Maybelline is promising to snatch our brows all the way to paradise with its latest product, Tattoo Studio eyebrow gel ($9.99, Target).
According to the brand, Tattoo Studio is waterproof and meant to last for 48 HOURS. Basically, you're supposed to be able to eat, breathe, and sleep in it for two days without a smudge.
Beauty influencers in particular have RAVED about Tattoo Studio. Influencer Aaliyah Jay shared on Twitter that she doesn't even have to fill her brows in anymore because the gel "does the work" for her. According to YouTubers, you can sleep in this gel. You can swim in this gel. You can rub this gel — and your eyebrows will remain perfect for 48 hours.
ALL this, and only $10? I had to try this holy grail brow gel for myself.
I started out with my brows in bare form, aka how I wear them every day.
My eyebrows are pretty thick in the middle and thin on the outside. I've been on a failed mission to grow them out evenly, but they mostly do their own thing.
I usually do little more than smooth them down and head out the door because there isn't much room for the fill-in and clean-up method in my morning routine.
But could this holy grail brow gel actually live up to the hype and make me change my eyebrow ambitions?
These are the directions for how to apply the Maybelline brow gel:
"Fill and color your eyebrows with this ultra-resistant and waterproof brow gel. The sculpting tip and eyebrow spoolie work together to create fuller-looking brows that last for days. Does not smudge. Does not transfer. 98% saw fuller and thicker eyebrows, 93% saw gel does not transfer, and 88% would recommend to a friend."
This is how my eyebrows looked on the first morning I used this gel.
TOTAL BUST!
As you can tell from my facial expression, I wasn't satisfied with how this brow gel performed at all. My eyebrows didn't look fuller to me, and they certainly weren't any neater.
Using this gel without any other fillers was not the best idea. It also felt pretty sticky, which I hate.
And I know I was supposed to be "sleeping" in this brow gel to test out its durability, but the formula was so sticky I could not imagine spending the rest of my night in it.
Being waterproof and able to last two days means nothing if the formula feels horrible.
I wore the gel from 9 am to around 11:30 pm and after that, my skin couldn't take it anymore.
The very next morning, I whipped out the Tattoo Studio brow gel again — determined to give it a chance.
The smudging you see at the end of my eyebrows didn't come from a day's wear. The brow gel smudged like this as I was putting it on!
I suspected the applicator design had A LOT to do with how messy the Maybelline brow gel is.
This applicator has a cone shape; it's small at the tip and larger toward the base. The small-to-large design seems made for easy application, but the entire thing is just too big.
Since my brows are thinner on the outside ends, the applicator just caused them to be overly painted with product.
The other issue I had with the Tattoo Studio gel is that the product takes forever to dry. Check out how wet my eyebrow looked several minutes after applying the gel.
The directions for the Maybelline brow gel suggest you "allow time to dry," though the influencer videos on Youtube showed the product drying in seconds. I found that this gel took way too long for me.
The picture on the left side is of my still-wet eyebrow five minutes after putting on the eyebrow gel.
The photo on the right shows my eyebrow, which was still wet, after 10 minutes. Because I didn't have all day to wait for the gel to dry, I accidentally touched it while it was still wet. The black smudge beneath my eyebrow is the result.
Exclusive footage of me as I tried to fix this brow disaster:
GRR!
My eyebrows looked even worse the second time around, so I decided to boost my morale by returning to an old drugstore faithful: My Milani EasyBrow pencil ($5.99, Target).
I HAD to prove to myself that my shameful Maybelline brows weren't due to my faulty eyebrow skills. I don't fill my eyebrows in much, but when I do I know how to create a look that I'm satisfied with.
I was able to achieve acceptable, neat, and DRY eyebrows with the Milani pencil in about 5 minutes.
Sigh. Finally.
The Milani pencil may not last for two days, but it didn't take two days to dry either.
So what are my final thoughts on the Maybelline Tattoo Studio's 48-hour promise? Can it change your life? Will it snatch your brows and hold them in place for this life and the next?
I don't know, because the eyebrow gel wouldn't even dry down in time enough for me to find out.
The formula and applicator created way too messy an experience for me to leave it on my brows for longer than a few hours.
If I'm going to walk around with death over one eye and destruction over the other, then I'd rather it be my natural brows making all the fuss. At least they aren't sticky.
Tattoo Studio may hold out for 48 hours, but you'll have to brave the wet messy plains just to get there. I'll have to pass on that.
Maybe next time, Maybelline.
