ARDELL FOR BROWS! ARDELL BROW DEFINING PALETTE &
Gigi here . .There is a lame but truthful joke: "How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: "Only one but the light bulb has to really want to change."
I believe my eyebrow obsession began with a friend of mine. I call her a "unibrow," as in Andy Rooney of "Sixty Minutes." We have been close for ages. I try to act casual and our conversations generally wind up with my asking, "Oh, I tweezed today. Did I tell you?" She is past less-than-subtle hints. At this point, she probably requires heavy farm equipment to separate the fur piece. The days of tweezers for her may likely be gone. My point? I can't change my friend--only she can do that. But take a long, hard look at yourself in the merciless sunlight before noon. Be a real woman and dare to use a magnifying mirror. Lines and wrinkles and hairs--oh my!
I despise hair where it shouldn't be and pull it immediately. My husband has dubbed me "The Princess and the Pea." One stray between my brows or above my lip will drive me into a state of agitation so vicious that I can't sleep until it is gone. Be afraid while tweezing. Be very, very afraid. Over-plucking can kill the roots of tiny fibers permanently (I take part of that back--a slow, painful, cruel, horrific, and permanent death to facial hair).
Put ice where you are going to be working to numb the area. Plucking is also best performed in the most brutal light possible (beat me, I know). Follow tweezing advice from others as I don't have room to explain now. But after tweezing you're not "done" any more than a painting is without a frame. I have a year-round toy for you. You and I both know that you are tucking away more stocking stuffer's for yourself than you are for others (as am I), but this one will fulfill your inner child need to play and beauty ritual. Try Ardell's "Brow Defining Palette" (what a lovely word "palette" is--it just rolls off the tongue). Eyebrows define our face in a way nothing does with color, gorgeous color. Brows naturally thin with age and you will look eternally youthful with some tint. Think of Brooke Shields or Kathy Ireland with very blonde brows. Ugh, but I should be so homely.
One of the best ways to do this? Ardell's palette includes three shades--ecru, mink brown, and black. Why three? So that you can mix the coloring to match your own natural shade, neither too dark nor too fair (God did know what He was doing when he chose your eyebrow shade. Artificial hues bellow for help!). The kit offers an angled brush, miniscule tweezers, an eyeshadow applicator, and a mirror. I'm not wild about the brush and keep it for travel only. These powders are highly pigmented and overkill is easy. If you have a brush like Joey New York's "State of the Arch," employ it. Otherwise use a small one that offers total control and apply the individualized color you created with soft, featherlike strokes to fill in sparse areas and mimic natural hair. No lines allowed or I will call Atilla the Nun to handle you! To keep in place without wax, dab the brush with a bit of moist soap and apply upward and outward for a younger, wide-awake, a yes-you-may-possibly-stand-a-chance-with-me look.
Once I've combined mink and ecru for brows, the colors become eyeshadows! Talk about multi-tasking! My routine is to use the chocolate as a base color on my lids, contour and line with the black, and highlight my brow bone and the area between my eyes with the cream-colored hue. This gives super long-lasting color, even without primer. For nights out, carefully use the black on your lids for a smoldering appearance (please don't revive Halloween here--I am groveling). Oh, now you are BabyLove the Beautiful, Chelsea1 the Chic, Erica the Exotic, Nicollback the Naughty, PotionPrincess the Passionate, Sharond the Salacious, Shaybear the Sexy, or Vicci132003 the Vixen and totally hard to resist by men everywhere. Make them stand in line. No, make them kiss your hand as they kneel before you!
Ardell offers another highly useful product: You can purchase Ardells's Brow Pencil with an excellent mascara-type wand brush on one end to help tame your former beasts. A liner is on the other end and is smooth and doesn't tug at the very sensitive skin around your eyes. If a liner doesn't virtually apply itself for me, I toss it. I'm not searching for wrinkles. Ardell delivers.
And what am I doing with my friend? I've considered slipping something into her beverage when we go out to make her pass out. When she awakes, she will be new and improved and eventually forgive me. Does anyone have killer, industrial-strength tweezers? Oh, I I'll just use my husband's heavy beard trimmer if the battery lasts through the process . . .
Who else is an Ardell fan? I love that you can find the brand at most drugstores and not only do they work but the price is right!
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Comments
I got an Ardell brow powder in my last package from Meg, and I think it's great! Excellent quality, it looks really natural on. I'd definitely repurchase, even though I'm sure this one will last me forever!
