Anastasia Beverly Hills is lauded by many beauty fans and professionals as the queen brand of brow products and for good reason. The beauty brand was founded by Anastasia Soare, who also put the first eyebrow products ever in the cosmetics market. She also developed The Golden Ratio brow technique, which provides guidelines for sculpting brows so that they suit each person's face precisely. As achieving great brows becomes more and more popular on Instagram and beyond, Anastasia Beverly Hills consistently drops products to suit every person's browspirations from the beginner to the professional.
Despite me kind of stanning the brand and marveling at the fabulous brows I see all over the internet, I've tried very few brow products outside of the classic brow pencil. In a quest to step up my eyebrow game, I tried every single Anastasia Beverly Hills brow product — yes, from the beloved OG picks to the recently released — to see which one is the best.
Before we dive into this ranking, let me go ahead and address the beauty police now: I'm no makeup artist or beauty influencer. I just like makeup, write and report about it every day, and most importantly, I understand what the regular-degular beauty shopper is looking for simply because I am one. I'm always on the hunt for the products that help me do what I want to my face in record time. That's it. That's the goal. Also, here's a look-see at my natural, untampered with eyebrows:
One more disclaimer: I do not like nor do I aim for perfect eyebrows. I aim for natural-looking eyebrows with just a touch of glam so that my bathroom selfies come out right. You with me? Alright, let's get started babes!
8: Perfect Brow Pencil ($23, Sephora)
First of all, the Perfect Brow Pencil works more like a crayon pencil. It glides on smoothly and is perfect for filling in places where the hair is sparse. While I liked the formula and the Auburn shade swatched well on my wrist, the color didn't show up as well as I wanted it to on my eyebrows. It also didn't blend well with the color of my actual brows. Since the tail end of my right brow is virtually non-existent, I really need the shade to match perfectly with my brow hairs and this shade didn't do it. I thought ordering a lighter shade would help the brows appear a little more natural, but NOPE. That's a myth. A lighter shade can be just as harsh-looking for your overall look as a color that's too dark.
Still, the consistency is pretty cool. I'm only putting this product at number eight because this is the kind of brow pencil that you have to physically sharpen. I hate having to sharpen a brow pencil and I hate having to clean up the shavings. Also, having a pencil sharpener is just one more unnecessary thing that would crowd up my beauty bag. But hey, maybe that's your thing.
7: Dipbrow Pomade ($18, Sephora)
I get why Dipbrow Pomade is one of the most popular Anastasia Beverly Hills products. I also get why some people prefer the pomade over an actual brow pencil. The formula looks hard sitting in its pot and I initially wondered how I would be able to even use it properly, but it's actually super creamy and spreads very easily. The pomade also works as a brow primer and definer all in one so you can skip the gel base if you prefer to do that.
I followed the Sephora video tutorial step-by-step to make sure I was applying it right but ultimately, I wasn't satisfied with the results. I just didn't love how the tail ends of my eyebrows looked, which is where they are the thinnest. A heavy-handed makeup lover like me who also likes to get my beats done with minimal effort simply needs more, well, simplicity.
I wouldn't recommend Dipbrow Pomade to makeup novices at all because you have to have a lot of control and maybe even some drawing skills to get this baby to work out well, depending on how sparse your brow hairs are. However, if you have a steady hand and trust yourself with a tiny angled brush, then she's all yours and she's definitely a beauty.
6: Tinted Brow Gel ($22, Sephora)
The Tinted Brow Gel is designed to make eyebrows appear fuller and be convenient for touch-ups throughout the day. While I loved the convenience of the gel formula and the spoolie applicator, I found it to be a little more difficult to control than the pencil. The gel definitely provided the appearance of fuller brows, but I'm just such a stickler for having fuller brows that are also very, very natural looking. Since I couldn't control the product as much as I wanted to, I couldn't really achieve the natural look I prefer.
Also, it's important to note that my eyebrows grow into a really strange shape. Specifically, the bottom of my left eyebrow kind of goes up a little further than it should right at the arch, so if I don't fill that spot in, the eyebrow looks intensely uneven because it's just that way naturally. The Tinted Brow Gel highlighted that flaw for me. I did try an alternate method which involved me outlining my brow with a pencil and then using the Tinted Brow Gel to fill in and smudge it so it looks natural. The result (in the bottom right photo) looked fine, but I prefer products that don't need a partner. It helps me minimize the time I spend getting ready. If you're a busy bee like me, then you feel me.
5: Brow Powder Duo ($23, Sephora)
I'll be honest. I went into this Brow Powder Duo situation with a lot of doubt. I never really understood what exactly powder can do for shaping brows. I definitely didn't think it could be better than a pencil and I still don't. However, this brow powder did fill in my sparse areas exactly as it promises in the product description.
I actually followed the Sephora video tutorial exactly and was pretty happy with the results. I didn't rank the powder duo any higher because it still requires more steps than I would like for my everyday brow routine. You use one powder, then use the other. Then use your concealer to clean things up or a highlighting pencil to highlight the brow bone. Lastly, you use the clear brow gel to set it.
I personally just want to shape my brows with one product, conceal, and then go. However, if you want a natural look and you don't like the feel of a gel or pencil formula, the powder duo may be just perfect for you!
4: Clear Brow Gel ($22, Sephora)
The spoolie was a nice size as you can see in the top left photo. The top right photo shows how much product you actually get out of it after two swipes of the wand. On the bottom left and right, I showed the before and after respectively. What I really liked most about this brow gel is that it's clear (ha!) so I didn't have to worry about screwing up with the color or wasting extra concealer trying to clean up any mistakes. This clear brow gel is perfect for prepping your brows before doing your actual brow routine with another product.
