Review of Philosophy Divine Perfectly Defined Brow Kit

Pros

Cons

Recently I was contacted with the opportunity to test some of Philosophy’s new products from their Divine Illumination Color Collection. Among the products for review are the Divine Long-Wear Lip Color, Divine Color Tint for Cheeks and Lips and the Divine Perfectly Defined Brow Kit. I began my testing with the brow kit because brows are a big focus this spring, and no matter what the season or trend your eyebrows help to frame your face. So having a good pencil or kit is a must-have for everyone. The question is whether the Philosophy Divine Perfectly Defined Brow Kit is the one to have.

First I tested the brow pencil, which came in the shade Brunette. I liked how the pencil was dual-ended with a slim stiff-bristled brow brush. This makes it much easier to blend the eyebrow color, and to quickly groom your brows as well. I also liked the idea of adding a pencil sharpener to the box as well. This was specifically important since the brow pencil is slim, and most of us do not own a slim pencil sharpener. So the overall thought of the brow pencil was good, but how well did it actually work? The pencil is a hardened powder formula, which is nice because it allows for a smooth and effortless application. The powder formulation also helps in applying quick strokes, which mimic natural eyebrow hairs. Using the brow pencil alone, however, did not give all-day staying power which I was used to achieving with my drugstore brand brow pencil. Looking past the staying power how was the overall color? Philosophy only has two shades to choose from; Blonde and Brunette. Their thought is that Blonde is a soft taupe-like shade that can be used for both warm and cool undertones, and should be perfect for hair shades of gray, white, light blonde, dark blonde and red. The Brunette shade is supposed to work well with warm and cool undertones of gray, light brown, dark brown and black hair colors. My hair is dark brown with copper to dark blonde highlights. My brows, of course, are dark brown which technically should match to the shade of Brunette. I really liked the color on my brows, and it did blend very well and look extremely natural. I could see me using this to “bush up” my brows for spring trends as well. I loved the brow pencil by itself and the texture was amazing, but I do have to admit that it still did not beat my favorite brow pencil from the drugstore.

So how did the brow gel work alone, and with the brow pencil? First of all, I do not like brow gels. I don’t personally use them, and I find them to be overkill when it comes to my eyebrows. For some reason I think back to my time in middle school when my mother would only permit me to use a clear brow gel instead of a brow pencil. Basically even though the formulation has improved I do not believe I should have used a clear gel then nor should I use a tinted gel now. But putting my personal thoughts aside I decided to go ahead with the test of the Divine Tinted Brow Gel. First I tested the product alone which didn’t leave me brows feeling crunchy, and actually filled them in slightly which was nice. The second time I tried it after I used the Divine Brow Pencil. This was overkill for me, and I did not like how dark and thick it made my eyebrows look. The formula is nice because it doesn’t leave your brows feeling stiff or fake, and the bristles on the wand are the perfect size for filling in your brows. Overall I could see myself using the brow gel alone on days where I have seconds to fix my brows, but I would not use it in combination with the pencil. Perhaps if my hair was darker then I may use them together, but for now it is too much for my lightened hair color.

Gone are the old-school brow gels of the 90s. Philosophy’s Tinted Brow Gel has changed my outlook on brow gels in general, but when using it with a pencil your brows may look more Groucho Marx than Elizabeth Taylor. Overall it’s nice to save money with the kit, but in this economy you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it.