ABH Dip Brow Pomade & Brow Definer
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Anastasia of Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Dark Brown & Brow Definer in Ebony | $23 & $30
Just out of curiosity how many of you are tired of hearing about these brow products, because it feels like just about everyone is obsessed with them. Today I'm here to tell you all that isn't the case for me. About two years ago I gave into the hype and picked up the brow whiz pencil after hearing nothing but good things. I am sure you are all familiar with the retractable pencil with the spoolly on the other end. Well, I gave that pencil a go for what had to have been 3 1/2 weeks before the pencil broke and it was donezo. To say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly. You'd think after spending so much on a brow pencil and it being a such a popular brand the thing would last more than a couple of weeks. Anyway, after that I gave up on the brand and went back to my original method of filling in my brows.
Fast forward to this past October when I purchased the dip brow pomade as well as the #12 double ended brow brush after longing for more precise and sculpted brows. I was aware that the pomade had a pretty notorious learning curve as brows could easily go from 0 to Sharpie real quick. Yet despite the learning curve I was determined to figure out a way of applying the product without it looking like I used a marker to fill in my brows. And I did, I made the pomade work and for the next four months I was loving it; truthfully I still do like the pomade but one thing I was quick to notice and that had me on pause was that my brows were shedding. I noticed that each time I would use the spoolly on the end of my brush I would find one or two of my brow hairs in it. I found this to be really odd as I'm actually quite gentle when I fill in my brows and I've also never experienced that sort of hair loss before. You see I already have sparse eyebrows so to see that my brows were shedding was a cause of alarm. I deduced that the spoolly itself must be a too harsh for my brows so I switched back to my Sonia Kashuk brow and lash tool. After my boycott of the spoolly end of my brow brush I continued to use the pomade to fill in my brows and and all was well until a few weeks later I noticed that my brows were still shedding, this time when I would remove my makeup at the end of night. Each night I would use a cotton pad soaked with Bioderma to remove all my eye makeup including my brows, and on that cotton pad I would still see one or two of my brow hairs on the dirty cotton pad. Once again I was freaked. I deduced that I must have been rubbing my brows too harshly with the cotton pad and that I should switch to using my cleaning oil to remove my eye makeup from now on. And you know what that did the trick, after being a lot more cautious and more gentle with my brows I noticed that my brows stopped shedding and all was well.
Let's spring forward to last month when I picked up the new and improved Brow Definer. Although being pretty content with the pomade it was a challenge to apply it each morning, a slight challenge with stunning results, but a challenge nonetheless. For days when I didn't want to wear any makeup or if I would just be stepping out to run a few errands I didn't want the hassle of using the pomade to fill in my brows, which is why I thought the brow definer would be just the answer I was looking for. The brow definer is much thicker than the brow whiz and has an angled tip that makes application a breeze. Because of the new design I thought everything was looking up from here, I loved how easy the brow definer was to use and how effortless it made my brows look That is until a few uses in I noticed that my brows were starting to shed again, this time onto the actual pencil. The brow definer much like the whiz has a waxy texture that requires the user drag or press harder to attain pigment while underlining and filling in their brows. At least that was the case for me. I assume those with lighter or more fair skin don't have to press as hard to have the pencil show up on their skin tone. Whatever the case may be I was not having it and quickly package up my pencil and switch back to the pomade at least for a couple of weeks until I pushed it aside and returned to my original brow method.
You'll have to forgive me, I honestly didn't mean to go all story time mode on you guys, but I figured what better way to share my thoughts on the products than by taking you along for the ride. I just wish I had before and after photos so that I can properly show you the progression of my brows. I mean what an odd occurrence. Have you ever heard of a brow product causing hair loss before? I hadn't at least not until my own personal experience. You're probably wondering my final thoughts on the products and I'll tell ya. Although I still very much like my dip brow I will reserve it for special occasions and stick to using shadow to fill in my brows on a daily basis. As for the brow definer that thing is packaged and awaiting a trip back to Sephora, because at $30 I can't have that thing sitting in my makeup bag collecting dust, no ma'am. Let me know if you are someone you know has experienced a similar issue with a beauty product and how they handled the situation in the comments below.
