Hello everyone I hope you’re all well, and I’m so sorry I’ve not been able to post on my blog for over 10 days :c but more on that in the Jan update post. Today I wanted to introduce another new ‘series’ type thing on The Blushing Giraffe ohhhh exciting! I’ve been so indecisive on what to call this, eventually deciding on ‘this or that’ but if I think of something better I’ll change it before I add another tile to my little side bar thing. Anyways, the idea behind this is pretty simple - take two similar(ish) products from my stash, compare, list out pros and cons and hopefully give you guys a good idea about which one YOU might prefer. It’s not necessarily about finding dupes, because as you can see by my first one, they’re two very different types of product for the same purpose. BUT if two things are actually dupes, then woohoo!
Today both products are from the Queen of brows herself - Anastasia Beverly Hills! I bought both of these from Cult Beauty here and they cost around the same amount. Both are obviously for the eyebrows, with the brow wiz being a cult product way before 2014, and the pomade exploding across the beauty world in the last year.
So, on the left hand side we have the ABH Brow Wiz in Brunette. Costs £15.50.
The PROS:
- This pencil is extremely quick and easy to use, you can fill in sparseness and shape the brows literally within a minute and a half - if that. I lightly trace a line from the start of the bottom of my brow and continue till the tail. Then starting half way on the top part of the brow I add a little more ‘hair strokes’ and blend it to join with the natural arch of my brow. I finish by running the spoolie through it and I’m left with effortlessly groomed brows!
- The ‘crayon’ part is very thin and can add extra shape to brows that have been brutally attacked with a pair of tweezers or a tired eyebrow threading lady.
- The pencil mimics brow hairs perfectly, which helps it to look very natural and nothing like the experience I’ve had with previous eyebrow pencils. When used lightly you can trace on little little lines that look just like hair, and voila you have beautifully shaped brows.
- As I don’t remove any hairs from my brows, they’re a bit of an uneven shape, however the brow wiz traces in the gaps so finely and precisely that you’d be forgiven for thinking I was born with well shaped, great eyebrows.
- There is an amazing shade range available from the lightest blondest to the darkest brunettes.
- THE SPOOLIE ON THIS THING
The spoolie on the opposite end is what dreams are made of, seriously never have I had the pleasure of using such a wonderful blending tool on za brows! The size of the wand is small enough to blend out even the tail of the brow. It really does manage to remove excess product without smudging it around the brow and it really does take away any harshness.
Now there aren’t many, but like anything....THE CONS:
- It’s not cheap for a brow product and for those who cannot justify £15 on a brow pencil, I’d recommend you try the Soap and Glory version of this, which I have heard is excellent
- In the UK it can be tricky to find the right match as we can’t physically test them out. I had to go by guess and for me brunette is actually a tad darker than I would prefer. Yes there are lots of photos and videos available online but sometimes that makes picking the right colour even more confusing.
- The lids for both ends just don’t seem to stay on that well??
- If used on a daily basis this wouldn’t last you half as long as the pomade, and as the price is more than the pomade again it isn’t the best value for money.
On the right hand side sits the ABH Dip Brow Pomade in Chocolate! This costs £15.00.
The PROs:
- A little goes a long long way as this stuff is pigmented. Because of this, it really is worth the price you pay because even if used every single day, it would still last you at least a year.
- The soft creamy texture grips onto the brow hairs with ease and makes it easy to add more shape and create thicker looking brows. I have see some insane brow tutorials with this stuff on IG, which show almost no hair there and then amazing brows in place. I’ve also seen some awesome natural looking brows achieved using this, my favourite is right here.
- The pomade lasts all day, no matter wind, rain, sun you will come home and find your brows in tact (which if I’m honest can look a bit odd if the rest of your makeup has been melted away by the sun, but hey brow game still strong? I’m not complaining!)
- It is a very unique and innovative makeup product, I know some artists would use gel liner before, but this is specifically designed for the brows and so the texture is perfect for the brows. Gel liners can also be off colour, I hate to think how scary I would look if I used my Rimmel gel liner rather than this!
- With the right tools you are able to create amazing yet soft brows, or really strong Cara-esque brows. Practise is essential but once you get the hang of it, this product can literally change you whole makeup look. We all know that a good set of eyebrows are magically able to give you the whole pulled together look and few products are able to achieve that in the same way this can.
- The glass packaging looks classy with the rose gold logo ontop of the lid.
- The shade range again means that everyone is catered for.
As I’ve had this for many months now, I am able to state the CONs:
- Although the dip brow itself will last you a long time, if you do not have a decent brow brush it makes the application so much harder. I don’t love to use the RT one as its HUGE and my brows are naturally thin so it can be really messy. At the same time my ebay brow brush is great for drawing faint lines under and over but its not excellent at actually filling in the hair. So in order to get the most out of this, in my opinion, you’ll need to invest in a good brow brush, and I’m very close to giving in and purchasing one from her line because I know it’ll work so much better than my current ones!
- Once you apply this is sets very fast and can be stubborn to blend out, so you have to work carefully but quickly to avoid harsh lines and splodges. Again this is something that I am sure you would find less tricky if you invested in a decent brow brush.
- A spoolie is ESSENTIAL. If you don’t have one you’re gonna achieve the sharpie marker look.
- It can be time consuming to apply and certainly takes longer than the brow wiz!
So now you have a decent idea on the good and bad of both, it’s time for the conclusion!
I think you would love the dip brow if you are lacking brow hair, live in a hot country, play sports a lot, need your make-up to last the whole day, don’t mind spending extra time on the brows. I think you would love the brow wiz if you have thin brows that need a bit of help with length and filling in with sparseness. If you need a product that has everything rolled into one, you can use on the go, can get you the naturally full brow look.
Swatched:
.jpg "This or That Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in brunette V Brow Pomade in chocolate review comparison swatch")
Honestly I find it so hard to pick between the two, which one I would repurchase....but if I was PUSHED... it would have to be the brow wiz. I've been obsessed with this of late, it’s everything I need in a brow pencil and the spoolie is magical. Again as I don’t shape my brows by removing hairs, it helps them to look much more full and even in a couple of seconds so fits in well with a very busy routine. Although I CAN achieve awesome brows with the pomade it takes longer and a lot of practise. Lets be honest...I’ll probably end up repurchasing both, but if you only wanted to invest in one, I hope this has been somewhat helpful. Oh and YouTube is always very helpful for tutorials with the pomade if it overwhelms you at first!
Honestly I find it so hard to pick between the two, which one I would repurchase....but if I was PUSHED... it would have to be the brow wiz. I've been obsessed with this of late, it’s everything I need in a brow pencil and the spoolie is magical. Again as I don’t shape my brows by removing hairs, it helps them to look much more full and even in a couple of seconds so fits in well with a very busy routine. Although I CAN achieve awesome brows with the pomade it takes longer and a lot of practise. Lets be honest...I’ll probably end up repurchasing both, but if you only wanted to invest in one, I hope this has been somewhat helpful. Oh and YouTube is always very helpful for tutorials with the pomade if it overwhelms you at first!
