Battle of the eyebrow gels: Benefit Speed Brow vs. MAC Brow Set

I am very, very particular about my eyebrows. I’ll usually have a tweezers somewhere about my person to whip out any errant hairs that dare to manifest themselves (which has led to more than one stand-up row with Airport Security) and while I don’t really feel the need to bother with eyebow pencils or powders, I do always use eyebrow gel. It’s ideal for creating a well-groomed look and keeping any stragglers in check without any palaver.

Since I’m a rather more discerning purchaser now than I was in my teens, I’ve moved on from the Constance Carroll version and have spent the last while alternating between Benefit Speed Brow and MAC Brow Set.

Benefit offer their brow gel in a choice of 3 shades, and it’s the more heavy duty of the two. It dries to what feels like an almost crunchy, hard, yet natural-looking finish – your eyebrows are goin’ nowhere with this stuff! After a couple of months of use, though, the clear version goes cloudy with what little make-up is picked up by the applicator brush, which translates into gunky opaque gel that looks obvious and streaky on the brows and is difficult to work with.

The MAC equivalent, on the other hand, does no such thing. Nor does it dry to the same über-set finish of Benefit’s gel, so whichever of its 5 shades you opt for it should hold all but the most unruly eyebrows in place!