If theres one thing that L'Oreal does well and thats eyes. Their recently discontinued (*sob*) Telescopic mascara has been my most re-purchased beauty item to date. So when they launched a collection of brow and liner products on the back of their 'Line of Beauty' AW13 trend I was all ears. Launched under L'Oreal's SuperLiner franchise the collection consists of 3 liners and a brow pencil - Blackbuster - a jumbo pen style eyeliner, Pefect Slim - a tiny 0.4mm precision eyeliner, Gelmatic - a gel liner in a pen applicator and finally Brow Artist* which I was kindly sent for review.
To give you a brief idea of what y brows are like - I have naturally unruly brows which over time have become rather sparse from being a tad over zealous with the tweezers. Whilst my brows have a relatively good natural shape they do require a little work filling in the gaps, and working on more of an arch as I attempt to regrow them. Lets just say I am certainly no Cara in the eyebrow stakes! As far as products go I have tried a fair few, with Cliniques Superfine eyebrow pencil tipping the top spot and MAC Espresso coming in a deserving second.
Brow artist is sold as a 3 in 1 product, consisting of a brow pencil, wax and tamer brush all in one neat pencil sized portion. To start proceedings I have been using the brush to tidy up the brow area and prepare for shading, next up I fill in the areas needed with short strokes, almost like drawing fine hairs into the gaps, creating the shape I want. The pencil is quite dense, so I find running it over the back of my hand firstly softens it slightly and makes it slightly easier to work with. Finally I use the brush end again to blend any harsh edges and give an overall natural look. For additional wear use the wax end around the edges to stop any movement throughout the day.
For an easy to use brow pencil this pretty much hits the spot. The formula is slightly waxy and does need a good blend with the brush to take away the harshness and avoid being left with a scouse brow. The waxy formula, however does negate the need for the 'finishing wax' and whilst the wax end is a nice extra, I am not sure it contributes any real benefit to the product other than giving it an added 'selling point'. Colour wise you are limited to only 3 shades - blonde, brunette and dark brunette. I have been using 03 Brunette - a straight up dark brown which I am pleased to report has no signs of an orange undertone. I would like to see L'Oreal extend the colour range, as I think red heads in particular have been left off of the shade chart. But as far as brow pencils go, this does exactly what it says on the tin, and is a pretty good pencil for its mere £5.49 price tag.
Will you be trying any of the L'Oreal SuperLiner collection?
*PR Sample
*PR Sample
