Mascara for eyebrows—it’s genius. Yes, I’m aware it’s not a new concept: having used a lot of rather ineffectual clear brow gel in the late ’90s, I tried my first tinted brow gel back when Benefit’s Gimme Brow launched in 2013, and it slightly blew my mind (spoiler: it’s still one of the best). I think the concept is just as brilliant today.

It’s great because it’s fast. A someone who doesn’t have the time or patience to draw on convincing hair-like strokes every morning like some kind of impressionist painter, but also yearns for more defined, fuller eyebrows, brow gel gives me the perfect hit of colour and volume in less than 30 seconds of none too precise swiping. For optimal results, I’ll take an extra 30 seconds and brush the entire brow backwards, coating the underside of the hairs, before taking the wand and brushing the hairs back and up, in the direction I actually want them to go. That’s a minute! It’s perfect for achieving the “fluffy brow” look, which sounds adorable and looks natural yet perfectly groomed.

Gimme Brow and Glossier’s Boy Brow were very much in my rotation already, but I jumped at the chance to widen my brow gel horizon and try a whole makeup bag’s worth of new-to-me brow gels to see how they stack up. I paid special attention to ease of application, wand design, smudgeability, longevity and overall definition. If they made me feel like I’d just popped into the brow bar for a tint, shape and lift, they made the cut.

Read on for my edit of the very best brow gels.

The winner: Kosas

Kosas Air Brow Tinted Volumizing Treatment Gel, $30, thedetoxmarket.ca. Photo: Kosas

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The price

$30

The shades

10! Including grey, black, taupe, honey blonde and various cool, warm and neutral browns

The review

This is like a salon brow service in a bottle. Within the cool clear pink package, a generously sized spoolie picks up just the right amount of not-too-wet mousse-textured product and swipes it onto every single hair, encouraging them upwards (or wherever you decide to guide them) and giving them the appearance of having tripled in number. It lasts until you’re ready to wash it off, and comes off easily with cleanser. For the first few uses, when the product is brand new and full, you may find it applies a little too generously and you need to swipe off a few smudges, but it’s well worth it for the full, fluffy effect. I also love that it thickens lashes with biodegradable microfibres made with plant ingredients (as opposed to the nylon microfibres some brow gels use). Plus, it’s available in a wide range of 10 shades, meaning it offers hues that can be hard to find (grey, true black, cooler or warmer blonde tones).

 

Best value brow gel: NYX

NYX Thick It Stick It Thickening Brow Mascara, $15, nyxcosmetics.ca. Photo: NYX

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The price

$15

The shades

Eight, including cool blond, cool ash brown, auburn, espresso and black

The review

Ringing in at about half the price of most of the top brow gels, NYX’s version holds up really well in comparison. The wand is long and tapered, and the vegan formula is packed with fibres that cling onto brow hairs for a seriously volumized look. It’s a little shiny and wet-looking on application, but soon dries down to a soft matte finish that sets and doesn’t budge until you cleanse. It’s designed to be buildable, suggesting up to three coats for a full, fuller or fullest effect, and I can report that it does indeed layer beautifully, giving an extra bit of oomph later in the day when everything starts to feel a bit droopy.

 

Best brow gel for volumizing: Benefit

Benefit Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel, $32, sephora.ca. Photo: Benefit
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The price

$32

The shades

10, including cool and warm blondes, browns and black-browns, plus grey and auburn

The review

With 10 shades, including grey and auburn, there’s a Gimme Brow shade for almost everyone. It first launched in 2013 (though with just two shades, light/medium and medium/dark) making it one of the original brow gels and it’s still one of the best. The super short, stocky spoolie allows for both precision application and a nice generous amount of product, and the microfibre-filled formula attaches itself seamlessly to brow hairs and the skin beneath for a filled, fluffy effect.

 

Best long-lasting brow gel: Dior

Dior Diorshow On Set Brow, $40, nordstrom.ca. Photo: Dior

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The price

$40

The shades

5, including clear, blond, brown, dark brown and black

I kept coming back to this brow gel, and it was the one I chose to apply before a wedding in the forest lasting nine hours, because I knew it wouldn’t let me down. The waterproof formula (made of 90 per cent natural ingredients) claims to set brows for up to 24 hours, and in my experience it does. It applies perfectly right out of the luxe-looking silver tube on first application—no gloopiness or smudges to wipe up. Often I like brow gels better after a few weeks of being open, because they dry up a bit in a good way, but this was great immediately. The wand is a medium size, in the range of wands featured here, and furnishes an even application of colour and thickening microfibres without being gloopy. It’s also easy to touch up throughout the day, and never gets clumpy or too dark.

 

Best brow gel for subtle definition: Glossier

Glossier Boy Brow, $22, glossier.com. Photo: Glossier

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The price

$22

The shades

Five: Clear, blonde, auburn, brown and black

The review

Boy Brow has been a go-to since it launched in 2015, and for good reason. Inspired by men’s moustache waxes, according to Glossier founder Emily Weiss, the cruelty free formula isn’t wet or sticky but light and fluffy, and never feels stiff or heavy. The wand is small and stubby, allowing for good control and no smudges, easily brushing on the product for a subtle enhancement that’s more brow tint than microblading. The shade range is fairly minimal: four, plus clear if you want to be *really* minimal or need no additional colour in your brows.

 

Best for fine brows: Charlotte Tilbury

Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Brows, $32, charlottetilbury.com. Photo: Charlotte Tilbury

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The price

$32

The shades

Four: Taupe, soft brown, dark brown and black

The review

I’ve long loved the wand on Charlotte Tilbury’s brow gel because it is ultra, ultra skinny. This allows for extreme precision—no tiny tail hair will go uncoated—and it also means that those with very fine brow hairs to begin with can get the most natural yet defined look possible with no overflow or smudges. It’s designed to give a feathery effect, which is easily achieved with that fine wand and the volumizing wax formula, plus it’s water-resistant and made to last up to 10 hours. There are just four shades, but the undertones are so neutral that they’re very versatile.

 

Best brow gel for bushy brows: Merit

Merit Brow 1980 Volumizing Eyebrow Pomade Gel, $31, meritbeauty.com. Photo: Merit

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The price

$31

The shades

Three: blonde, brown and black brown

The review

Merit’s brow gel features a wand so large, it’s closer to an actual mascara than many brow gel wands. This makes for swift application and a generous coating of product at first swipe, which is excellent if you have bushy or full brows to begin with—it might be overwhelming on very fine brows. Mine are medium thickness so it was fine, though I did notice a couple smudges, but those were easy to wipe off. The mineral-based formula is quite wet and really coats each hair, and lasts really well, plus it’s easy to reapply at the end of the day without getting sticky. There are just three shades and I found the brown fairly dark.

 

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