Eyebrow Microblading (Embroidery) Review + Before & After

Eyebrow Microblading Review + Before & After

I recently got my eyebrows microbladed, after years of trying to draw them on consistently. You might have noticed them in my YouTube videos and selfies – I’ve gotten so many unsolicited compliments on them! Brows are probably the thing I find the most annoying in my make-up routine, and I’m not alone. Even drag queens who do their own …

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Face of Australia Precision Brow Pencil review

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Face of Australia Precision Brow Pencil review

Having undyed East Asian hair means your brow pencils need a strong grey tone to make sure your brows don’t look like face paint. I’ve been using The Face Shop’s Love ME:EX Design My Eyebrow pencil exclusively because it’s next to impossible to find a brown brow pencil in-store in Australia that’s affordable and doesn’t pull red (Korean brands have some affordable and nicely coloured brow pencils, but shipping takes a while). I was super excited when Face of Australia launched their new  Precision Brow Pencils, which are are based on a similar concept to The Face Shop’s version.

These are wind-up pencils with firm triangular tips that you can angle to draw thin lines, or fill in large areas quickly. They also have a spoolie on the other end which lets you groom your brows, rub out mistakes, soften dark parts and blend out harsh lines.

There are two shades available – Blonde (left) and Taupe (right).

Face of Australia Precision Brow Pencil review

I was most excited about the taupe shade, which was a brown colour that didn’t pull too red. Here’s a comparison with some Asian “Gray Brown” brow pencils:

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Korean Gray-Brown Brow Pencil Comparison

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I have undyed East Asian hair, so it’s hard to find a good brow product in stores in Australia. Luckily the Asian beauty market has it covered with tons of grey-brown options! I couldn’t find many comparison swatches online so I ended up buying a whole stack of “Gray Brown” pencils from a range of Korean brands (The Face Shop, Missha, A’pieu, Skinfood, Tonymoly, Lioele) from RoseRoseShop, and swatched them to show the difference. I hope this helps someone with the same dilemma!

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Here are the “Gray Brown” products I swatched:

A’pieu Nature Easy Eyebrow Pencil in Gray Brown
Tonymoly Lovely Eyebrow Pencil in Gray Brown
Skinfood Black Bean Eyebrow Pencil in Gray Brown
The Face Shop Lovely ME:EX Design My Eyebrow in Gray Brown
The Face Shop Lovely ME:EX Design My Eyebrow in Dark Gray
Lioele Auto Eyebrow in Gray Black
Missha The Style Perfect Eyebrow Styler in Gray Brown
A’pieu Harutatoo Brow in Dark Brown

Asian-brow-pencil-comparison-grey-brown

Since my hair is undyed, the roots of my hair and brows are naturally grey-tinged. Pretty much all of the affordable brown brow pencils designed for brunettes in Australia pull too red, while black pencils are too dark, so they both look pretty unnatural. There are a few OK products on the market, but they’re few and far between, so I’ve been using The Face Shop ME:EX Design My Eyebrow in Gray Brown as my everyday brow pencil, while my sister uses the same pencil in Dark Gray. The shades are very similar, though Gray Brown has a subtle brown tone.

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Crop Natural Skincare Cosmetics Review

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Crop Natural Skincare launched their skincare range in Coles late last year, and now they’re launching a cosmetics range. It’s surprisingly comprehensive, with 28 new products (including a brush).

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Natural Mineral Pressed Blush ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Bouquet, in a black compact with a clear window

Natural Mineral Pressed Bronzer ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Solaire, in the same packaging

Natural Mineral Pressed Highlighter ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Aura, in the same packaging

2 in 1 Folding Mineral Kabuki Brush ($20) – Slanted synthetic fibre brush that folds together with a magnetic closure, or folds out into a flat fan shape for contouring.

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Natural Tinted Lip Balm ($16 for 2.49 g) – Comes in  Tulip (pale pink) and Berry (mauve pink), in wooden pencil form

Natural Lipstick ($18 for 3 g) – Comes in Spice (orange pink) and Plum (mauve pink), comes in black bullet packaging with Crop symbol in a matching colour

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Korean cosmetics haul

I’ve been skeptical of Asian cosmetics and skincare for a long time, mainly because I can’t read the ingredients labels. But I recently discovered CosDNA, a database which contains the ingredients listings for thousands of Korean products, and armed with that info, I went on a haul just before I left Australia. The main thing I like about Asian cosmetics …

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Rave review: Benefit Gimme Brow

Brows are such a pain in the arse. I specifically grew my fringe so I wouldn’t have to deal with them. That’s a lie, actually – it’s also because I have a freakishly large forehead, but the brows were a big factor too. And after years of hearing my beauty-obsessed friends talk about how brows are the most important facial …

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