Ring! Ring!
KAREN: Hello, this is Karen.
CAITLIN GREY-FANG: Hi, Karen, this is Caitlin Grey-Fang of Modern Werewolf Magazine. How are you today?
KAREN: Great. How ’bout yourself?
CAITLIN: Excellent. I’m calling to first introduce myself and say hello. I’m Modern Werewolf’s new beauty editor, and I was referred to you by Tabs the cat.
KAREN: Oh, hello. It’s nice to meet you.
CAITLIN: I’m writing a story for our blog on modernwerewolf.com that I hope you can help me with.
KAREN: Let me guess — body hair removal? ‘Cause, GURL, I could talk about that FOR DAYS!
CAITLIN: Actually, no. But the next time I do a hair removal story, I’ll be sure to call you. I was actually wondering if you had a moment to talk about brows.
KAREN: I most certainly do! It’s a subject near and dear to my heart. How can I help you?
CAITLIN: Well, as you know, most werewolves are blessed with big, lush brows, which is currently on-trend in the beauty world; however, there are a subset of lycanthropes who do need a little help when it comes to faking full brows.
I was wondering if you could offer a few thoughts on the new $39 Too Faced Brow Envy Kit. I hear from my colleagues that you’re a fan of the line, so I figured I’d call you for the 411?
KAREN: Sure! What a coincidence. I’m actually wearing Brow Envy today.
CAITLIN: Excellent! So tell me about it. Is it already out? And what does it do exactly?
KAREN: OK. Well, it was recently released with the Too Faced summer 2014 collection, and it’s available now at Too Faced counters and online for $39.
It comes with a couple of brow powders, a cream highlighter, a setting wax and several tools, like a tiny tweezers, a small angled brush, a spoolie and some stencils, although — how can I put this? — it’s my understanding that some werewolves prefer the look of a single strong brow.
CAITLIN: A unibrow? Yes, that is the fashion in some packs.
KAREN: Alright. Well, I suppose that if one wanted to create that look, they could do so pretty easily freehand using the products in this kit.
CAITLIN: Great! Could you explain a little for our readers how you use the palette?
KAREN: It’s easy. You fill in your brows with either the Brunette or Blonde powder, or you could even mix both if you’d like, and then set your brows with the setting wax to keep them in place.
Then, kind of as an added bonus, if you want to emphasize the arch in your brows, you can take the pink matte highlighter, run it just beneath the bottom of your brows, and blend, blend, blend.
As for the stencils, well, the idea is to use them to outline your desired brow shape by placing one directly on top of your brows and filling it in, but, truth be told, I never use stencils because the shapes always fit funky on me, so I just freehand it, and I’d recommend your werewolf readers do the same.
CAITLIN: When it gets right down to it, how do you think this palette performs? Do you think a werewolf with sparse brows would be able to get the full look he or she wants?
KAREN: Based on how it performs on humans, I’d say yes, they would. I’ve been using it for about a week now, and one of the things I really like about it is how quickly you can darken your brows with it because of how much pigment the powders pack. My brow hairs are naturally quite dark and, frankly, I was afraid that the Brunette shade wouldn’t do anything for me, but it does! It’s actually pretty intense.
I do have to say, though, that the setting wax and highlighter may not have enough “oomph” for some of the werewolves I’ve seen on TV. The wax doesn’t really have a lot of hold at all — either that, or my brow hairs are way too unruly, LOL! And the highlighter is awfully subtle.
Oh! And if your fur is red or silver, you’re kind of S.O.L. here, as the kit only comes with Brunette and Blonde powders.
CAITLIN: Can I get your take on the tools?
KAREN: Yeah, I’d probably only use ’em in a pinch. The tiny angled brush is difficult to use and imprecise, and the tiny tweezers and spoolie, while cute, might be too small for larger werewolf…hands? Paws?
CAITLIN: You can use either term, but I believe our style guide suggests paws.
KAREN: Good to know.
CAITLIN: One last question for you, Karen: who’s the ideal candidate for this kit?
KAREN: Human and werewolf beauty enthusiasts of all skill levels, although it would help to have some brow experience under your belt, since the brow powders are rather pigmented.
It’s easy to go overboard with them if you’re not careful. If you want dark, defined, dramatic brows, you can definitely get there with this kit.
CAITLIN: Thanks so much for your time, Karen. I’ll let you know when the post goes live on modernwerewolf.com!
