Eyebrows are to Zoom meetings as the sun is to our solar system–in other words, extremely central. Ergo, we’re republishing this story from July 2019 about the best eyebrow products out there, according to five women whose brows would make you pause in the middle of a video chat to say, “Excuse me, how?”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked down the street, or scrolled through my Instagram feed, or glanced across from me on a crowded subway car and thought to myself, I wonder what that person did to make their eyebrows look like that? The number is too high to count. Such is my fascination with the slivers of hair that grow atop the eyeballs of perfect strangers, and I know I’m not alone. Eyebrow mania is real—not to mention ubiquitous. So I took one for the team (our team!) and asked five women whose brows I’ve long admired from afar to tell me their favorite eyebrow product. Read their answers below, and share your own in the comments if you have some secret tricks.
Alessandra Garcia Lorido
Model
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Favorite brow product? I go through so many phases when it comes to brow products—sometimes I’ll use a gel or even just hairspray on a spoolie (which actually works quite well), but right now my favorite is Nudestix Brow Wax Pen.
Why is it so amazing? My hair is super coarse and has a mind of its own, and the waxy texture holds down my hairs really well. The pen shape makes it super easy to use: I just draw it on my brows and brush it in with a spoolie. I find that most brow gels have a really small applicator which, for my size brows, doesn’t quite cut it. They also tend to be really crunchy on my hair once they dry out. The wax lasts without drying out and you can even go back in to reshape and set.
How did you first hear about it? Someone on set once used soap that they bought at Whole Foods with spoolie to shape my brows and I loved the outcome. After doing some research I found that this wax pen had the same result but with an easier application.
Any application tips? A little goes along way and I like to put less on the inner part of my brows to achieve a more sprouted and bushy texture there.
Callia Hargrove
Social Director at COOLS
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Favorite brow product? I swear by the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Pencil!
Why is it so amazing? Let me preface by saying I’ve tried SO many brow products over the years. When I was the social editor at Teen Vogue, one of my work wives was our digital beauty editor, and she was nice enough to bless me with every new pencil, pomade, and powder on the market. Still, I always kept coming back to Brow Wiz.
My brows are very thick in some areas but sparse in others and I love how Brow Wiz defines without giving me intense brows. It perfects the shape without going on too strong and I can’t imagine my makeup routine without it. I only get my brows threaded every few months, and I rely on this pencil heavily in between sessions so I don’t get tweezer happy and go beyond the point of no return.
How did you first hear about it? My best guess is from a magazine article sometime in college. I feel like during the late 00s, every celebrity makeup artist was raving about it and I was quick to add it to my arsenal. I went through a very unfortunate thin brow phase around the same time, where mine were barely detectible and Brow Wiz helped bring them back to life by allowing me to let the hair grow in without things looking too messy.
Any application tips? Brow Wiz works best for me when I use it to fill in sparse areas. I do the ~makeup artist~ trick and fill those areas in with light strokes so the product doesn’t go on too strong. It’s definitely not a product I would recommend to create a completely new brow. Once I fill them in, I brush my brows out with a Sephora spoolie to blend the product in for more of a natural look. The pencil comes with a spoolie of its own, but this one is thicker and blends better in my opinion.
Zara Rahim
Head of Strategic Communications at The Wing
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Favorite brow product? Hourglass Arch Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel
Why is it so amazing? I love the long brush and that it doesn’t hold a lot of excess product. Some brow gels use shorter brushes which, for me, is harder to distribute without leaving clumps of color or gel behind. I had a unibrow as a child that I was always told was so beautiful and wasn’t allowed to touch until 8th grade. Naturally, I over-plucked the hell out of them the second I could. I’ve been growing out my brows for the last four years with the help of my brow artists. I met Giselle Soto when I Iived in LA. When I moved to NY for the 2016 election, I didn’t touch them for six months because I was scared to go to anyone else and had zero time for self-care. I eventually found Ashley Span at Rescue Spa who is the best. They both really got me off of using pencils or pomades and encouraged me to embrace my natural, full shape. A good brow artist is just as important (if not more important!) as good products.
How did you first hear about it? I am an Hourglass addict and was looking for something with a longer brush and quality gel so this worked perfectly.
Any application tips? I brush up! It makes my brows look fuller and also my mother always told me if I brush my hair back it’ll grow faster which is rooted in absolutely zero science but I believe it 100% and apply it to my eyebrows as well.
Jessica Torres
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Favorite brow product? RevitaLash Cosmetics Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner
Why is it so amazing? I naturally have very light, sparse brows. The process of making my eyebrows look full and feathery used to take me 30 minutes, daily. However, the older I get the lazier and quicker I want my makeup process to be. So I started researching products that help grow brows into thicker, fuller, sexier furry beasts. After watching UK vlogger Zoella talk casually about a product she bought off Amazon which helped fill in the gaps on her already full brows, I was sold. I have been using the product for about 4 months and counting and my brows have done a complete 180!
How did you first hear about it? Zoella!
Any application tips? The product says to apply the product in soft strokes but I apply it like a four-year-old playing with her mother’s expensive red lipstick and just go crazy on my brows. I show no mercy.
Hannah Baxter
Fashion Editor at Coveteur
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Favorite brow product? Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil
Why is it so amazing? To achieve full yet natural-looking brows, buildable color is a must. I’ve tried many, many products over the course of my eyebrow journey, from powders and gels to waxes and pencils. This guy blends in seamlessly to the brow hairs, and there’s no reddish undertone like a lot of lighter brow products—a tell-tale sign that your bushy pals are not exactly god-given. A pencil also gives you more control over the application and allows you to mimic the look of individual hairs.
How did you first hear about it? My former colleague and beauty guru for all things, Katie Becker. I always trust a friend’s recommendation over anything else, and considering she’s a product encyclopedia, I wasn’t surprised when this became my go-to.
Any application tips? Always brush up your brows before you start to fill them in—you need a roadmap of where to apply the color. I’ve also started drawing the hairs starting at the tail and working against the grain of the hair growth per a makeup artist’s recommendation. It keeps them from looking too perfect, like an Instagram brow. Then I use a spoolie to blend in the pencil, especially around any sparse patches, and finish with a tinted brow gel if I’m feeling sassy. Don’t forget to run a cotton bud around the top of your arch in case any color bleeds outside your desired shape.
Feature Photo by Alessandra Garcia Lorido.
