REVIEW: e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencils in Taupe & Neutral Brown

by - September 16, 2016


Ahhh, there are so many products from e.l.f. Cosmetics that were released ages ago, it seems, but have been hard to come by here in Canada. Luckily, Walmart Canada is carrying e.l.f. in store now and they have a lot of those products on the shelf for those of us who have been waiting. One of those products for me was the e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil, so when I saw it on the shelf I grabbed two shades - just in case. At under $3 a piece, it didn't really feel like I was going mad with brow power or anything!

So, was it worth the wait? Keep reading for my review!



About:
This slim mechanical pencil shapes, defines, and fills in brows for a natural, polished look. The dual-sided design applies color with the fine tip liner on one side and tames and combs brows with the other to create natural and defined-looking eyebrows.


e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil in Taupe

This was the first shade that I picked up, but the shade on the tube looked a little warmer than what I prefer in my brows, so I wasn't sure it was going to work for me. I don't personally think that anything with a warm tone should call itself taupe, but maybe that's just me. Anyway... This shade actually worked really well for me and wasn't nearly as warm as I was expecting it to be. This gives me the kind of softly filled in brows that I prefer for every day.


e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil in Neutral Brown

Unfortunately, this shade did end up being darker than what I generally like, because I like my brows to be softer and more of a frame for the face than a really be a strong feature of the face. Know what I mean? That being said, this shade would be perfect for people with medium to dark brown hair who naturally have darker brows or who like a strong brow look, I think. It has a nice ashiness to it and isn't so pigmented that you're going to end up with black eyeliner brows - you know the ones I mean.


Now, for me, the thing that I wasn't sure about was the tip. In the past few years, I've gotten so used to using a micro pencil for my brows, that a traditional pencil seems really, really big to me and I feel like I don't get the precision that I want. Honestly, this continues to be true for me with this pencil. I want to be able to add in fine strokes to mimic brow hairs when I fill in my brows, and you just can't do that with this. However, I don't mind this tip if I just need to do a really quick fill and get out the door. It's not going to be the most precise, but it gives a good fill that can look natural but cleaned up.


My favorite thing about these pencils? The spoolie. Ever since I got these, I've been reaching for them with other brow products in my collection because I really, really like this spoolie. It's a little bigger than, say, the spoolie on the Anastasia Brow Wiz and similar products, but I feel like it really gets in there and softens out the brow product so that nothing looks too stark and helps to give texture to my brow hairs before I set them. I really do feel like all spoolies are not created equal, but I really, really like this one.


Overall, I'd say that these are a great priced drugstore option for brows with good neutral tones that won't pull too red on those of us who want ashier, more naturally toned brows. These pencils come in three shades, with one being darker than this one, and I do think that they will cover a lot of different people, but I think it does pale in comparison to say, NYX, whose brow pencils come in a much wider variety of shades in the drugstore. But I'm nitpicking, aren't I? 

I would recommend these pencils to people who are looking for a really budget friendly option and prefer to use a traditional, thicker pencil style. I don't think they're a bad option at all, they're just not quite right for my personal tastes. Make sense?

Thanks for reading!

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