What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.
If some gorgeous genius beauty-loving inventor decides to design an entire line of makeup comprised of dual-ended pencils and other multipurpose products like this $24 NUDESTIX Eyebrow Stylus Pencil with something different on both ends, GIRL — I’m gonna be all over that! Having two things in the same stick makes my life so much easier.
It’s great, isn’t it? That’s how I feel about this brow pencil/clear brow gel combo, because I’m always a brow pencil/gel kinda gal, and this means I don’t have to go digging through my bag for two separate things. And both products attached to this little stick of greatness are really good, too!
These come in a bunch of colors, like Blonde, Dirty Blonde, Ash Brown, Brown and Brown/Black. I wear the one called Ash Brown, although I could probably also wear Brown or Brown/Black, but I like Ash Brown’s gray undertone. I also like how natural, lush and full (and not aggressively block-y) it makes my brows look.
I use it by first brushing the brow gel through my brows when they’re naked, and I keep brushing it in the direction I want the hairs to go until the gel is completely dry. Then I fill in my brows with the pencil.
The reason I use the gel first is because I like to get all of the hairs where I want them, and I kind of maximize the fullness of my brows using just the gel first. The formula stiffens in about a minute, and in that time I comb my brows to fluff them up and make them as big as possible, which means that I can get away with using the least amount of the pencil as possible.
As for the pencil, it’s a lot like the awesome brow pencil from Tom Ford. It has a similar wedge shape, but, more importantly, the pencil is on the hard side, which for me usually means that a pencil will 1) last a long time, and 2) be pretty sheer, both of which I think make for a great pencil because they mean that you can really control how much color you’re putting in your brows without accidentally overdoing it.
The NUDESTIX Eyebrow Stylus Pencil is $24 at Sephora, which breaks down to $12 for the gel and $12 for the pencil, which is a pretty great deal. Also, I’m on my third one of these now, and both the gel and the pencil seem to run out at the same time, so it’s not like you’re stuck with the pencil after the gel runs out.
I don’t know… It’s smart that way I guess!
I highly recommend this, especially if you’re busy running around this time of year and you don’t have enough time for everything.
Speaking of that, remember how much different the last two weeks before Christmas were when you were a kid? Oh, gosh, every day felt like 10 years, LOL! What I wouldn’t give to have that feeling again sometimes, because now I blink and the holidays are over.
Anyway, totally off topic, but what else is new? LOL!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Your brows look so good here! I’ll have to check it out.
I still have so much to do before Christmas! Zack and I aren’t doing big gifts for each other since we took a vacation to Montréal a few weeks ago. It’s also my good friend’s birthday this weekend, so I need to get something for her.
Hi Chelsea,
Whatever you do, get your shopping early if you can. I went to Target at 1 in the afternoon thinking it would be chill but the parking lot was crazy! Hope you can find something nice for your friend. What kinds of things does she like? Does she have any hobbies?
She’s vegan, can’t have gluten, and is very much a practical person. I think I’m going to buy her a bunch of the non dairy Halo Top in her favorite flavors.
Karen – I love this! I also use pencil & gel and would love to have both together. I have a Facebook group called Cathy’s Inside Out Beauty. Sharing this post there!
I never thought about using the gel first, but it makes perfect sense like this.
LindaLibraLoca recently posted … Glam Holiday Makeup Tutorial for mature skin
I’ve been using your trick of using eyebrow gel before my pencil ever since you posted that. Now, I want that dual pencil!
Oh how I wish that time would slow down like when you are young!
BTW, how do you manage to look younger and prettier as you get older? That first pic of you is one of your best!
Hope you and your family have a magical holiday!