Benefit Gimme Brow Review and Swatches

Its funny, I never really used to care about my brows. But with brow icons like Cara Delevigne around, its hard not to pay attention anymore. My brows are far from perfect, but Benefit's new Gimme Brow is supposed to fix less than perfect and sparse brows! 

 Gimme Brow ($22) is an Allure Best of Beauty 2013 winner and one of the newest products from Benefit, which is such a fun brand. I chose the shade light/medium and there is one other choice, a darker brunette. I have what anyone would say is brunette hair, but it is tinted red from my recent adventures as a red head and so I have a little bit of warm/caramel tones. Needless to say it is kinda hard to find a shade that matches. Most of the time, blonder shades match well, and this shade is a decent fit, but maybe a little too warm. 

 

The Gimme Brow is a gel-like formula that has visible fibers (as you can see on the swatch above), and is applied with a very small spoolie brush. It does have a bit of a wet look but dries down.

 

Benefit claims it is waterproof and smudgeproof, which I found to be true for the 12 hours I tested it. It is supposed to create the look of thicker, fuller brows--and yes it does! However, it isn't really a substitute for creating brows where there aren't any. I still need a pencil for that. But this in conjunction with a pencil is great!

 

 

This little guy is actually really tiny for the price, which kinda kills me. However, you don't need much and it will last a while. I really do like that this mimics the look of hair, so it is very natural looking.

 

Want to see my before and after? Don't judge my brows too hard!

 

 

My brows are pretty light, have a gentle arch, and aren't always the neatest, but they do for now.

 

Now, lets add one application of Gimme Brow (no other product/pencil)

 

Thicker? Definitely? Looks like more hair too! But the sparser patch isn't covered with the gel and the pigment of the gel makes it look a little messy. I think this is a great finishing product for decent brows, but not a miracle worker if you don't have any!

 

Overall, I like that Gimme Brow is a fast way to amp up my brows---but I rarely ever use it alone. It does last through pretty much anything, but the gel-like consistency can make it a little messy looking without some definition from another product.

Pleased, but not overly psyched.

 

What do you think? Have you tried Benefit Gimme Brow?