ALL ABOUT BROWS Series: REVIEW on NYX Brow Gel in Brunette

NYX Eye Brow Gel in Brunette
PHP 400 at Love Manila

When the various online makeup stores that I was following on FB started posting preorders for the NYX Brow Gel, a lot of makeup lovers went gaga over it! After all, it was a brow product in a very different form, and even I got curious with this brow-in-a-watercolor-tube.

But I stopped myself from preordering because 1) it looked too pigmented for everyday use, 2) while the reviews posted on this were mostly raves, the way their brows looked like didn't really look natural, 3) I haven't seen any reviews from Filipino (or even Asian) bloggers for reference.

Now, I'm not saying something was wrong with their brows. It's just that I noticed that American/Western ladies like their brows arched high and really defined, which is what they call as an "architectural" brow. Asians, as I have noticed, like brows that are softly arched and softly defined. Personally I like both styles, but I will most likely sport an architectural brow on a special event and not on an everyday basis.

A comparison between how Asians style brows versus the Westerners. That's Kathryn Bernardo's brows on the upper right. How I wish I can reshape my brows like that.

Now back to the NYX Brow Gel. My curiosity for this product has peaked that I just could not wait for a product review from a trusted blogger. So I went ahead and purchased it 2 weeks later, when several makeup sellers already had it on-hand. At this time my trusted sellers,  Digital Traincase and MakeupHolics already ran out of stocks of my chosen shade, Brunette. Then I looked around for more online shops and finally found one at Love Manila. The transaction was such a breeze since she was offering a meetup schedule at Trinoma the next day. No shipping = Instant gratification. :D

About the Product

From the NYX website: Keep your misbehaving brows in place with our discreet and easy-to-use brow gel! The lightweight, waterproof formula creates thicker, fuller, natural-looking brows and comes in five versatile shades.

The gel is housed in a lip gloss-like tube and contains 10 mL of product. 

Brunette is a medium brown, though it isn't warm-looking in person as in this photo. Great for girls with natural/dark brown hair.

The gel is lightweight indeed, but be sure to use little of it because it can clump on the brow hairs when used too much. It has a matte finish.

How to Use

It was my first time encountering such a brow product, so it took me a couple of tries before figuring out how to best use this gel. Because this one is hard to remove, don't swatch it directly at the back of your hand. What I do is I place the tip of the tube on a plastic card and swipe a roughly 1 x 0.5 inch swatch of the product, which is enough for both brows. Then I used a synthetic angled brow brush and dipped it into the swatch, patting excess pigment on the plastic card before using it on the brows. The trick here is to use this as little as possible, because this gel is really pigmented.

The gel dries after 20-30 seconds, but you can still soften it with the spoolie. You have to be a bit quick in filling your brows with this gel so you can spoolie right away. Once it dries, you're in for some serious spoolie work, but it's totally workable.

I can skip filling in the sparse areas using a brow pencil with this one since the gel has it covered. Also, no need for a clear mascara because the gel holds my brow hairs in place.

Lasting Power

After 12 hours, there is only minimal fading on the borders of the brow.

Its waterproof claim is true, as it is really hard to remove even with soap, but lasting power against an oily skin is a totally different matter. I'm happy to report that this thing lasts! Even on a sweaty day  you can be assured that your brows will still look fresh. Fading can be appreciated on places where there's more skin than hair like the inner brow, especially if you have oily skin, but it will take forever before it starts to fade. Just look at the pic above!

What I Liked

• I love its packaging! Reminds me of watercolor tubes. But nostalgia aside, the tip of the tube lets you control the amount of the product to use, so less wastage, and more hygienic too.
• This product has a crazy pigmentation! And the shade that I got is just perfect.
• Its serious staying power. No patchy fading, no feathering of the pigment. And it stays put on my oily skin. 
• I feel like a model when I use this hahaha. The kind of definition this makes is very Pinterest-esque. And I love how you can make it work with a spoolie to achieve a softer finish as well.
• Reasonably priced for such a heavy-duty product.

What I Didn't Like

• It does take some time to use, compared to using brow pencils/brow powders. Definitely not something you must use when you're in a hurry.
• You have to practice a bit before you can perfect the technique of using this gel. And that depends on how well-versed you are with brows. 

All in all, I recommend this to anyone who likes their brows to look good all day long because of its staying power. I think I've found the perfect brow product to use when I start my clerkship. Hahaha.

That's it for the review. I hope it was informative to you guys! ;)

Stay girly!

Kat