Well THIS was a hyped up launch wasn’t it?! Even if you have had your head firmly stuck in the ground over the last couple of months, you are still gonna know about the huge Benefit brow overhaul & relaunch. So before the new brow collection, Benefit had like what, 5 brow-specific products? Well now they have a whopping 10 different brow products and a few accessories to boot.
It’s not difficult to see why Benefit have done this ; over the last 2 years or so, brows have gone from being a *thing* on your face you comb through @ the end of your makeup session, to THE thing that people are spending the most time on in their entire makeup routine ; preening, plucking, waxing, filling, cheating & lifting. If you don’t have good brows, you WILL be judged by the newer generation of makeup lovers, instagrammers & makeup-artist wannabee’s. Along with the current brow OBSESSION, brands are bending over backwards to entice us with new brow products, innovative products & ways to make our brows look *fleeky*. Yes, I said that word. Yes I just vomited in my mouth a little bit.
I think I was possibly the *only* blogger I know who didn’t receive a gorgeous box of brow goodies from Benefit so I picked my sorry-self-pitying-ever-so-slightly-bitter-and-envious ass up and ordered a couple of the bits from the pre-sale which they had online around 2 weeks before the official launch. I opted for the Ka Brow (gel) & the Precisely My Brow (pencil) as these are the kind of things I use anyway on my brows and I had only recently treated myself to a new High Brow (my obsession knows no boundaries…..read here) & a Gimme Brow. Both of these are still the same formulas by the way, just different fancy-pants packaging.
On a side note, the online service I received from Benefit was pretty shocking. Mainly very slow to both dispatch and actually arrive, and I had ordered it specifically a week before my holiday to take with yet it still didn’t come. I think from order to actual delivery it ended up taking 8 days, which I don’t think is acceptable for a huge company like this or am I being mean/demanding?! I don’t shop online *that* much but I shop with Cult Beauty and that seems to arrive in like 3 days. When I enquired/complained about the slow delivery time to the Benefit Customer services (via e-mail) I DID NOT EVEN GET A RESPONSE. So never doing that again. That aside, I like the Ka Brow a lot, so wanted to share with you my thoughts & review.
I actually didn’t think I would like Ka Brow when it arrived and I opened/swatched it. I usually find makeup products with their ‘own’ brushes/ applicators seemingly useless, but the little brush that comes with it, is actually really good to apply the gel with. You just pull it out the top, twist off the lid to the gel and you are good to go – very handy and great for travel/ handbag touch ups. Saying that, this product is very longwear/waterproof so you shouldn’t need to take it for touch-ups anyway, but I like the fact that it’s just all there. The color of the gel is rich & buildable and I *think* I actually prefer it to my ABH Dipbrow although I need a little longer with it to make such claims.
The Precisley My Brow is actually the product I was looking forward to more, but I actually don’t like it quite as much as the Ka Brow, or maybe it’s just because I had higher expectations of this and lower of the Ka brow.. It’s a skinny brow pencil that again, is longwear and is perfect for those who want a more natural brow as it allows small, brow-like strokes. It’s slightly waxier in texture to what I am used to (ABH Brow Wiz/ Kevyn Aucoin Brow pencils) although it is not far off these, and still gives a nice filled brow with ease. Both products I got the darkest shade FYI and both a lovely deep brown tones, with no redness, which ticks the right boxes.
The packaging of the new brow collection is pretty fancy, and I kinda like it. Yes it’s gimmicky, yes it’s tongue-in-cheek but that is what Benefit is all about and that’s just how the brand is. I think it’s great that they launched a good range of brow products as there really is something for everyone, whether you like super soft and natural brows or the full on scary InstaBrows.
Aside from the ordering hiccup/service I’m really happy with these products I have tried, and think they live up to the hype. Prices start from £17.50 & you can have a lookie at the full range here.
Have you tried the new Benefit Brow Collection & are YOU one of my blogger pals I was so very envious of?! What are you thinking of the products?