elf wow brow gel, $4
I was browsing through Target’s beauty aisles – as a basic white girl is wont to do – seeking NYX Milk pencils. En route, I happened to spot elf Wow Brow gel. The name is reminiscent of a Benefit product, but this does not phase me. For $4 per 0.12 oz pop, I decide to try this fiber-containing formula even though I’m not currently in the market for brow products (currently using Anastasia Dipbrow Gel ($9-18) that is SO NICE and yes I still need to write about it).
Packaging
Like all elf products, elf Wow Brow packaging is unassuming in a black cylinder. Some people want to be seduced with packaging – and don’t get me wrong; I swoon over Hourglass like the rest of ’em – but I’m comfortable with simple and practical. The spoolie housed inside does not beat benefit’s in Gimme Brow and Gimme Brow+ but for the price difference, I’ll live. (Hell, I may be able to clean a Gimme Brow+ spoolie and use it if I must).
Color Selection
Examining the five shade selection, I couldn’t decide what I needed; I grabbed two. As it turns out, elf’s interpretation of Taupe differs both from my understanding of the shade as well as most other brow product manufacturers, so I grabbed it and what they deem Neutral Brown. Neutral Brown seems closer to what I expect from a Taupe shade.
Here they are in real life.
elf wow brow gel taupe (top) vs neutral brown (bottom)
Application
I apply these like any other fibrous tinted brow product in this format: first, I brush through against the grain. Then, I go through in the direction of growth to shape and tame. With a cooperative formula, this takes less than thirty seconds for both brows combined. This is what I’d consider a cooperative formula. (Ulta’s formula, on the other hand, is a bit wet for my taste when newly opened.)
Taupe does literally nothing on me (I can’t see it!), but may be work for fair skinned blondes and redheads. It isn’t going to do anything for me when I get my highlights refreshed, either, so unfortunately this one is going to be a $4 loss for me.
Neutral Brown, however, pulls nice and actually-taupe on me, if a touch darker than, “perfect.” It doesn’t disappear in my brows and isn’t too dark even with my highlights. Even with a larger spoolie that I suspected I’d have less control with, it did a nice job applying and distributing product, then shaping. It lasted throughout a workday and into the evening; for $4, what more can you ask for?
The Bottom Line
I’m not ready to say this is going to replace what I’m using, but it could, especially for the price. I’d definitely repurchase – and when I’m going through a, “I feel bad about how much I’ve spent on beauty products,” phase, I’d buy it exclusively. It is definitely something I’d pack for travel – in the event of tragic loss, its a lot easier to lose $4 than $18. If I lost all my makeup today and had to replace it, I’d purchase this over what I’m currently using to mitigate the blow of the expenditure.