Last week in the middle of all my beauty product sale posts, I stumbled across something that looked familiar but.. not. It was weird. I thought I would probably hate it, but I had to test it anyway.
I had seen this product before maybe once or twice on Instagram, but it’s not very popular. It’s the sister (or cousin) of one of my holy grail products–the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (highlighter in the Stila Sale Blog here).
Naturally, I had to test it out… for the blog!
I am forever in love with the Anastasia Brow Wiz; how could anything dethrone my first brow love?! Let’s see how she did:
Review: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
Side note: I was Sephora shopping on Tuesday night and had it in hand by Friday. You gotta love Sephora’s flash shipping!
Initial Thoughts: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
At first I was hesitant: it looks like an eyeliner pen! How could it possibly blend into my brows?! I imagined drawing on my brows with a Sharpie.. and looking like it. Cringe-worthy!
The Stay All Day Eyeliner is awesome. It’s a felt tipped pen that’s always wet, highly pigmented, just glides on–and stays on. No matter how I turned it around in my head, I couldn’t see this working for brows.
Did I even choose the right color!? How could I really know?! It’s not as highly reviewed as other similar products.
I was pretty sure I was setting my 21 dollars on fire.
*click* Purchased.
Test Drive: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
Alright. It’s here. Nobody’s home, so I won’t be ridiculed if it looks horrible. I’m excited! Let’s do this.
I love the Japanese-calligraphy style pens. The precision is amazing. They’re sturdy and reliable, and artistic. What I was worried about was how pigmented the pen would be; if it really stays all day like it’s eyeliner sister, it’s gonna get messy, because I am not all that artistic, even if the pen is.
Before I started, I decided to draw a brow on my hand, to see the consistency and precision of the pen, and also test the “stay all day” claim. When I popped it open I was surprised to find that the brow pen’s ink was more watery than it’s eyeliner counterpart. I drew a few brows on my hand before I got comfortable with the pen. Now onto the real thing:
Per usual, I started on the inner corners, lightly drawing brow strokes in. One issue with the watercolor property of this ink is that precise strokes quickly blend into the skin, making them look much less precise. So it already lacked one superpower that the Brow Wiz holds.
This wasn’t your typical powder or pencil – this was a bona fide temporary brow dye.
Along the more full parts of my brows, the ink blended in perfectly. You couldn’t even see that I had makeup on. It was almost as if the pen was fulling in the bare spots between hairs while dying my brows. This wasn’t your typical powder or pencil – this was a bona fide temporary brow dye.
I was starting to like it.. a lot.
This brow pen struck me as a good product for those on-the-go: 5 minute makeup routines, moms on the go, touch-ups throughout the day. It’s low-key, low-maintenance. I liked that.
Again, it was kind of like a dye. It didn’t look like I had brow product on at all, except that I noticed my brows were a bit darker. I was rocking a Cara Delevingne-esque vibe and I loved it.
Staying Power: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
As much as I believed in the Stay All Day Eyeliner, I was convinced that the brow color couldn’t hold up.
Anastasia does a decent job, but I am not a Barbie doll; I’m not sitting around waiting for Ken to get home, looking perfect. I am a sweaty, sweaty human being that runs around in the summer and does things with her life. If my makeup could last through all that unscathed, I would be really surprised.
Strangely, the Stila Eyeliner (with eye primer) does hold up through all that. Still, I wasn’t going to let myself by fooled, just because they have the same manufacturer and they’re part of the same product line. Stay all day? On my brows? Nope. Not possible. Ha!
So this is what I did immediately after I applied the brow color:
– Cleaned the yard (picked up sticks, mowed) in 90 degree heat
– Peeled 2 lbs of frozen shrimp
– Cooked dinner / entertained
AND THE BROW COLOR WAS STILL SITTING THERE ON MY HANDS!!!! Through all of that! The eyebrow that I had drawn was still sitting there like, “What? What did you expect?” It was slightly faded, but my brows themselves were perfection.
I was sending Snapchats to my friends like, “LOOK AT THESE BROWS LADIES!” All day. On point.
Here’s my t=0 and t=10 (before + after) pics:
Repeating this for my hand (t=0, t=10):
The lighting isn’t great (t=10 was at 2am), so it’s hard to tell, but I think my brows made it out better than my hand. That’s not surprising at all, given everything I did. I am just astounded that my t=0 and t=10 brows look the same! Really good stuff.
Value: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
Is it worth it?! Well, given that all of my brow products are usually $20, I’d have to say yes
As for how long one pen lasts–that is to be determined. I saw one reviewer on Sephora saying it’s awesome but only lasts 2 weeks. We will see about that.
In any case, it’s got to be a better traveler than my Brow Wiz. Everytime I take the Brow Wiz anywhere, the pencil snaps in half because it’s too thin! That sucker is $22, and to just break like that! Ugh.The Stila eyeliner has made it through a dozen or more world roundtrips, so I know the Brow Color will be alright.
Overview: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color
I am seriously impressed with this product. The underdog really pulled through. Congrats, Stila! This Stay All Day Brow Color is for the high-maintenance brow ladies looking for a low-maintenance day product. Follow your natural brows, swipe it on and go. It’ll still be there when you get home.
More Brow Resources
If you’re looking for a natural way to get fuller brows, so your Stila brow color doesn’t have to work so hard, look no further than our WINK lash and brow oil (here).
For additional brow resources, click on any of the blogs in the sidebar or one of the links below:
- How Long Does it Take Brows to Grow Back?
- How to Get Fuller-Looking Brows.. Instantly
- Eyebrow Implants: Should you try them?
- Brow Enhancing Serums: Do they work?
- Top 10 reasons for Eyebrow Loss + What to do about it
- Hot new trend: Brow Highlights
- Finding the Best Eyebrow Shape for your Face
- Weird Tips for Making your Brows Grow
- WINK lash and brow oil reviews
- FREE Download: The Amalie Brow Bible
