Everyone who knows me personally, knows that my brows are honestly the part of my makeup routine that I care about the most. It’s a characteristic of me that my eyebrows are always loud and proud. So anytime I see new brow products from the drugstore, I’m intrigued and want to try it out, to see if they might be worthy of the brow routine.

So when I ran out of my beloved L’Oreal ‘Brow Stylist Definer’ (I cry) I thought this was the perfect time to pick up a new pencil. I saw Jessica Braun talking about this Revlon one, so whatever Jessica does, I do.

This is the Revlon ‘Colorstay Brow Pencil’. I picked mine up in the color ‘Soft Brown’, the darker color in the display in my local Walgreens store. It retails for $8.99. On Walgreen’s website, the only color they have listed is ‘Blonde’, so hopefully find this in stores – otherwise all the colors are up on Ulta’s website.

Let’s get on into this review, shall we?

So first thing you’ll notice right away, this is a thicker pencil than other brow pencils, like the L’Oreal ‘Brow Stylist Definer’ or the NYX ‘Microbrow Pencil’.

It starts out with a slanted tip, that follows the shape of the packaging as you can see in the 1st photo. But that sharper edge quickly wears away. The 2nd and 3rd photos show once the edge wears down, it does become a blunt pencil. Something to keep in mind.

(Sorry this photo is darker than real color – I took it quickly later to show the edge)

(Here’s the color accurate one, and after use to show it worn down).

Look at that lil’ nub.

It’s also to note that it comes with a pretty thick spoolie on the other end. I actually do really like this spoolie to spread out the product, and kind of even it out, make it look a little more natural if I get too crazy. I find because of its size, it’s so easy to brush my brows out. I might just keep this spoolie even after I use up the product. YAY HOARDING.

Color wise, the ‘Soft Brown’ shade is a warmer tone. It’s dark enough for my brows, but also very warm – this works for me personally still since I have red hair. It can be built up to a darker brown shade as well – you’ll see when it’s applied to my brows below.

The feel of the pencil is more waxy, but still creamy. It claims to be waterproof, and it does hold for a good amount of time on my brows. It does feel almost “sticky”? when applying and I found it almost sticks my brows down and holds them in place like a wax would. But it’s still creamy enough to drop enough pigment down.

So as you can see, I do have pretty full brows already. I use a pencil to fill in any spare areas, including the front, and to define the tail. To use it, I lay the pencil down and fill in the sparse areas, creating more of that sharper edge you saw earlier. And then I use that edge to draw in my tails.

It’s very important to use the spoolie and brush the product through to really even it out, or else I find with the waxy formula it can stick the product onto the hairs and have it stick in one noticeable place.

It does take some concentration and a little more time to really get my tails down and defined how I like them. If I’m trying to go fast willy-nilly, it can look a little messy and thick. I actually did clean up the area around the end of my eyebrow a little with concealer.

So it depends on what you’re looking for in your brow pencil. If you want something for sharp, defined brows, or you’re more of a beginner, I don’t think this is it, because of its thicker size and pigmented formula. If you simply want to fill in some sparse areas, and already have a good amount of hair that you want to control in place, this would be a good option. For drawing on a whole new brow? I would take a pass. You’re not going to be able to mimic little brow hairs with this thicker size.

Overall, do I love it more than my L’Oreal Brow pencil? No, but that’s my personal preference. I like a smaller pencil to create sharper brows, and a smaller one is easier and quicker for me to use. This one still has a really nice formula, and I’ll continue using it until I use it up, but after that, I probably won’t be repurchasing. But don’t let my own tastes stop you – think about your own brow needs for this. I’m simply giving my opinion on how I would think it’s best used.

What are you favorite drugstore brow products?

 

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