Now first off I'm going apologise to those of you who are perhaps a bit fed up of seeing/hearing about Benefit's most highly anticipated release in years; their new and re-branded brow range. Personally I wanted to throw my two cents into the pot as I think it's always great to read as many reviews as possible about a product before you buy, but if you're still not interested perhaps read my 5 Tips To Avoid Overpacking or my review of L'Oreal's Telescopic Mascara. Now we've got that out of the way, let's get onto the review!
This month Elle were giving away a free sample of Benefit's new Goof Proof Brow Pencil to each reader. When I heard I had to pick myself up a copy of Elle to try a product from the new collection which is released on the 24th of this month! Unfortunately they put the magazine in an opaque sleeve making it impossible to see what shade of the product you are going to get, this meant that I ended up with shade 6, the darkest shade in the collection (not ideal for a blondie like myself). Despite the fact that it was 2 shades too dark I thought I'd give it a go anyway because if I liked it I could pick up the right shade when the collection was released.
The Goof Proof Brow Pencil has a unique triangular shaped tip, which was designed for the large end to fill in large gaps and the pointed end to draw precise lines. While this is in theory a great idea, I found myself gravitating towards using only the pointed end as the wider end made my brows look a bit blocky rather than thick. The downside to this is that I wore down the point after only one use, so on my next use I'd be forced to use the wider end. This being said even if I did enjoy using the wider end, I can still see the pencil wearing down unevenly and losing it's unique shape.
As for the consistency on the product it was a nice solid pencil allowing you to achieve sharp and precise lines, this is something that I have never found in a high street brow pencil as they are always too waxy and soft. It's preciseness allows a natural look and realistic look for even the thinnest brows as you can draw those missing hairs in which is something I struggle to do when using a brow pomade (but then again that may be because I'm not using a precise enough brush).
Before
After
As you can see from the before pictures above, my eyebrows aren't the thickest. I have a decent amount of hairs in the front of my brows but they thin out towards the end and this is where I have to do the most work when filling out my brows. While I quite like the look of my brows after using this product (ignoring the fact that the shade is wrong), I definitely prefer the front half to the second half. I found that in sparser areas I had to be careful not to use too much product or brush through my brows with a spoolie too much as it would all just blend into a brown smudge, blurring away all the effort I had put into drawing each individual hair.
It is also for this reason that I doubt it lives up to it's claims of 12 hours of waterproof wear, especially on an oily skin type like mine. But I cannot completely confirm this as I did not wear it for 12 hours or test how waterproof it is.
As for ease of use I initially found it difficult to gain control with such a light and dainty pencil as I am used to using a brush to fill in my eyebrows. For an avid eyebrow pencil user this would perhaps not be a problem but just a warning to those without a steady hand; this pencil is so precise that mistakes are very obvious, if you try to draw a straight line and it is not straight, it will be painfully obvious.
The real question is: will I buy it when the collection comes out? My honest answer is probably not. It's a decent product but I'm not sure it's right for me, personally I would prefer the whole tip to be pointed not triangular so maybe I'll try the Precisely My Brow Eyebrow Pencil when that it released. I also don't prefer it to the ABH Dipbrow Pomade that I normally use so why would I buy it over that. Instead I might try this product out on my mum who has darker brows, a less oily skintype and prefers very natural makeup as I think it may suit her more.
Have you tried the Goof Proof Brow Pencil? While you be trying anything else when the full collection is released?
Eleanor xx
