For perfectly groomed brows (MAC Eye Brows)

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	MAC Eye Brows
Date:	12/04/09 (310 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good range of colours, thin pencil for precise application, leaves brows groomed and perfect,

Disadvantages: You use the pencil quickly

I think there is nothing that can quite transform your face as much as a nicely groomed set of eyebrows. I admit I can be slightly on the obsessive side when it comes to plucking and grooming mine and when I finally had a little bit of spare cash recently I decided to replace my not very impressive Rimmel eyebrow pencil with MAC's snazzy Eye Brows pencil.

MAC produce this pencil in a good range of colours which means there should be one that will suite any complexion: Strut (a mid toned brown), Fling (an ash blonde), Spiked (bottle brunette), Lingering (a hazel brown) Stud (a rich blackened brown), and Velvetone (film noir black). As a dark brunette I chose Stud - my eyebrows are actually black, but I find black eyebrow pencil is just a bit too much for me, so Stud was the perfect choice.

The first thing to note about Eye Brows is that it's not a regular pencil that you need to sharpen, but is self sharpening, coming in a plastic casing from which you remove the lid and twist the top to push up the pencil. I've used pencils like this in the past and on opening this to use the first time I was ambivalent about how well this would work in comparison to a normal pencil. However, the fact that it doesn't need sharpening means that MAC have made the pencil extremely thin, which allows you to have great precision in application. The twist up action also has a tiny click which allows you to 'measure' how much you are pushing up by - one click should push up 0.5mm and mean you have enough pencil to apply to both brows. Add to that the fact that there are no tiny shards of pencil to flake off and I'm sold on this design.

Application is a dream. The pencil lead is so thin that you have lots of control over where you are applying it and the pencil itself is also very thin and has little grooves for added grip. The pencil is soft enough to allow you to apply easily but not so soft that it crumbles and smudges. I find it really easy to get a defined look using this, you just need to cover the brow shape with tiny feathery strokes and it gives great definition, adds shape, and leaves brows looking groomed and perfect. It doesn't seem to leave a powdery particle coating on the hairs as I've found many brow pencils can - just a smooth and even coating of colour. Strangely, my brows actually look a little thinner once I've applied this, as they are so much better defined and everything just looks in place. It's also easy to build up the colour to give a deeper look if that's what you're after and the blackened brown is a nice rich colour that works perfectly for me and without any of the nasty red undertones that so many brown eyebrow pencils have. If you do make a mistake, it's easy to correct with a Q-tip, but mistakes with this I've found are very rare and you have to be pretty clumsy and not paying full attention!

I find that once applied, unless you decide to wipe your hand across your face, it will last all day without budging or smudging a jot. Although it's not a waterproof product, I have also found that it doesn't budge in the rain or sweat, which many products like this will do.

The pencil casing is also very sturdy - I've accidentally dropped this a couple of times and was worried that the pencil lead would have broken but it has remained intact.

My only criticism of Eye Brows is that compared to pencils that you need to sharpen, it doesn't last me as long and because of the packaing, you can't actually see how much product you have left. This is no doubt because I often will use a brow pencil a little on the blunt side, whereas you can't get away with that here and it forces you to have that sharpened point for precision.

At £9.79 each, these aren't the cheapest brow pencils around, but they're not ridiculously expensive and I'd be hard pushed to return to a conventional pencil that requires sharpening. It leaves your brows looking ultra groomed and perfect, and allows you to achieve either a natural or dramatic look depending on the kind of look you are after.

Summary: Get perfectly defined eyebrows