Hi friends!
So I discovered this awesome drugstore brow gel from Ardell that’s been rocking my world recently. So of course I have to tell you guys about it, cause you all need this stat! (Just kidding, but you know what I mean. I hope.) It’s the Brow Confidential Brow Duo, and just as the name would imply, this is a dual product: one end has a powder, the other end has a clear brow gel. To be completely honest, I could ditch the powder side but the gel…the gel, people. Well, it’s the best.
I picked this up from one of my favorite spots to shop for makeup lately, Sally Beauty. They’ve been killing it with their beauty offerings recently! First it was the COL-LAB eye palettes, now it’s this Ardell brow gel. To boot, Ardell is very modestly priced and this gel was no exception: only $8.99.
Read this: My Sally Beauty haul featuring COL-LAB!
THE GEL
So you probably want to know by now, why I think this is the best brow gel I’ve ever tried. It’s very simple: it holds my brow hairs in place 100%. Ain’t nothing getting these guys down until you want to remove your makeup. All the other drugstore brow gels I’ve ever used only do a half-assed job in the hold department.
The brush is extremely thin and has just the right amount of product on it. No clumps or anything. The gel is clear as the whole idea is to use the powder first to bulk up your brows, and then comb the gel through to hold them in place.
Since I really don’t use the powder much (I’ll get into that in a sec), I like to brush my brow hairs straight up with this gel to make them appear bigger. And I let them dry completely without running a clean spoolie through them. Once they’re dry, you’re good to go and you won’t get any white crispies throughout the day. Added bonus!
THE POWDER
Full disclosure: I’ve only used the powder end of this product once, maybe twice. There are two reasons that it’s not my favorite. Firstly, I choose the wrong color (which is really my fault). Medium Brown is unfortunately much darker than I thought it was going to be. I’m not used to seeing myself with dark brows, so I looked a bit angry when I had this on (in my opinion).
Ardell only offers 4 color choices, so I should have gone with Taupe, the lightest color in the range, but hindsight is always 20/20. The darker shades must be really dark if Medium Brown was dark, so just be forewarned.
The second reason I haven’t gotten on with the powder is it just gets everywhere. When you unscrew the nib and take it out of tube, powder flies everywhere. And there’s a decent amount of fall-out on your face after you apply it to your brows. And keep in mind I do my brows as the very last step in my routine, so the powder falls down onto my base. Very annoying.
So the moral of this story is, I really, really, really like one-half of this brow duo. I’ve finally found the product that gives me that brushed-up editorial brow-kinda look. Going forward, I will look into purchasing just a brow gel from them and not the duo, since I’m not using this product to its fullest potential. But you may be able to use the powder more than me. (I’m going to try it a few more times to see if I can fall in love with it or not.)
You can shop this product and others at Sally Beauty here.
Have you ever tried the Brow Confidential Brow Duo? What are your favorite brow products? I’d love to know!
Xo, Erica
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I’ve never actually tried a brow gel before. I have thin brows so I’m worried they’ll look clumpy and weird.
If you use the right gel, that shouldn’t be the case. But I think if you have thin brows to begin with, you may want to use it in conjunction with a brow powder or pencil to fill them in first so they look a bit bulkier.
Great! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
😉
Sounds like a great product! I have never used a brow gel. I swear by Benefit brow products but maybe this is worth a try!
It’s lovely, and very easy to use (the gel side). Maybe worth a try!
Would the darker powder work if you tried using an angled brow brush to draw a thinner line and blend it ? I have light brows and end up having to do this because I get that “angry” look when the color is too dark.
You’re probably right, but to be honest I’m just too lazy to get a brush, take the powder off and then fill in my brows 😄. Personally I never fill in my brows that way, so I guess I never even think to do that method. But I know a lot of people love using powder and a little brush. Whatever works for you!
I love Sally’s, too! What a nice find! That brush is really thin, wow! & it is actually so hard to find a gel that doesn’t leave white crispies. Nearly all the ones that are triple the price of this one do that. Great review, Erica! 🙂
Thank you! So far this one doesn’t, which I was amazed about. That’s what usually scared me off using clear brow gels in the past; I tend to prefer colored gels better.