Brow-Wow - Benefit Gimme Brow Vs Maybelline Brow Drama

Brows are a big thing. Of that there is very little doubt. Thankfully the evolution of brows has only gone from over-plucked, pencilled-on, to over-drawn and over-dramatic to nice and natural.

Now mine, are invisible. They're there, but you just can't see them. Yes, I could get them tinted - but I'd be back in the chair every 2 weeks. Ain't nobody got time for that!

So I've been road-testing a couple of the newcomers to the brow scene that claim to help me transform my meek little caterpillars into blossoming butterflies - there's an odd image.

Maybelline Brow Drama - Benefit Gimme Brow

Pencils be dammed and waxes, who needs em - tinted brow gels/mascaras are the order of the day. Maybeline's Gimme Brow was the first on the market that drew me in. I remember Dolly Rouge giving it a rave review as a quick-fix, morning rush product so the second I spied it (in Tescos of all places) I snatched it right up.

First thing you'll hear about it is the dome-shaped brush. Anyone who's run a spooly (great word) through their brows for a quick tidy-up knows the traditional mascara wand shape did just fine, so what this was supposed to be doing was beyond me. But it was €7.50 so I wasn't going to argue too much.

The product goes on fine enough, which is a bonus given that we are looking for a natural look here, but the spindly bristles don't hold much at all. It was near impossible to build up any sort of consistent colour throughout. A breakthrough came when I paired it with my Soap&Glory Arch de Triumph pencil, but at the stage I'm loosing the effortlessness and .. frankly I'm lazy.

Benefit Gimme Brow had a lot to live up to. Benefit Brow Bars are a mecca for brow enthusiasts and Browzings has some die-hard fans to say the least. Gimme Brow is a tinted gel with added mini fibers, to help "volumize" your brows. (At €25 you'd bloody-well hope so)

This is far more my kind of product. It gives me brows where I didn't have them. The product itself is thick enough and the brush holds quite a bit so it does take some getting used to, but it's definitely a one-stop shape-tint-and-set product. It has a tendency with the tiny fibers to cling to the little hairs that are outside of the nicely-shaped limits, so tread carefully.

For a little side-by-side comparison, I applied these two competitors on my sister - who has the world's most unfairly-lovely eyebrows.

From left to right - Benefit Gimme Brow - Maybelline Brow Drama

What's funny is that my sister preferred the Maybelline, as with her fair (yet not as invisible as mine) brows it gave them that little extra definition she needed. Whereas the Benefit was more of a defined brow, which is more of what I look for. I may give her the Medium-Brown Maybelline for her own collection and keep an eye out for the Deep Blonde formula - all the while sparingly relying on my Benefit for days I simply can't be without brows.

What's your go-to brow product?

Do you prefer one-stop-shops or do you like taking your time?

Lisa

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