I love the Ardell brow gel, it works well and it's super cheap.
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I should probably look into this instead of using my ELF one. It's just too brown for my black hair.
i haven't tried any of ardell products but a friend of my tried the ardell lash growth and loved it. this eyebrow palette looks like something that would fit nicely in my purse.
I have heard good things about Ardell's lashes but this product is new to me. I think this is great value for money because the brow powders can work as eyeshadows!
I am currently using the Wet N Wild brow palette. It alone has made me more aware of what my brows look like. LOL. This looks like an excellent palette though and I might have to check it out. I've been naughty lately due to being exhausted trying to get ready for Christmas so I have been lacking on makeup, sleep and in general all my favorite things. I promise Gigi to be better. :)
I too have an eyebrow obsession. But I am too scared to tackle them myself so at school they are not shaped as nicely as I would like. I am only brave enough to pluck the hairs under my arch, not much shaping going on. I also attack my boyfriend's face when his eyebrows get unruly! I do have some sparse areas on my brows but have never really tried filling them in before. Maybe a good drugstore product would be good to try first so I don't blow a bunch of money on something I can't use?
I'm a huge fan of Ardell lashes,some Walmarts even carry them now! Sally Beauty always stocks...Haven't tried this although I've seen it mostly because the shades are too dark for me but i think it's an amazing bargin and most likely,one of the best there is! I use Lorac's because the "Auburn" is as good as it gets for me...my "trick" is to use a Taklon angle-brush from the craftstore and ot the one it comes with...the artificial bristles and angle make a HUGE dif when you are truly faking and covering (grey) like I need to.Seal with clear mascara and you are good to go!Love your take on it girl. :)
Does Walmart carry this brand? I think I've seen it at CVS but they only have the false lashes and not the brow supplies. I'm nearing 60 and yes, the brows are thinning as is the rest of my hair on other parts of my body. If I look in the mirror without my reading glasses I look almost browless. If I look at myself in the magnifying mirror, it's worse haha.It would be nice to find a product that would fill in naturally... this palette looks too dark but maybe blending with the lightest color is the key.
i like ardell lashes. i have been using mac eye shadow in "smut" to define my brows b/c i have dark hair but i must be too heavy-handed or it's just too dark for me. im looking for a lighter alternative.
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I use NYC's brow palette and it looks similar to this. I also agree that brows are very important, just as important as makeup.
Gigi, you know I will follow you anywhere, so I will definitely be checking this one out. Having obeyed Stylemamma's advice and spent months dutifully dousing my invisibrows with Women's Rogaine I now have a few new strays to slaughter. I offer you in return my newest purchase from Alcone, the NY makeup pro's indispensable resource: the Mother Plucker Tweezer, a mere $18 and worth it. It has a resin tip that never needs sharpening and reaches even the shortest, finest hairs. Between your palette, SM's elixir and my Brow Extender, I'll have kempt brows for the holidays.
Fabulous set! Please give me a moment while I weep over my purchase of the Benefit eyebrow set which was 3 times the price. I like the Benefit set, but this one could have done the job and kept some change in my bank account. At home I prefer the Tweezerman tweezers - they could pull your appendix out without leaving a mark. And ladies, if you have daughters who are approaching the ON MY GOD YOU MUST HAVE GOTTEN THOSE EYEBROWS FROM YOUR FATHER'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY, please teach them how to pluck. If you are considering calling a landscaper, take them for threading or tweezing. My mother did nothing of the sort. Her only grooming advice was to wear clean underwear in the event my sister or I were mowed down by a truck. Which would have really pissed her off because then she would have had to drive to the morgue to identify the body instead of remaining in her self-absorbed, self-obsessed bubble. The woman makes a rock seem cuddly.
i need a better color for my brows than the edm one i have, this might do. Actually for a while there i was dying them with my eyelash dye. worked really well :)
makeup makeup makeup!!!!!!!
I was smilling and giggling all the way through your article! Loved it! And it made me realize i don't give as much attention to these details as I should either! So, excuse me as I go get my magnifing mirror (I know i got one!...) and a pair of tweezers!...lolI don't know this product, since its not a brand available where I live ( as most of the products reviewed here ) but I'm sure I can dig up something like it, and hopefully as good! Thank you for the amazing article!*********http://lumin0us.blogspot.com
OMG KAREN726! I was cracking up at that remark about your mother, the clean underwear and the oh-so-cuddly rock. You have a way with words that I admire! TANTEJOAN-Since I am soooo obsessed with brows as well- I am jumping up and down over your success!! YAY!! Hey GIGI! I have an idea, how about slipping uni-brow a roofy! You always make me laugh and teach me something at the same time, thank you! Great review about a great product!
