ILLAMASQUA | Precision Brow Gel in Glimpse

It's no secret that I'm one of these terribly unfortunate people who have awful brows.  They're pale, sparse and thin, and not through over-plucking, but because I'm just not hairy and blessed with good brows.  As a result, I have to use products to make them look more normal, and frame my face, I have SERIOUS brow envy of those that don't need to do this!

The Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel in Glimpse has a very similar texture to the cult, Anastasia DipBrow Pomade, you might even say, it has a slightly nicer texture.  It's slightly softer and doesn't tend to cling to the roots of your hairs as much (the Anastasia one only does this a little and in certain places). 

As it's water-resistant it really doesn't move all day either (oh and by the way, I'm fully away my brows are in desperate need of some TLC!).  The pigmentation is fantastic, a tiny amount really goes a long way, so it's a product that will last you well.  In fact, the less I used, the better the final look.

My only issue with this is that it's not quite the right shade for me, I think the shades stare or awe would have been better - but as there's still some red in my hair, I can get away with this :)

Overall I really love the Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel, it's a lovely formula, great texture and pigmentation and it's really easy to use... next time, I'll make sure I pick the right colour though ;)

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Makeup Revolution Ultra brow palette

My swatches have come out a little paler than they actually are - you can see in my eye brow pic below how pigmented and dark they are

It's been a while since I shared with you a new Makeup Revolution release so I thought I'd throw some caution to the wind and not break the habit of a lifetime :)  I've had this in my collection for about 2 weeks now and is currently available for £7.99 as part of their Ultra series.

This palette is the same size as their eye shadow palettes, so quite sizeable! Certainly one to keep at home in your collection and not in your travel makeup bag.  The palette has 4 brow powders, 2 wax's, a concealer, a highlighter, a brow pencil, 2 brushes and a set of tweezers. There's also a huge mirror that fills up the lid of the palette.

The shadows have decent pigmentation (you don't want anything overly intense for your brows!) and they have a nice range of shades for light to medium. I tend to use the two darker ones.  I can't comment on what the waxes are like as I don't tend to use them - I prefer to set my brows with either a clear mascara or a tinted brow gel.  I've also been using the concealer and highlighter - not products I tend to use, but since I have them I thought I'd give them a whirl.  They really do help to create a more precise brow and lighten and brighten above and below the brow - I'm a convert!

This is a really nice kit which is great value for money and the brushes included are really decent too - I haven't felt I'd had to reach for a different brow brush to apply the product.  My only niggle with this palette, is a tiny one - I'm not sure if it's the pencil or the tweezers, but something is stopping me being able to close the lid shut. It's not a palette I'd take out of the house anyway, but it is a bit annoying that I can't close it :P

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Neve Cosmetics | Manga Brows

If you haven't heard of Neve Cosmetics before, well then you should have! They're a fantastic Italian brand which pride themselves on being cruelty free.

If you've ever seen my brows before makeup, you'll know they need a little help each day to look finished, natural and put together.  They're thin, sparse with little shape, and they're much paler than my hair.  So every day when I put on makeup, my brows HAVE to be done.  I'm not overly fond of very heavy overdone brows, I much prefer them to look more natural, but well groomed and shaped. Recently I've been using my Anastasia Brow Wiz, but given how expensive that is, I'm in the market for a more purse-friendly alternative, and proper pencils aren't something I'd tried yet.

You can pick this up for €8.99 (which is about £6.99 in UK money).  It's a double-ended pencil with 2 slightly different colours at each end, and inside the cap of the one end is a brush to soften the look once you've filled your brows in.  I picked the shade 'warm blonde & soft brown' I think this was the closest to my natural brow colour.

The lighter colour is designed to outline your brows, and the darker shade to define and fill them out - I love how innovative this is!  I also love that their products are free from parabens, silicone and any animal bits (yuck).  

