There's nothing quite as satisfying as a good budget beauty buy. A smaller budget doesn't have to mean missing out altogether. There are so many affordable options out there that you will find what you want at a price that works for you - you just might have to look a bit harder.
We recently featured some products by budget brand W7 - their Natural Nudes Eye Palette is embarrassingly similar to our beloved Urban Decay Naked Palette, and their affordable contouring kit, while failing to wow, is pretty good.
I like the fact that their products tend to come in the form of multi-taskers or little kits. You also get serious bang for your buck; the volume of product given the price is excellent.
I got my mitts on this nifty little Brow Bar kit from W7. Equipped with four brow powders, three brow stencils of varying thickness, two brushes and a spoolie (for brushing brows through at the end of application), this kit theoretically has everything you need to create a strong brow. At €4.95, I had very high hopes for it - I do love a good eyebrow.
In general, I'm not a fan of brow stencils - if you know how to apply brow products well, you don't need a stencil. If you don't know how, you'll probably just colour in the whole thing and end up with a big scary Scouse brow. We've all been there. Eyebrow application in the dark is a risky business.
The stencil should really just be a guide. Filling in your brows should be a matter of following the natural shape of what you've got, filling in gaps, and embellishing a little where needed. This will get you a full, natural looking brow. So I used the stencil, but I didn't really like it - it's fussy and creates a more extreme look than I am comfortable with.
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W7's Brow Bar disappointed me for a number of reasons. It may sound weird, but I consider my brow brush to be the most important in my makeup kit. The bristles need to be smooth but firm (with a little give). I don't want them to be sharp or floppy, or to have a crispy synthetic feel to them. You need to be able to create smoothe lines, so a good quality angled brush with an even edge is essential.
Red Eyebrows, Anyone?I'm not going to hold the fact that the kit's brushes are poor against it - it's too affordable to contain amazing brushes, but the brow powders are also very underwhelming. The two brown shades for use on the brow hairs have a red undertone. Brow application 101 dictates: No red in the brows unless you're a redhead! It just looks weird. The powders are also not very opaque - you have to build them for a while to get a strong finish and the effect is still a little streaky. I like to whack on eyebrow makeup in two minutes max. This took much longer.
Spending less is important to everyone, but spending less on something that isn't very good is still spending more than you should. Take your fiver and spend it on Minstrels instead. They'll never let you down!
Here are Aisling's brow kit recommendations if you're in the market for a new one.
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Have you tried this kit from W7? What are your thoughts on brow stencils - yay or nay? To the comments!