Gigi - your writing is a gift! I swear, if you were writing about power tools, I'd enjoy reading it. But anyway... I haven't seen the Ardell palette yet, but I'll look for it in the future. Currently, I'm all about Anastasia. I have the eyebrow express which I think is excellent. It has two different shades of brown, eyebrow wax, and a golden highlighter AND a brush. It's amazing - but fairly pricey (compared with Ardell) and it's about the size of a thin paperback book. So I never take it with me when I travel. Recently I also bought Anastasia's eyebrow pen. I had been looking for Laura Geller's eyebrow marker after a recommendation from a friend. Couldn't find it so I got the Anastasia one. It's a perfect size for travel or even my purse... but I really like the powder thing better. My brows are nearly invisible - used to be blonde, now more grayish. I look brow-less unless I put something on them!
Carole
Oh Gigi, how I love thee! You always bring a smile to my heart! I have never heard of Ardell, I love brow products, I'm going to have to find this! I may have red hair but my brows are very ash colored, so usually blonde is too light, auburn is the wrong color, so i usually have to mix, which is a big pain in the butt b/c i have to purchase 2 different colors...Usually I just give up, I would love to find a palette where I can mix! Thanks for the review, I'm going to see if I can hunt this down!!
I have the exact same issue--most "light brown" or "light ash brown" brow colors are too dark for me, but blonde is too light, so I'm always mixing. The palette idea is genius.
Great I can get this in Ireland because I've seen the lashes and eyebrow dyeing kit around I used to use the bodyshop's version which is good but each compact only has one shade.PS:You dont want to be the first person to be arrested for druging someone to pluck their brows-my tip is wait till their really drunk-oh around christmas sometime I once put a full face of makeup complete with beauty spot on one of my male friends who was foolish enough to pass out drunk in a pub.
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I may need to try this, one of my brows is a bit sparse and I've been afraid to try brow creams because I don't want them to look too fake. Mixing my own shade would be nice
what an awesome review! Your writing is fabulous!I'll have to hunt this product down!
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I love great multitasking products like this. With your stamp of approval how can I miss? Thanks for the great review Gigi
I have the NYC eyebrow kit which is sort of like this. It is awesome, too bad I can't find the brand sold in most places (except Zellers lol).
How funny -- when I first looked at it, I thought it was going to be an e/s palette. It's great that you can custom mix.
that set looks good, i would get but i still go my lorac set and seems like its going to take forever to finish
The brow powder I have now isnt very good... This looks much much better and super affordable :)
I love Ardell lashes but never tried this product. I love my ELF Studio Line brow kit. It comes with a powder, a tinted gel and a mini brush. The mini angled brush is kind of awesome though-for $3 you must give it a try!
Now that Ive got most makeup down. I think its time to move on to my brows! I dont do much. I gently tweeze because im not really sure of the shape that best suits me so I just keep a gently contoured thicjer brow. I want to get them professionally done one day ao I can use that as I stencil and then just upkeep it. But they are harsh and dark and some brow powder might be just the thing to lighten them up and offset the harshness!!
Tan is Love
Meg sent me an Ardell brow pencil and I really do like it! The color is quite nice and not too harsh--it ends up looking very natural.I usually use Clinique Brow Shapers in Charcoaled, which I LOVE when applied with the little applicator brush. (For some reason, when I use Smashbox's brow brush, it always ends up looking too dark). I've tried Stila's brow powder as well, but that just is ridiculously dark, even when mixed with the lighter color, and I'll probably just use it as a shadow instead!
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i'm familiar with ardell i just haven't tried any of their products! my eyebrows need some serious work! i kinda have biggish eyebrows and they are kinda bushy lol, i've shaped them but i kinda screwed up one brow and it doesn't look the same as my other brow!
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I went in to get my brows shaped and the lady told me I had perfectly shaped brows and only needed to tweeze a few strays. I was surprised as I didn't think they were "perfect". My only flaw is they are light being I was a tow head until my 30's and when my hair started to darken, my brows didn't. This sounds like a great palette for coloring my brows. I have been using just my eye shadows and mixing to come up with a great shade that works for the day. I also have a friend who has more mustache hair than some men I know. I go through the same, I am waxing my mustache, or tweezing my few stray hairs, or even have her show up while I have a hair remover on my upper lip. Nothing seems to work. She seems totally oblivious. Any suggestions on people like this that you have helped. Please tell how you succeeded!