I love how natural they make my brows look, I think I got the colour match just right - it's definied, filled in and given my brows depth.  The actual pencil is quite firm too, which is what you'd expect from a brow product, otherwise it could all get rather messy!

Brows before being Manga'd!

 Brow's after having the Neve Manga pencil run over them

I really do love Neve products, their eye shadows are amazing quality with innovative colours, and generous pan sizes - I've actually got another couple Neve reviews up my sleeves for you coming soon :)  In fact, over the last couple of years I've reviewed a few different pieces from Neve like their powder foundation, Elegantissimi neutral palette, Pastello eye liners and mineral eye shadows - I'm afraid the pictures aren't exactly to my current standard - just click on the links to read my reviews :)

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Anastasia Beverly Hills | Brow Wiz

As you can see, I haven't been blessed with full brows, even dark brows, they're light, sparse and whispy.  This means to have any kind of definition, they need help, whether that's from a brow powder, wax or pencil.  It's only in the last couple of weeks I've rediscovered my Anastasia Brow Wiz (in the shade Brunette) which I bought some time ago on Cult Beauty (£15.50).

I find it works best on groomed brows - I've started trimming mine on the edges when the hairs get long, that's when it works best in my experience - otherwise I tend to prefer a powder.  However, in an effort to keep my brows trimmed, this is working best for me.

The bad blogger in me hasn't photographed the pen with the lids off - but basically one end has a brush to comb through the brows when they're done, and the other end is the product, a small twist-up pencil.  You can see the massive difference it creates, just filling in my brows.  I don't feel I go over the top, I just try to work with what's there, filling it in and adding some shape and definition, hopefully along the lines of what my brows would be like if they were more normal.

I'm not really a fan of the 'drawn-on-brow' look, but I do like to look like I at least have some brows - I feel that filling them in really helps to frame the face, and the eyes.  This is really easy to work with, the product is the perfect balance of being firm, but not hard to work with, and it's not too soft that you'll over apply product.  Once you've filled them in, if you're looking for a slightly more natural look just run the brush through them which will soften the look further (I didn't use the brush in the picture above).

This has become a go-to brow product for me which I'm certain to replace when it's finished, for me, it's worth every penny of the £15.50 I spent on it. What's your favourite brow product?

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Bling Brow Benefit blogger & press event

 

Back a few days ago I was invited to a blogger & PR event by the lovely people at Benefit.  They were doing a road show with the lovely @lisa_benefit (head makeup artist, trend and brow expert for Benefit UK) and Jared Bailey (global brow expert).

I've met Lisa at a Benefit event before, she's super lovely and such an experienced makeup artist, so I was really honoured for her to give me the full Benefit brow treatment.  Don't forget, this woman has done Cara Delevingne's makeup - needless to say, I felt special ;)

So to begin with Jared showed us how to find your perfect arch and define your brows perfectly, this I did already know, thanks to previous Benefit tuition but it's good to have it refreshed.  Between Lisa, Jarad and some experienced Benebabes we had the full Benefit treatment on our brows including a tint.  

The purpose of the event was also to showcase a new product they have coming out called BlingBrow.  They've teamed up with Swarovski crystal elements to make a kit (pictured above) ready for the festive season to add self-adhesive crystals to your brows.

There's 3 suggested ways to wear them, 3 in a row just past the arch (Touch O'Bling) this will cost £4 a brow or £8 for both.  Then there's having the crystals above the brows (Over the top Bling) - £8. Then having the crystals actually over your brows (Big time bling) £16.  They're self-adhesive and reusable.  You can leave them on for up to 3 days too.

They're also selling a kit (pictured) which is officially out on the 1st November 2014 and will cost £19.50 which has the crystal and rose gold coloured gems inside.  However, if you have Benefit apply them for you, you can pick from up to 8 different colours.

This (for me) is perfect for Christmas party's and New Years partys - but I'm sure that across the UK (and World) for glam nights out girls will be donning these on their brows for extra sparkle and bling!

Will you be Blinging out your brows?

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