When I was a young teenager I really over-plucked my eyebrows. Nowadays I have very thin eyebrows. I've also recently dyed my hair very dark and my eyebrows don't really match so I decided to finally get an eyebrow pencil. It's something I've never ever used before so I was a bit nervous about using it. I bought the 001 Dark Brown pencil because it was closest to the colour I dyed my hair.

There's a bit of a weird fashion at the moment to have these ultra-dark ultra-thick defined eyebrows and I didn't really wanted that; I just wanted a bit of colour and to give them a bit more shape. The colour of this pencil is not perfect for me - I find it looking a bit too reddy-brown when I really wanted a black-brown, but they didn't have any colour that would be more suitable. It's not a push-up pencil like some eyebrow pencils; when it gets blunt (which is quite quickly) you need to sharpen it. I am going through mine quite quickly, but at £2.99 (from superdrug) it's not a huge expense.

I'm still not an expert at applying the pencil. I find that there's a very thin line between just enough and so much that the eyebrows completely take over the face. Mistakes can easily be rubbed off with a finger and if you do put a bit too much on, a bit of rubbing in does wonders. The trick is to follow your own eyebrow shape and not try to dramatically change it or add to it; your eyebrows are the shape they are for a reason - they follow your brow bone so don't mess with nature! Throughout the day the pencil stays well, but fades slightly with normal moisture on the face which actually makes it look a bit more natural.
The pencil comes with a brush on the lid which is quite useful for blending. I find I have to wash it after almost every use otherwise pencil builds up on it and when you use it to smudge, it just adds more pencil where you don't want it. I often use my fingers instead of the brush because I have better control. Personally, I would prefer a smaller, round brush (a bit like the small tooth-brushes you get if you've ever had braces).

I do find it really difficult to remove all traces of the eyebrow pencil from my face at night. I use face wipes and a cleansing toner and in the morning I still have little brown patches in my eyebrows after my shower. I do use the pencil every day and I don't really like the thought of this build up. Also if you didn't wear it every day you'd have these brown patches that are a nightmare to get off!

I'm not 100% with this product, but I don't think it's so much the brand of pencil, but more my techniques. I do struggle to make it look good and I think a lot of other people would too. Your eyebrows can really change your whole face so just be careful with these pencils and get lots of practice! I will get the Rimmel one again as the quality and staying power is good.