Ah if only it came in a more reddish color... *Sighs*
I think God must have sneezed or got distracted when doing my eyebrows. Thin, sparse and blonde for my deep dark brown hair. Makes no sense. So I'm stuck with tinting (looks a little bit better when I'm too lazy to do them) and drawing them on. I use Benefit's Browzings and really like it. I've used nothing else for a couple years now and I'm still on the same one. When that one runs out (probably in another ten years or so), I'll give this a try since I can't afford Benefit right now.
That kit looks nice but I don't draw in my eyebrows so I most likely will not purchase
I have heard good things about Ardell's lashes and they are very cheap I believe. This looks good too. :) but I don't really care about my brows...well at this stage...lol
Okay, my brows are the one and only part of my entire being that need very, very little maintenence. But love Gigi's reviews so much, I read this one twice, and I'm actually thinking I might get this and give it a try, maybe even my brows could use a little definition. As always, I relate to Gigi's experience, we all have that friend who needs a little help in some area, and they never pick up on our helpful hints! Every time I work out (which is not often lately) I tell my best friend about it, she quit smoking and gained over 70 pounds, and she just says "sounds boring". And I, too, am driven crazy by bad brows! I have a new assistant, she's such a lovely person, but she had those drawn on brows, like a 3 inch line over her eyes! And her eyes are so pretty! I can't figure out if she has no brows or she just plucks them out. Her hair is very pretty and thick, so I imagine she did this on purpose, but I just can't figure it out, and yes, I spend way too much time worrying about eyebrows, especially those that don't belong to me!
Well shaped brows make such a difference!! I've been plucking for years, but only recently learned how to properly shape them! I've gotten so many compliments on how I look since then! The only difference? My brows!!!! This product looks great! I have the elf brow set in medium and it is a good match for me. But once its gone I will look for the Ardell pallet-I love that I can find it in the local drugstores!
I love the Ardell brow gel and I also use it on my eyelashes as a clear mascara. I've always wanted to get a brow powder but everything I've looked at was too expensive (i.e. Anastasia brow stuff), so I'm glad there's a good drug store alternative for brow products!
I'm a lady after your own heart, Gigi - I too pluck every hair that surfaces on my face that shouldn't be there! I also attack my s/o every few weeks and clean up where his mono-brow used to lie. He jokes with me about the times I will start attacking his 3 year old son's mono-brow. I'll wait until he's a teen, I think - then get him in the habit of doing it himself. :D I love the look of this kit! I generally just arm myself with a stiff angled brush and a shade of shadow equal to my hair and brow colour and set to work in the harsh light of Brisbane in the morning before I go out. I've been told my brows are 'amazing' by several people, so I know I'm doing something right. ;]
Aha I thought the joke was cute.
Never seen this Product before, Im actually looking for a Eyebrow kit, Recently, and ive got a friend from America to get me 1, the Milani Eyebrow Kit, ive seen Good Reviews on it, And it has all the Essential tools, But this looks like a Good Comparison too it, And its Drugstore, so its not hard to get. Loveing it.
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This looks like a nifty kit but probably not for me. My brows are really messy now but luckily they are nicely hidden by my bangs. I'm not very good at tweezing me own brows -- they have different growth patterns so both sides are different. I bought a set of Ardelll brow perfection stencils but none of the shapes seem to work on me... I love Ardell's lashes though.
I love Ardell lashes, but I don't own their eyebrow kit.
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you had me at "brow defining palette" and "drugstore brand"i definatly have to head over to my nearest shoppers drugmart and search for this!
What a great idea to have a palette that you can mix up your perfect eyebrow shade.
I'm So a huge fan of product for eyebrow every morning i make mine and feel so glamourous !!!
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I love that this can be used for brows and e/s. I don't use anything on my brows right now (other than tweezers) because everything ends up looking really fake. I have a tiny spot on my eye brow that doesnt grow hair and I would love to be able to make that disapear. I will have to buy this kit asap.
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I've never tried anything by Ardell. I don't even think of I've heard of them actually. Anyway, I try to take good care of my brows by plucking regularly and what not, but something I can't bring myself to is using brow powders. Everytime I've ever tried to use anything on my brows it looks SO unnatural. I have no clue what I'm doing wrong, but I always look completely ridiculous. Sigh.
The set is good the browns are to dark and too light for me but over all a good set