Budget Beauty: Five micro-tip eyebrow pencils to try under 400 pesos
A micro-tip brow pencil has always been my weapon of choice when it comes to doing my kilay. It’s easier to draw fine, hair-like strokes with a slim tip so I’m able to achieve the naturally #blessed brow look - just the way I like it!
A good micro-tip pencil to me should meet these three criteria:
It should have just the right amount of pigment. Each stroke should glide on without skipping, but should not be too dark lest I end up with sharpie brows.
It should be harder than it is creamy. The hardness allows the tip to stay sharp and pointed, thus allowing clean and defined hair-like strokes each time.
It shouldn’t be brittle. Ain’t nobody got time for a pencil that keeps breaking, amirite?
I've used up my fave Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil (P1,660 for 0.08g) down to the last dot and I’m currently using the Anastasia Brow Wiz (P1,465 for 0.085g) which I also love. IMHO these two are perfection, but they both also cost more than I’d like to cough up for a brow product. If like me, you’re looking for a pocket-friendly alternative, or just prefer micro-tip pencils in general, these five drugstore finds might be worth a try!
Careline Wow Brow Liner (P150)
Available shades: Cocoa (warm brown), Almond (gray brown)
The Careline Wow Brow Liner is a dual ended brow pencil with a micro tip on one end and a teardrop tip on the other. You get more product out of your buck this way, but note that you’re also giving up a spoolie. The micro-tip end is creamier than I would prefer, so the tip gets rounded the more you use it. Rounded tips mean chubbier, less defined lines that look less like natural brow hairs.
Still, you can’t beat the P150 price tag. And oddly enough, I find that using the tip of the teardrop-shaped end gives you a bit more definition than the microtip.
This is the creamiest formula of the pencils I tried, so if you’re not careful, you might step back and find that you’ve drawn on too much. On the bright side, that makes it easier to draw on bolder brows. If you prefer stronger brows suitable for a full glam MOTD, this might just be your best bet.
Vice Gandoll Micro Brow (P199 for 0.10g)
Available shades: Light Brown (blonde brown), Soft Brown (warm brown), Natural Brown (dark neutral brown), Ash Brown (gray brown)
When I asked for hardness from a pencil, the Vice Gandoll Micro Brow delivered HARDNESS in capital letters. It’s too hard, and a bit lightly pigmented as a consequence, so I do have to press and drag it on my skin for it to show up.
That said, I would recommend this to (1) beginners who have a tendency to overdraw their brows, and (2) those with naturally full brows that only need the slightest help in terms of filling in and definition. I get why it’s ideally used as part of a two-piece Brow Kit (P375) with their tinted brow gel as the gel supplements the lack of pigmentation of the pencil when used alone.
Sunnies Face Lifebrow Skinny Pencil (P295 for 0.05g)
Available shades: Ash Brown, Warm Brown
Do I like the Sunnies Face Lifebrow? The simple answer is yes. I wish that I didn’t, but I do. All animosity for this brand aside, the Skinny Pencil actually performs pretty well. It delivers just the right amount of pigment and is hard enough so each stroke stays sharp and defined. I almost do not need to brush out with a spoolie to make it look more natural because it already is. I have no complaints except for the lack of a better shade option for natural Filipina hair. Out of all the pencils I tried for this story, Sunnies also happens to be the most expensive in terms of cost per gram.
H&M Superfine Browliner (P399 for 0.07g)
Available shades: Natural Black, Arabica Brown (warm brown), Dark Walnut Brown (dark gray brown), Caramel Brown (light taupe)
Swatched and worn side by side, it’s really hard to tell apart the H&M Superfine Browliner and the Sunnies Face Lifebrow Skinny Pencil. Looking at the ingredients list of both seems like playing a game of spot the difference. Like the Lifebrow, the Superfine Browliner has the right amount of pigment and draws on beautifully defined strokes. They’re both great pencils made by problematic brands.
One issue that I did encounter with this product that I didn’t with the rest is that this isn’t really buildable. Drawing on the same area multiple times can cause the product to bunch up in patches. You can brush it out with the spoolie, but you’d also lose the richness in pigmentation doing so. If you’re really extra, get two different shades so you can use a darker shade to define the tips and create a gradient as needed.
L.A. Girl Shady Slim Brow Pencil (P399 for 0.08g)
Available shades: Brunette (cool brown), Espresso (warm brown)
I was surprised to find out that this pencil was one of the most expensive of the bunch as L.A. Girl products are usually on the more affordable side. The Shady Slim Brow Pencil feels like a slightly creamier version of Sunnies and H&M. The tip does round out over time, but finding the right angle will give you cleaner and finer strokes. The creaminess also allows it to be more buildable so you can control pigmentation and darken where you need to. Just to nitpick, I do wish this had better packaging and was more aesthetically pleasing. They also carry 10 shades in the US but Watsons only seem to carry 2 shades.
With regards to wear time, I find that all five have generally decent wear. They stay on my oily skin for a whole 9-hour office shift with minimal to no fading, but none will survive a sweaty workout.
All pencils, except for Careline, have a pretty standard spoolie brush, with the Sunnies Lifebrow spoolie being marginally better than the rest. The spoolies do the work just fine but may feel just a *tiny bit* scratchy if you’re bougie and are used to Benefit or ABH.
As for brittleness, as long as you’re only twisting a small amount each time, none of this should break too often.
Do you swear by microtip brow pencils too? What’s your brand of choice?
Photography by Nicole Quindara
