The BOGL 2014 Brow Product Assortment

I know that brow products aren't the kind of things that get most people excited (unless your name is Anastasia Soare and/or you dedicate the majority of your makeup line to products for better brows), but they're the kind of things I think people should pay more attention to. Granted, I have very fine hair and almost non-existent brows when they're sans product. But I truly believe the old makeup adage: brows frame your face and change your entire look.

I'm personally a big fan of pencils (because they're easy) and taupe shades (because they look more natural to me). I also like to soften my brows on most occasions by brushing through them or rubbing a q-tip over my pencil application, but there are days when I go a little crazy and decide to brush them up. YOLO.

TOOLS: A brow and lash brush-and-comb combo (with some added lint; thanks, Miss Kitty!) from Avon and a $1 ELF brow spoolie, both purchased eons ago. I use the former to brush my brow hairs up or down (brushing them down is a good way to pick out bald spots that need a little more TLC) and the latter to comb through my brows and remove excess product after I've penciled them in.

GOLDEN TAUPES: Not my most flattering shade, as my hair is far more brownish red than gold, but these are hard to overdo. I used Clinique Soft Blonde for several months, but I've replaced it with the slightly less golden MAC Fling--in other words, the Clinique pencil is about to leave my collection. I keep Fling in my makeup bag because even though it's not as dark as I like, it's so light in color that it's almost impossible to overdo. Both of these are twist-up pencils with a creamy formulation.

BROWN TAUPES: MAC Lingering is the newest addition to my brow products collection, and while I do prefer this shade to Fling, it can go a bit red/auburn if I apply too much. Still, I keep it for days when I'm super-rushed. If I'm taking my time or getting ready for a special event, however, my first choice is always Shu Uemura Hard Formula pencil in Seal Brown. I've already written worshipful odes to this pencil, but to reiterate: impossible to overdo, incredibly natural, and the perfect shade for a wide variety of skintones and hair colors. Oh, and one pencil will last you a thousand years. My HG pencil for sure!

POWDER: I rarely use powder in my brows today, but if I want to fill them in extra heavy for a photo, I use MAC Wedge eyeshadow. This is a matte, slightly golden brown, very similar in color to the MAC Fling pencil. I brush it through with an angled brush, then top them with pencil for a very strong, drawn-on look.

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel: Another HG product! I've received 4 mini tubes of this product as extras in swap packages, so I won't be repurchasing for quite a while. ;) This product holds my brows in place for hours on end, but doesn't make them overly crunchy, nor does it look super-duper-shiny (unless you want that effect and apply tons upon tons of the stuff). Fair warning: it smells awful, kind of like nail polish remover.