Benefit Brow Bar at Home: Pencils, Gels, Tweezers and Brushes

Benefit Brow Bar at Home: Pencils, Gels, Tweezers and Brushes

The Benefit Brow Bar turned brow shaping into something you could watch happen in a window, and this edit brings that routine home. I sort the Benefit pencils and gels, the best brow gels from other brands, and the tools that shape and brush them.

Benefit was founded in San Francisco in 1976 by twin sisters Jean and Jane Ford, and brows became its calling card. In 2003 it opened its first Brow Bar in San Francisco's Union Square, and LVMH says Benefit was the first brand to bring brow waxing out of the backroom and into the window. That is the idea behind the Benefit Brow Bar: brows are a service, and there is a step by step way to do them. You can copy the steps at home.

Start with the lead, Precisely, My Brow Pencil in Shade 3.5. Benefit says it is waterproof, has a 1.5mm ultra-fine tip with a built-in spoolie, and wears for up to 12 hours. Goof Proof Brow Pencil in 3.75 is a shaping pencil that comes in 12 shades, while Mighty Fine Brow Pen in 3.5 has a triple tip to mimic natural hairs. Precisely, My Brow Detailer in Shade 03 has a 0.8 millimeter tip for fine detail. Goof Proof Brow-Filling Powder in Shade 2 is for sparse spots, Precisely, My Brow Tinted Wax in Shade 03 sculpts and holds, and Fluff Up Brow Wax in Clear is a crunch-free clear wax. Gimme Brow+ in 4 is a tinted gel with fine microfibers for fullness.

A quick test: draw three hair-like strokes on the sparsest part of one brow first. If they look too dark, go a shade lighter and feather the ends.

Big numbers collage for Benefit Brow Bar: six products from Benefit and Anastasia Beverly Hills, each set beside a large numeral
Benefit Brow Bar

The Benefit brow lineup

Gels and glazes for the last step

Gel is the last step and the one that holds everything together. Benefit 24-HR Brow Setter is a clear gel that the brand says locks in a look for up to 24 hours, and Dream Sheen in Medium is a waterproof tinted glaze with a high shine finish. Rare Beauty Brow Harmony in Cool Brown lifts, tints and sets, with a flexible hold that lasts up to 12 hours, per the brand. Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel is a medium hold gel, and Brow Freeze is a clear extreme hold wax-gel hybrid. MERIT Brow 1980 in Brown Black is a tinted pomade with a light hold. Kosas Air Brow in Medium Chocolate Brown is a mousse-gel with castor oil and biotinoyl tripeptide-1, and Glossier Boy Brow in Dark Brown is a volumizing gel-pomade with beeswax and carnauba wax.

How to wear it: brush the hairs up and out first, then set them with a gel in the same direction. Use a little pomade or pencil on top, and fluff the tail last.

What I would skip: an extreme hold gel when your brows are already stiff and flaky. A soft tinted pomade or gel grooms them without that dry finish.

Brow gels and glazes

The tools behind a clean brow

Good brows are mostly tidying, and the tools matter. Anastasia Beverly Hills Slant-Tip Tweezers have a custom slanted top and calibrated tension. TWEEZERMAN Slant Tweezer in Rose Gold and Pink Perfection have a 25-degree slanted tip made for working against the brow bone, per their descriptions. The Slant Eyebrow Tweezer is stainless steel that can handle repeated sterilization, and the Metal Facial Razor is an ergonomic razor that shapes brows and removes peach fuzz. For blending, Patrick Ta Dual-Ended Brow Brush has a spoolie on one end and an angled brush for hair-like strokes on the other. Makeup by Mario E7 Dual-Ended Eyebrow Brush does something similar, and Bobbi Brown Eye Definer is a slim tapered brush for brow strokes or eyeliner.

Pairing tip: tweeze after a warm shower, when skin is soft, and do it in daylight. Then brush the brows up and check the whole shape before you take anything else away.

What I would skip: a razor on brows you have never shaped before. Start with tweezers and a pencil, since it is hard to undo a razor.

Tweezers, razors and brow brushes

Building your own brow routine

To build your own routine, start with the shape. Tidy strays with tweezers, then brush brows up and out and see where the gaps are. Fill those with a pencil or brow powder in a shade that matches your hair, or one shade lighter if you are unsure. Finish with a gel, clear for a natural look or tinted when you want more depth. Keep one dual-ended brush in your bag for touch-ups. The brow service taught the world that brows could be styled one step at a time, and the same is true at your own mirror. Go slowly, since you can always add more.