i want/ i need?

i've been on a mission for the past few weeks to get crazy healthy skin, since for all my years previously i have greatly abused it (not washing my makeup off! no spf! picking at my face!). this mission has led me through several cleansers, face creams, primers and samples of possible candidates, but all roads lead to here. the clarisonic mia. it's the key. i need it.

oh the claims are so so promising. gotta start saving my nickels and dimes!

high brow

i've never quite realized it before, but i've amassed quite the load of makeup and beauty products. so in an effort to keep myself sifting through my inventory so i don't forget any old treasures, i'm gonna start reviewing some of my goods (oh, and to also increase consumer knowledge!). to kick off this round of reviewing, i'll start with Wet n' Wild's Arch Envy:

So I was compelled to buy this because my friend had recently bought the Anastasia Brow Fix pencil (which is amazing) and I wanted it so badly but couldn't really bring myself to spend $21 on brow gel. For some background, my eyebrows have a mind of their own. No they aren't crazy and un-tamed, but they like to spike up, spike down, spike sideways if they can throughout the day, so brow wax is like heaven to me. I used to use brow gel but I've had issues with it flaking, and that is never cute. SO, prowling through the aisles of Ulta for an alternative, I came upon this Wet n' Wild cheapo version and snagged it right up. Here's the brow wax side (obviously already used up a bit):

For the brow taming side, in comparison to the Anastasia pencil, it's definitely not as good. In terms of doing it's job for the price, it's pretty spot on. It applies easily and invisibly, and my brows for the most part stay in place (an occasional stray after several hours of work). I do have to say that after about 3 days of usage, this stuff wore down super fast, it made me wonder where all the product was going! The thing about the Anastasia pencil is that it has a more waxy consistency that practically glues your brows into place, but for Wet n' Wild's $2 price tag, I'll take my losses.

(brow liner swatches, L is slightly smudged, R is harder application)


Now for the brow liner part. This definitely does not get as much usage, pretty much for the sheer fact that it is completely the wrong color for me. My hair is black, and this brown color doesn't fade well into my stark black hair. In terms of consistency, it's really hard and not very easy to work with, so I'd much rather use eyeshadow for any brow filling I need.

Overall

For someone looking for a much much cheaper alternative to the Anastasia Brow Fix, I think this is a decent dupe. The brow color not matching was a bummer, but if you can find a color that matches your brows, even better! But considering I only really wanted the brow wax part of the pencil, I think $2 is still a nice deal. I am searching for a new replacement for my Wet n' Wild since I don't think it's gonna last me but another month, so I'll report back with some brow fixing finds.