K-Beauty Hack: This is why Koreans like using real pencils on their eyebrows
If you're part of a Facebook beauty group, chances are you saw the viral post of a Staedtler pencil (used for drawing) was used as eyebrow pencil. While most people might be amused then dismiss it as another crazy hack, I was reminded of an old Get It Beauty episode that featured the famous Korean makeup artists Son Daesik and Park Taeyoon of Son&Park fame. They talked about how they actually use Prismacolour Ebony Pencils for drawing eyebrows!
Fellow writer Kristel (who was based in Seoul for a time) has also mentioned seeing this art material in Olive Young stores and its popularity among Koreans beauty fans - they consider this to be the perfect gray brow pencil. As someone who likes to sketch in her spare time, I was intrigued by this concept so dipped into my pencil case of art materials and decided to try it for myself!
Now before anyone worries, pencils don't actually have any lead content. The "lead" point is actually a mix of clay and graphite, or carbon powder. Pencils are generally non-toxic and are safe to use on human skin, though of course it's best to keep it from getting into your eyes or breaks in the skin to be safe.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Prismacolour Ebony in any of the art stores I visited so I decided to use normal graphite pencil that approximates it instead. Pencil grades range from usually a 6H to as deep as 8B. This grading is indicative of the amount of clay to graphite mix. A higher H will correspond to thinner, stiffer, greyer pencil “lead” while a higher B will correspond to a thicker, softer, blacker pencil “lead”. Since I need it to adhere to skin, I chose a 4B pencil (price ranges from P15 to P100 at National Bookstore) that looked to be the nearest gray shade for black hair, and a darker and softer 9XXB pencil from General’s (about P78 from Deovir Art Supply Store).
The stiffness of the 4B pencil (Coleen’s 4B is a bit darker and lead consistency is not as good) felt just right for drawing hair-like strokes on my brows. Make sure to NOT to use a pencil with a very sharp point as this is abrasive on the skin. I prefer to use a cutter to hone the tip but you can also use a traditional pencil sharpener the dull the point a bit by hatching it on paper.
The 4B actually doesn't look so bad by itself but it's a dull gray so I add the deeper 9XXB shade towards the ends of the eyebrows to match my jet black hair. I used these pencils (in varying grades and brands) for more than a week to try them out, and I am more than impressed by their performance! No matter what brand I used, my kilay would stay on all day. And by that, I mean that I am out for ~13 hours every day, with at least 4 hours of commute each time! The pencils don’t easily slip and the gray-black shade isn't harsh but looks oh-so-natural!
Will I continue using this drawing pencils for my brows? Actually, yes! I really like how they match my hair color and make my brow makeup look so natural. They often much cheaper than actual brow pencils, too!
Would you dare to try this hack?
