Don’t underestimate the importance of always having a good brow tool amongst the rest of your makeup. Skip out on the lip colour, the mascara, or even the foundation/BB cream if you want – but without at least quickly filling in your brows, we find that we tend to look more tired or washed out. And we hope you never, ever commit the cardinal sin of heading out with a full face of makeup… while leaving your brows undone.
We’re not saying it’s necessary to always head out with perfect brows, because we know that takes a lot more dedication than most of us can muster up in the mornings. What we are saying, though, is that it’s always a good idea to find a good brow tool that suits your preferences and skill levels, and always keep it close.
LANEIGE Natural Brow Liner
If you don’t want to venture too deeply into brow colour territory, keep it simple with a crayon liner with a built-in brow brush, like this one from Laneige. It has a gel and cream texture so the colour goes on smoothly, and you’ll never have to sharpen it. Two new colours, #3 Light Brown and #4 Khaki Brown, will be added to the shade range from May, so you’ll be able to find the right shade no matter what shade of brown your hair is.
$26, available at LANEIGE boutiques and counters.
M.A.C Big Brow Pencil
For big brows, we turn to a big pencil. We actually would call this one a marker instead of a pencil, with a large felt tip to easily draw on soft-focus brows. No sharp ends and defined arches with this one, but the wax and powder formula leaves a nice tint – so we’d use this one to do Korean-style straight brows. Remember, straight brows are meant to soften your face, not make you look permanently angry by adding two harsh straight lines above your eyes.
$33, available at M.A.C stores and counters.
MAKE UP FOR EVER Pro Sculpting Brow
There are three parts to this sophisticated looking brow tool, but it’s not all that hard. Start with filling in the brows with the mechanical pencil in the direction of hair growth – the angled tip helps you navigate brow arches and ends with ease. Then smooth out the colour with the bristle brush, and finish off with the most unique part of this product: the detachable crayon in a matte illuminating shade, which you’re supposed to apply under the outer ends of the brows, to highlight your brow bones and lift the entire face.
$40, available at Sephora.
L’Oréal Makeup Designer Paris Brow Artist Chisel Straight
If you’ve shied away from filling in your brows with a bristle brush due to the lack of precision, this one comes with a nifty pointed foam tip on the brush, so you can get full-bodied brows while keeping the edges neat. Comb through your brows with the brush part in a zigzag motion, then shape the arches and ends with the tip.
$19.90, available at Watsons, Guardian, Sasa and selected Fairprice and department stores.
Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Brow Box
Okay, maybe this one is more suited for those with lighter hair – the two shades were created for Gwen Stefani after all – but they’re still relatively versatile light browns that won’t look too out of place on Asian skin. What we love about this is how the compact double-layered kit opens up to reveal two mini brow brushes for all your brow filling, shading and sculpting needs,
and a pair of mini tweezers so you’ll never have a brow hair out of place. Complete with the setting wax, and we’d go as far as to say this tiny box contains all the brow tools you’ll ever need.
$48, available at Urban Decay stores and Sephora.
Main image: Christopher Kane SS’16, courtesy NARS.
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