Review and Swatch: NYX Cosmetics Eyebrow Gel in Brunette and Espresso

Hello beautiful readers!  Have you spotted these new NYX eyebrow gels at your local Ulta? After seeing Nouveau Cheap's post on seeing these in Ulta, I had to head out to see if mine had these in stock. After stalking the NYX display for a while and not seeing anything, I headed to the register to ask and LO AND BEHOLD there was a whole new display right behind the counter!

New NYX Eeyebrow Gel in Brunette

I asked about them and they said they had just arrived, and the first lady actually thought they were not on sale yet, but after asking another, they are indeed on sale! They come in closed boxes with testers on the display (Thank goodness) and in 5 shades: Blonde, Chocolate, Brunette, Espresso, and Black. I decided to pick up brunette and Espresso and give my first eyebrow gel a try!

I've always been an eyebrow pencil girl, sticking with Anastasia Brow Wiz in Soft Brown to shape and fill my sad, sparse brows, but at $6.99 a pop I couldn't past up this opportunity to try it out. I also picked up Anastasia #12 brow brush ($18), which comes with a spoolie at the other end.  This brush is really great, with the angled side stiff enough to give you a good control over your brow shaping.

Anastasia #12 brush

To the unboxing! The brow gel comes in a squeezable tube, and the direction states to "Squeeze a small amount nto a clean, dry surface. Lightly dip brow brush into gel and outline brows. Fill in and thicken as desired. Brush out brows to blend harsh edges. Set with clear or tinted brow mascara." 

Left: NYX eyebrow gel in Espresso
Right: NYX eyebrow gel in Brunette

Here is what the gel looks like initially out of the tube:

Left: Espresso
Right: Brunette

The gel is creamy, except for brunette which is actually more watery than the rest of the gels I looked at in the store.

I took a swatch from the testers before choosing, here it is in Brunette and in Espresso:

Top: NYX Brow Gel in Brunette
Bottom: NYX Brow Gel in Espresso

I also took some swatches of the eyebrow gel in black and compared it to Anastasia Brow Wiz in Ebony and Tarte Amazon Clay Waterproof Brow Mousse in Rich Brown:

Top: Anasatasia Brow Wiz in Ebony
Middle: NYX Eyebrow gel in Black
Bottom: Tarte eyebrow mousse in Rich Brown

I had heard that it compares to Anastasia Dipbrow Promade but I had never given it a try so I'll report back when I get the chance to!

Like I had mentioned earler, I had never worked with brow gel before, needless to say it has a learning curve and I struggled quite a bit with application/blending. I put a very small amount of the back of my hand and dipped my #12 brush in and went to town...the results were rough.

Hello my name is Groucho Marx

As you can see, I went a little overboard.  The gel dries very VERY fast, so I would definitely suggest blending as you go, because once it dries it does NOT budge. At all.  After getting some pointers, I soften  up the beginning of the brow and darkened the ends with a dark eyeshadow.  It turned out a little better, especially with the adjustments made, and the taper my the end of my brows sharper.

Third try with NYX Brow Gel

After giving it a try 4 times, I decided to settle and throw on some other makeup to see if it'll take the attention away from my unintentionally bold brows. Some eyeliner, mascara, and NYX matte lip cream in Prague, here is the result:

Semi success?!

I decided to give it a break after giving it so many tries... on to the next day...

Next day update: I gave the brow gel in Espresso a run the day after I tried out brunette the first day. Here is how it looked at the beginning of the day (~11:30am):

NYX Eyebrow Gel in Espresso first applied

After a long day out and about in 90 degree weather (thanks California), here it is at 10 pm:

NYX Eyebrow gel in espresso about 12 hrs later

At the end of the day, I'm really excited to experiment some more with this brow gel. It's very affordable, and the results definitely pack a punch. You only need a little bit of the product for it to go a LONG way so the price is an absolute steal. Again, this gel does not move once it dries and it dries very quickly, so blending as you go is pretty important. I thought it held up very well in the heat and my sweatiness (yay.) The color range isn't too amazing right now, with a lack of red leaning colors for the lovely read headed women, and the black is pretty warm leaning, but I hope they continue to expand this line because I can't get enough of it. If they came out with a purple one, I would probably buy it. I would absolutely buy this again in a heartbeat. You can find the eyebrow gels at your local Ulta, although because it's a brand new release, your Ulta might not have received their shipment. Ask around, and keep your eyes peeled for a new display. These NYX eyebrow gels are $5.99 a tube. Are you excited to give it a try? Let me know down in the comments!

Xoxo~Lily