My brows are naturally on the thinner side, so I prefer to give ’em as much oomph and drama as humanly possible. Typically, this requires a costly, time-consuming, and comprehensive brow routine that involves a whole slew of eyebrow pencils, gels, waxes, pomades, and powders. That was until I found my new eyebrow saving graces. Meet the two newest additions to the Benefit brow family: Precisely, My Brow Full Pigment Sculpting Wax and Precisely, My Brow Microfine Brow Detailing Pencil.
This combo has majorly streamlined and simplified by brow routine, and since I started using it back in November, I’ve been getting nonstop compliments and questions about my new look: “What’s on your brows!!” “When did your eyebrows get so full!?!” “Wait, did you get eyebrow extensions???” Constantly singing the praises of my new routine and sharing the magic behind my new brows has honestly become exhausting, so I’m sharing a full rundown of the products, how I use them, and why they’re so good for y’all below.
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Detailing Pencil
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Wax
Lemme quickly tell ya all about my brows though. The actual hairs are very fine (just like the lil bb ones on my head), which generally makes them look a bit sparse. I rarely pluck or wax them these days—only about twice a year when they’re looking a bit too grown-out for my liking. Because of this, I mostly always fill them in with a pencil to even out the shape, as there are a few spots throughout each brow that look entirely uneven without some penciling. Sure, brows are supposed to be sisters, not twins, but mine without anything on them are more like second cousins once removed. Then, because my fine hairs naturally love to point straight down, I brush them through with a wax or gel. Which is exactly why these two products seemed extremely intriguing before I put them to the test.
Pros
They both wear a very long time.
I’m so impressed with the wear time I get when I use these two products together and separately. Let’s be real: The two most important things a brow product needs is to be easy to use and to not require touch-ups. No way am I stashing a brow pencil in my bag to extend my tail or build up color throughout the day like I do a lipstick or cream blush. But to my shock, this pencil didn’t budge through an extremely sweaty hot-yoga class. Plus, every teeny-tiny hair stayed in place from 8 a.m. when I swiped it on to 10 p.m. when I got home for the day.
The gel isn’t too pigmented.
More often than not, pigmented eyebrow gels have *too* much pigment, making them messy and unnatural looking. But this Benefit wax has just enough pigment to add some volume to my brow hairs without completely filling them in. TBH, this was the only brow gel I took home for a two-week trip to visit my family, which as a beauty editor, means I really frickin’ like it. It’s the perfect daily product to brush through when I want to look put-together without taking more than 30 seconds. It gives them some volume to make them a bit fluffier but doesn’t add too much gunk or color to them either.
I also love the shape of the spoolie on this—it’s really easy to get into my brows to shape and brush them up. It’s not too small that I have to run it through my hairs a bajillion times to see any difference nor is it too large that it just leaves streaks all over my upper eyelid. And it’s pretty sturdy, which definitely helps comb through and keep my hairs in place.
Both products pair well together or work great separately.
Sure, I pair my Benefit brow products together, and they’re great like that. Because this pencil is ultra-thin, it’s great for filling in bb areas, while the pigmented wax adds a lil fluff to my brows and some shape. They’re a match made in heaven, tbh.
But I’ve also used both on their own so many times with other go-to brow pencils and gels/waxes, and they’re still so easy to use. When I want a more intense brow, I’ll opt for a thicker pencil (Benefit Gimme Brow Pencil and Lawless Shape Up Soft Fill Eyebrow Pencil are great for this) to roughly shape my brows and fill in sparse areas, then go over it with the wax. Or if I want a really natural-looking brow, I’ll just fill in ever so slightly with the detailing pencil, then go over it with a clear gel (I <3 Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting and Laminating Eyebrow Gel, FYI) to set them in place. In general, they’ve both been really great additions to my brow collection and filled a lot of gaps.
Cons
The pencil can take some finessing to use.
Because the pencil tip is so micro-fine, you really have to twist it up in a very precise (hehe) way, or else it’s just gonna snap off. You only need the tiniest bit of product poking out from the top of the pencil (see image below for a demo) to swipe it onto your skin. Once I figured this out, it was pretty smooth sailing, but I wasted a little bit of product at first when it just broke off when I twisted it too high. Also, you def have to watch how much pressure you use. You barely need to press this against your skin—pressing too hard will also cause it to break, IMO. Treat her like the precious angel she is, k?!
The bottom line:
Overall, I am pretty frickin’ obsessed with this duo. And if you’re not in the market for two prods, don’t worry—just grab the one that works the best with your current routine and brow goals. But if you like ’em bushy, defined, and ~snatched~, as the kids say, layer on the precise pencil and wax, take some selfies, and pls tag me so we can wax poetic about how good our brows look together.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