KAREN: You’re very welcome. I can’t wait to see it. Awww-woooooooo!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Rhea says
That dark brown actually looks like it could work for me. So far I’ve had trouble finding good brow products:/
Karen says
Where have you looked, Rhea? I can help you with that. 🙂
Natalie says
Karen you look so beautiful here! This kit looks handy. But it sounds like Too Faced has better brow products.
Karen says
Hi Natalie,
Try their Bulletproof Brows. It’s great!
Zinnat says
Ooh, I’ll have to put this on my list of brow products to try. Looking fab, btw!
Karen says
Thanks, Zinnat. 🙂 What else do you have on your to-try list? Right now I have Clinique Cheek Pop Blush.
Gowthami says
Dramatic eye brows! Karen you look stunning…
Karen says
Thanks!
Ami says
Thank you so much for reviewing these, Karen. I FINALLY realized that heavy brows are in after years of waxing them thin, and they just won’t grow back like they used to. I’ve been using Benefit Gimme Brow because it’s so easy, but I also saw your review of Bulletproof Brows and wanted to buy it, but was also wondering how it compared to this Brow Envy kit because they’re next to each other at sephora. Now I know to go with Bulletproof Brows! I can always get a separate highlighter.
Karen says
Hi Ami,
I think you’ll like that Bulletproof. It does a really lovely job of staying in the brows. Are you one of those lucky girls who doesn’t need a separate brow gel? I usually use Anastasia’s.
Ami says
I’m usually good after a trim, but they get pretty wild in between. I’m still looking for a good one for that.
Poo@beautyandmakeupmatters says
The kit looks amaing.. I recently got one from sleek and it’s quite effective too in faking fuler brows.. <3
bTW he is hawwtt!! 😉
Tracy says
I too had my brows over waxed/over plucked and now the inner part of my brows refuses to grow back so they are too far apart. Any suggestions for filling in that part of the brow? I currently use Anastasia brow wiz and Brun from Mac but sometimes I feel like the pencil can be to harsh.
Karen says
Hi Tracy,
Oh! So I learned a really great trick recently from Victor Cembellin, a Senior Artist for MAC, that might help. Instead of using a dark shade to fill in the inner portion of your brows, try a lighter shade with a pencil brush. I’ve been using MAC Cork with a pencil brush on the inner portion and MAC Brush with a angle brush on the outer tail, and that combo gives me the perfect bold yet natural look that i like. 🙂
Fran says
Thanks for reviewing this, Karen! I’ve been looking at this kit and wondering. It sounds like the setting wax probably wouldn’t be strong enough to keep my brows hairs in shape, and I’d probably have to mix the two powders to get the right shade. Love Anastasia brow gel, but my quick, easy, get-out-the-door-this-minute, always-looks-good brow product is Make Up Forever Aqua Brow in 15 (my hair is medium brown) applied using an old mascara spoolie. Hard for me to find any other powder or colored gel in just the right shade to color those few bright, white brow hairs that call so much attention to themselves. Most are too dark, too light, or too red.
Karen says
Hi Fran,
You’re very welcome. I like Aqua Brow too and went through a serious phase with it. It’s good stuff, especially for summer! I’ve never tried using it with a mascara spoolie. I bet that it gives the look of natural hairs, yeah?
Saturnina says
You can’t imagine how happy I am to hear that “werewolf eyebrows” is actually a thing! I’ve said to multiple people that I have werewolf brows and they’re always like “Um… what?” I thought I was going crazy! Maybe it’s just not a thing people say in Australia.
P.s. Karen, your hair is super pretty!
Diana says
Karen!! My brows are black but not that thick. Most brown brow products ive tried look too light, too dark or too reddish on me. What do u suggest is the best for me? I haf black hair too btw. 🙂 And my country doesnt carry Anastasia products which sucks. I want sth I can get easily and will look gd on me. I think ur the only one who can save me!! :O
Fancie says
I didn’t think Brunette would actually be dark enough but it looks pretty nice. I think this would be a good addition to my kit. I’ll have to check it out!
Karen says
I hope you like it, Fancie! 🙂
Vineetha says
Nice Kit! I do allright with the Benefit one but I guess I should give tis one a try too! 😉
Candace says
What foundation are you wearing here? its fab!!
Sylirael says
I love your blogging style so much Karen! You make me smile with every post 🙂
This kit looks awesome! I wish we had Too Faced here… 🙁
Chelsea says
Karen, that liner is something else!
This would not work with my brows, but yours look great!