I find they aren’t my first choice for filling in my brows. I prefer using a gel product and an angled brush – faster and a little more intense for me, which I like. Back in the day, I used MAC Stud for a long time, though, so at one point I liked ’em, haha!
— Christine
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Pencil is the only thing that works for my patchy and greying (unevenly) low thyroid-depleted eyebrows. Everything else is either a hot mess or horribly fake-looking.
Love them if I can find a color match for my grey hair. They are either too dark or too red.
I notice that pencils and eyeshadow applied with a brush can sometimes pull out my eyebrow hair and discourage the hair from regrowing. I prefer using an angled brush and a gel product. When I want something quick and easy, I still use a thicker angled brush with MAC eyeshadow in Espresso.
Thanks for commenting, I didn’t even notice that pencils tend to pull out hair until you said something. Can I ask which brow gel product you like?
Because I mostly fill in my sparse brows with a favorite, super long-lasting eyeshadow first and foremost, I usually only use an eyebrow pencil when I want (or need) crisper, more refined edges. Some are just hard enough to not get clumpy or deposit too much product, like ABH’s. Others can be just too soft and “mushy” for me.
I hate both when brow pencils are too soft (and clump and smudge) or two hard (and scratch my skin). Nailing down the perfect consistency is critical.
When we were able to swatch in stores I always disliked I couldn’t tell the formula from the tester. Tester pencils usually dried out from constant expose to air, so multiple times I got a too “mushy” pencil because the tester seemed dry enough for my liking, but the freshly opened product was way too creamy
I have light and sparse brows so brow pencils are what works for me and are easy to brush out if I get a little heavy handed. I have two that I enjoy because I can use a lighter hand and build up if wanted. My brows will never be perfectly arched or bushy or thick and if I attempt to do anything more than a light filling in they look really obviously fake. I find that most tinted brow gels, brow mascaras, or liquid and cream type products that are applied with brushes overwhelm my brows and look too harsh. I used to fill in with eye shadow way way back in the day, but now I don’t like how that looks on me and just prefer the look I can do with a pencil. But not a sharp and draggy pencil, those are the worst. I work with the (lack of) shape and brow density that I have lol.
A pencil’s never given me natural results, but my brows are pretty sparse to begin with. (I was told in the 90s that everyone will be so jealous of my brows when I grow up, but now that I’ve grown up and the trend changed, everyone just asks if I ruined my brows by overplucking lol.)
I wonder if a fiber-tip pen or any of the different ‘natural’ tip shapes would be any better. I just stick to fiber gel instead.
I really like and use brow pencils, I find that they are easier to use and last longer than the gel brow formulas. I tried the gel brow products, but found they didn’t last all day and discontinued using them. I tend to use a blond/light taupe shade from the DS ranges at our local Priceline store and they work for me.
There are eyebrow pencils that I like and ones I don’t like. I’ve tried so many brow products I considered doing a blog on just eyebrows. So far, my favorite brow product for realistic look, longevity, ease to use and has a good amount of product in the pencil is Benefit Goof Proof Brow Pencil in Cool Grey. Which is not really grey per se, but more a soft cool-tone ashy black (which is an impossible color to find). No red in the product, no brown in the product.
I have dark but sparse eyebrows so if I’m not careful things can go sideways fast. Pencils give me the control I like to fill in the shape and create some depth without getting too heavy handed.
When I purchased the Benefit Brow Kit years ago it made such a difference with the look of my brows I actually had compliments. So if something works I stick with it.
I hate brow pencils. The color range for most brands sucks. When I was coloring my hair natural looking red shades, only a couple had any. Also, most formulas are too creamy and just don’t work with my oily skin.
I find my skin PH reacts to ingredients/dyes and changes the colour so yeah, for the most part, the options blow 😂
They seem really useful for other people, but they’re just not for me. I have plenty of eyebrow hairs, they’re just too light to stand out against my skin, and I want my eyebrow product to serve double duty by tinting my moustache, so I get the best result from tinted gel/eyebrow mascara (which also lays the moustache hairs in the same direction if I’m not using wax).
I really prefer brow pencils (or pens) to powders and creams for a more subtle fill that looks more like individual brow hairs than a block of shaded skin, which works well for adding definition to fuller brows, but looks odd under my sparse hairs!
I’m not super into brows, but pencils are how I can most easily achieve a consistent, natural looking effect. I’ve not yet figured out how to do so with other products, which end up looking too much. (I have pretty thick lashes, a little patchiness)
My brows are not remotely even and very very dense in parts with brows growing every which way particularly in my forebrow meanwhile practically nekkid in others. I also naturally have very pointy arches which I try to minimize with concealer at this point rather than plucking.. preferring a slightly more rounded shape than I have in the past. Pencils are difficult, but I do use them when I am pressed for time. I prefer a super fine pencil or better yet a fine marker style to draw in ‘brows’ where I don’t have them. I’ve never mastered brow gel, I wish I could. My brows are naturally blocky and when I brow gel, I seem to make it worse.
Although my first brow love were brow gels and they are still a must (one and done product), I do like a good brown pencil to fill any gaps. Pencils have more precision and can add a more polished look. Personally I find that pencils are very easy to use, I could never be bothered to use a separate brush to fill them in with powder or gel.
I used to be a big fan of tear drop shaped retractable pencils. The fine point ones break to easily and I run through them incredibly fast. The angle of the year drop allows precision, while the thicker shao allows speed.
Nowadays I use a classic wood pencil, works surprisingly well for me and lasts a very long time, my current one is 1/3 through after a year of using it about 5 times a week.
But I don’t like how hard is to find the perfect shade. Most brands have limited shades for brow products; but even when they have multiple shades, the ones in the brunette category are mostly warm toned, while I need something more cool. On multiple occasions I had to settle for taupe shades that were a little too light for me.
I like how Benefit expanded their range on time, with half shades, I remember the old days when they only had 2 shades for the gel.
I like mechanical brow pencils bc I don’t have to sharpen or worry about finding/cleaning a brush to apply powder or gel. I like a softer more natural-looking brow for everyday and pencil also tends to be easier to control intensity if you softly apply strokes whereas for gel/powder, you’d have to be extra careful about how you load product on the brush.
MAC Eye Brows Styler has been my go-to for years. The shade is just right for me and I find it super easy to use, especially since MAC included a spoolie brush on one end.