quite mind that my skin goes slightly paler to suit the cold winter climate. Anyway the bronzer I’ve been reaching for the most these days is the Body Shop Honey Bronzer just because it’s very very natural. It gives just enough warmth to your complexion without being too orange or too brown and I just dust it around the edge of my face in a C shape motion to warm up my skin. And since spring is all about the healthy glow I’ve been loving the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Dim Infusion for my cheek. It’s such a star product that serves so many purposes; a blusher, highlighter and skin enhancer all in one.

Pink seems to be a makeup trend this spring and this week I’ve dug out my MAC eyeshadow in Pink Venus that I bought whilst on a holiday last summer. It’s a gorgeous champagney pink with some specks of glitter that once applied just gives the loveliest pink shade that brightens up your eyes but very wearable at the same time. Unfortunately my camera is not fancy enough for the colour to show up properly (sorry!) but if you’re ever around a MAC counter it might be worth going in for a quick swatch.

Anastasia Brow Wiz has recently been my go to brow product just because it is so quick and easy to use and the very thin fine nib means you can really mimic each strand of hair to achieve a very natural look in no time at all. For mascara I’ve gone back YEARS to Maybelline Falsies Waterproof mascara. I don’t know why I ever stopped using this amazing product. It does everything to your lashes, it separates your lashes like no other mascaras, it gives amazing volume, it defines your lash line (something that not many mascaras do) and it adds reasonable length to your lashes. There’s a good reason why this mascara was unbeatable for years and I’m so glad I’ve rediscovered it again.

And quickly for lip I’ve been keeping it simple and just go for No.7 Precision Lips Pencil in Nude to both line and fill my lip. This is one of Lisa Eldridge‘s staple lip product and let me tell you, forget about Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk, or Rimmel’s East End Snob, or MAC Sublime Culture, at £6.75 and readily available in Boots, this gorgeous lip liner is as compatible to any of its hyped up counterparts (if not better!).