Tarte EmphasEYES for Brows

I am all about the brow pencil. Since I'm a natural blonde with blonde eyebrows, I really have no choice but to pencil them in every day or I look a little freakish. Since brows are such a necessary part of my routine, I'm always on the lookout for a good brow pencil. Although brow pencils are not exactly glamorous, they are vital to any beauty routine. Brows frame the eyes and the face, and done correctly they can make a world of difference in your finished look. Tarte's EmphasEYES Waterproof Brow Pencil is probably the best I've ever tried. 

EmphasEYES Brow Pencil is pretty typical in its packaging. It's a very narrow, waxy pencil with a spoolie on the end for grooming purposes.

I like to use the spoolie not just for grooming my brows (which don't really need to be groomed), but for blending the color out for a more natural appearance. Since I have to color in the entire brow instead of just penciling in a few hairs, it helps to blend everything out to keep it from looking harsh. It also brushes the color through the actual hair, coloring it brown as well. 

There are a couple of things I absolutely love about this pencil that make it stand out from the rest. First, there's the color, which is a very neutral brown without a hint of red--very important with my almost-black, neutral hair color. Second, there's the fact that this is the roll-up type of pencil rather than the type that needs to be sharpened. No wasting product in a sharpener, no dealing with blunt ends. Yay! And finally, there's the fact that the formula is extremely hard, making it easy to control the intensity of the color. Even as hard as it is, though, the color transfers to the brow easily, unlike some of the other hard pencils on the market (I'm looking at you, Anastasia). It's also extremely narrow, which you can't really tell in the below picture, but I took a shot in the hopes that it would give you some idea: 

You can see how narrow the pencil is in the top photo of this post, when comparing it to the box. The narrowness allows you to draw true hairlike lines, allowing you to control the amount of color you apply and keeping it from getting too dark or obvious. 

Bottom Line: Tarte EmphasEYES Brow Pencil is, by far, my favorite brow pencil on the market, bar none. It's waterproof, so it stays put once applied, and the color is natural-looking. Color intensity can be manipulated based on how hard you press on the pencil, making this a very versatile product, suitable for most hair colors. Unfortunately, at this time there is no auburn version, so redheads may be out of luck. Despite that, I have to say this one is as close to perfection as they come.