I also love that the brow gel has a chamomile formula meant to soothe and condition the hair. People forget that the hair on eyebrows needs TLC just like the hair on our heads, especially if you manipulate the hairs every day. The clear brow gel perfect for anyone who has a daily eyebrow routine (not me) or for people who spend a week applying, wiping off, and reapplying a million different eyebrow products (definitely me).
Anywho, this is the brow gel I used to set the previously mentioned Brow Powder Duo and it worked beautifully. I may not use this every day but I will definitely be keeping it around for the days that I want to really keep the rebellious curls in place.
3: Brow Wiz ($21, Sephora)
The Brow Wiz Pencil totally surprised me because I tried it and wrote it off about a year ago. It's a retractable pencil with a super skinny stick of product that can break easily on your first few tries if you aren't light-handed with your application. I'm heavy-handed by nature so it was a recipe for wasted money. For the sake of really trying all of the Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products, I thought I'd give it another go. I learned that the trick to getting this $21 pencil to not break on you every time you apply a stroke is to just keep the majority of it inside of the pencil and only twist up when you 100% can't get any product out of it anymore. This trick prevents you from overusing the pencil, too.
As for how it works, I loved the color and the formula. It felt really light on my eyebrows which is great because I DESPISE a sticky brow situation even more than I hate overly sticky lip gloss. The end results gave me brows that looked sleeker but also very natural. This pencil helped me effectively cover up the sparser parts of my eyebrows. I also appreciated that I didn't have to bear down too hard on my eyebrows to get the Dark Brown shade to show up. The color is visible but not so visible that it looks like I took a Sharpie to my brows and baby, that's just how I like it.
2: Brow Definer ($23, Sephora)
I have developed a serious love-hate relationship with the Brow Definer Pencil! Like my previous experience with the Brow Wiz pencil, this bad boy kept breaking on me. No matter how low I tried to keep the product, it still broke. Because the pencil has a triangle-shaped tip, the breakage made it difficult to apply the product evenly.
HOWEVER. Consider the Brow Definer Pencil my breakup-to-makeup situation. No matter how many times it broke as I applied, I was so in love with the color, the pencil shape, and the light formula that I continued working with it. Of all the pencils in the Anastasia Beverly Hills lineup, this one rendered me the eyebrows that I deserve. They're not perfect because screw perfection, but they are FABULOUS. It's the triangle shape that helps you apply product in a single swipe while following all the natural angles of your brows. The magic is also in that thick spoolie, which I took a photo of beside the Brow Wiz pencil so you have a reference. That thick spoolie helped me to smudge the product out perfectly.
I refused to let these brows only see the light of my bathroom so yes, I completed a full face with foundation, applied blush to my cheeks and eyes, and lip gloss. And yes, I promptly walked myself to the local deli to order a burger at 11:30 in the evening. My brows deserved that late-night publicity, plus the deli lights are heavenly.
1: Dipbrow Gel ($18, Sephora)
After having bad luck with Maybelline's Tattoo Studio Eyebrow Gel and the Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel, I started to feel very comfy with the fact that brow gels may never be my jam. Besides, I love a good pencil that gives me the control that I feel I need with my naturally uneven brows.
But BABY, Anastasia Beverly Hills has invited me to the brow gel party and I'm RSVP'ing with haste after trying the new Dipbrow Gel ($18, Sephora). At first, I was skeptical because of how wet it looked when I first applied it. The photo in the top right corner shows just how obvious and shiny the product initially was. I thought the experience would be similar to the one I had with Tattoo Studio, which left me with wet brows for like an hour. That feels very, very icky by the way. Yet, within minutes, the Dipbrow Gel had dried down and made my naturally uneven brows look pretty dang good.
I simply brushed the brow gel across my brows and went even lighter with the product at the tails, which are much thinner than the other end. I came with a tissue ready to do some dabbing if it was too wet, but this baby dried so quickly that tissues weren't even necessary. Unlike the regular brow gel, I didn't even have to go in with a pencil to clean it up. I'm pretty sure that was due to the fact that the spoolie is much tinier. With brow pencils, I prefer the thicker spoolies because they're perfect for giving me a slight smudge effect but the tiny spoolie for the gel forced me to use the product sparingly and strategically place it in the thinner areas of my brows.
Using the Dipbrow gel was actually a much faster process than using my pencil because I didn't have to do much outlining.
The formula also goes on well enough that I didn't even have to do my smudging technique. I simply swiped once on each brow then used my concealer to clean up the edges, and boom! This is the brow gel I'll be keeping in my bag for quick touch-ups throughout the day. It's also a brow product I feel comfortable wearing on my no-makeup days (which are pretty often for skin care's sake).
If you're an eyebrow novice, then I'd also recommend this specific brow gel OR the Brow Wiz pencil.
Final Thoughts: Anastasia Beverly Hills has quite a few bangers in its eyebrow product lineup.
The brand's reputation for having the best brow products and techniques is beyond well-earned simply because it offers such a diverse set of products for different eyebrow needs and levels of experience. I typically prefer a pencil to control my lines since my brows are unevenly shaped and thin in specific areas. Still, I was able to find a brow gel that helps me achieve the natural, mostly even look I like to go for — and in half the time! For those beauty fans with naturally thick brows, the gels also make great options for keeping them nice and sleek.
The key to finding the best Anastasia Beverly Hills brow product for you is to know exactly how you want your brows to look and what it's going to take to get them there in terms of color, finish, and shape. You also want to consider how easy and/or fast you want the process to be for you and which products will help you achieve that.
What's your favorite ABH brow product?!
