Hey, guys!
How is the last week of October going for you?
Anastasia has long been the definitive eye and brow expert for icons such as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Oprah; as well as hip up-and-comers like Dianna Agron, Selena Gomez, and Kristin Cavallari and has recently expanded into colors that match their superior standards for skincare based cosmetics.
Anastasia of Beverly Hills products have recently been added to all Sephora stores in the United States. Our make up plus approach always has the importance of skin care at the base of our clinically tested cosmetic formulas.
I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to review their Beauty Express Brow Kit. :)
Beauty Express = Shape Magazine Beauty Award Winner!!!
We are the winner of the Best Brow Product in the 2011 Beauty Awards in the current issue of Shape Magazine!
Their brow kits are sold on
www.anastasia.net and are also available at all
Sephora stores.
The kit comes in blonde (pictured above) and brunette (the one I got).
Their shipping was fairly quick -- I received my eyebrow kit within a week or so.
I love the packaging!
It comes in this "sliding box" that protects the actual kit inside.
I literally gasped when I saw and touched the exterior of the eyebrow kit!
Why? Take a look:
How awesome, right?
It's so pretty!
But of course, if you're gonna buy this eyebrow kit, you're not just buying it for the pretty exterior, right?
So let's get on with what's inside.
Beauty Express for Brows and Eyes
All-in-one kit with instructions straight from Anastasia!
The kit contains:
0.04oz BROW WAX CREAM
0.05oz BROW POWDER DUO
2 x 0.056 EYESHADOW DUO
1 ANGLED BRUSH
5 STENCILS
(full arch, high arch, medium arch, petite arch, and slim high arch)
Instructions:
-Choose the stencil that fits your brow structure the best.
-Apply the brow powder using the angled brush.
-Remove the stencil and tweeze the hairs outside the powdered area.
-Apply the brow wax cream using the angled brush for a perfect shape.
-Apply the cream highlighter with your finger to the brow bone.
These instructions are a bit condensed, more detailed instructions are printed on the actual kit.
I actually find it quite interesting that the directions on the paper slip are in French, while the ones next to the mirror are in English. ;)
Anyway, moving on...
The directions are straight-forward and are easy to follow.
It's very important to pick the stencil that is closest to your brow structure. There are 5 to choose from -- at first, I was a bit worried that there wasn't gonna be one that is right for me, but I found it... so I think it's safe to say that there should be one that is close to your brow structure. I chose between petite arch and medium arch, and I used the medium one.
The brow shaping tools -- specifically the stencils, brow wax cream, and angled brush -- are all excellent.
The only problem I had with the stencils is it's hard to hold it in place while applying the brow powder. I suggest asking someone to help you with it to ensure that the stencil stays in place.
After following Anastasia's instructions, here are my newly-shaped eyebrows:
This is my very first try and as you guys can probably see, it's not 100% perfect. And at this point, I'm still kinda experimenting with my brow shape. I think I'm gonna try the petite arch next just to see which one is better for me. I also never really shaped my own eyebrows before (it's either my sister who does it, or I have it done elsewhere), so I have some more practicing to do before I achieve the right shape for my face.
For now though, I love the shape of my eyebrows, and I think that this eyebrow kit is the best tool a girl can own.
However, I did have one problem with it: the brown shades on my brow powder duo were too dark and harsh for me. At first, I thought it was just me not being used to my new eyebrows... plus, I did like the full brow look, so I decided to just go out and see how it goes. As you can see in the picture above, my eyebrows weren't that dark yet. The weird thing was it seemed to get darker and darker as the night went on -- and I just wasn't comfortable with the color.
I went to Sephora, and I immediately went to the Anastasia of Beverly Hills section.
I saw that they had other brow powder duo shades available:
The brow powder duo that came with my eyebrow kit was the "brunette/ dark brown" one. I think I am more of a "medium ash/ medium brown".
It's such a relief that I can get a different shade because I really do love my eyebrow kit. The shaping aspect is excellent, and when I get the right shade for me, the kit will be absolutely perfect.
So now, there's the problem: I don't think we have a choice of which shades to get with our eyebrow kit because there are only two choices -- blonde or brunette.
Hopefully in the future, we can have the other shades above as choices for our eyebrow kit because it's a hassle to have to go and buy a different one.
But other than that, there is no denying that the Anastasia Beauty Express Brow Kit is a really good product to have. I think every girl should have one.
For $39.50, I think it's worth every cent.
The quality is amazing and it will last a long time.
If like me, you need to get a different brow powder duo, Sephora sells them at $22 each.
You can also get the stencils for $20.
Do you have the Anastasia Beauty Express Brow Kit? What do you think of it?
Do you shape your own brows? Is this something you might want to buy?
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Here is a video of Anastasia herself demonstrating how to use the Beauty Express Brow Kit:
