A few months back I read with with interest the beauty blogger hype around Benefit’s new(ish) brow product, Gimme Brow. This product promises, with a few brush strokes, to deliver slightly fuller brows that stay in place all day. Seeing as I’m a bit partial to a brow product (in case you hadn’t noticed) I figured this was a product I needed to get my paws on. Conveniently my mate Toni was heading through Auckland Duty Free so I asked her if she’d do me a favour and visit the Benefit counter (living in the provinces is not conducive to visiting Benefit or MAC in person – that’s probably just as well). Anyway, fortunately Toni folded like a cheap pocket knife, she loves beauty as much as I do, and off she skipped to the Benefit stand.
So, having given Gimme Brow a vigorous work out, the magic question I can hear you all asking is: Does it live up to the hype?
Sort of.
I think the words in bold above (‘slightly fuller brows’) are key. Here’s why.
What’s great about it
- The product gives a very natural finish to your brows, so natural in fact, you cant’ tell you are wearing makeup. For me that’s a ‘what’s not so great about it’ – Whilst I love the natural look on other people, I don’t on me… I try to go natural, but I always go past the mirror and cringe and inevitably end up applying more makeup.
- The finish is more natural than a brow pencil (brow pencils can look a bit harsh and drawn on at times, depending on what you use, of course).
- It’s foolproof to apply – Just run the mini spoolie over your brow hair, boom, done. I could do this after a few vinos, no problem.
- It holds the shape of your brows all day. If you’ve got the odd hair that drives you mental by growing in a different direction to all the other brow hairs, this will sort that little bugger out.
What I’m on the fence about
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Call me tight, but that’s not a lot of bang for buck – and note: My hands are tiny (I wear kids gloves) NZ$35 for 3g of product. 3 grams. So I think it’s quite pricey – and that’s duty free price too.
- See the first bullet point above in ‘what’s great’… This product has a very natural finish. The closer I get to the big Four-Oh, the thinner and lighter my brows are getting. This product on it’s own just doesn’t cut the mustard for me. I need to use a brow powder as well to get some shape, definition and fullness in my brows. Whilst I’m passing – my brow powders of choice are Milani’s Brow Fix kit or Art Deco’s Brow Powders. Both are The Schizzle.
All in all, whilst I think this is a good solid product, I’m not smitten with it. Will I put it in my next favourites blog post? Nope. Will I use this most days in conjunction with my brow powder to keep my brows in place? Yup. Well, at least until it runs out.
I just can’t give this a gigantic thumbs up. I wish I could. I had grand designs of using this as a ‘one stop shop’ to sort my brows out, no more needing to fill them in with powder. But that didn’t turn out to be the case. Like I said, it’s nice, but I reckon this is good for brow taming, or for those who aren’t in to the Brooke Shield’s look (circa 1985).
Laslty, I’m glad I got it, simply as it’s killed my curiosity cat, however, I won’t be getting again based on overall experience and bang for buck (or lack thereof… I’d rather get a new lipstick). I see Art Deco* have a coloured brow gel at half the price-tag (in Farmers) I will give that a whirl next time. But, if money isn’t so much of an object and you want lovely natural looking brows, then you’ll like this.
*Art Deco: Are yet to sell me a lemon – I love all their products I have tried (and I might have sampled a few in the interests of demonstrating my commitment to beauty blogging).
