What’s brow gel to you? Well to me it is one of the more essential parts of my makeup look. My brows can be a bit unruly and I love using a brow gel to set them in place. Whether I decide to fill in my brows or not, I will not leave the house with a little bit of tinted brow gel. So it’s essential for me that a brow gel is quick and easy to use. Will L’Oreal Brow Artist Plumper fit the bill?

L’Oreal Brow Artist Plumper Light/ Medium

When this first released it got some glowing reviews. That made me want to try it, but it took some time for me to get my hands on it. The reason? The price point. This brow gel retails for €11.99. That’s right! And to me that was a bit steep, no matter how wonderful this is. I mean, one of my favorite brow gels is the Essence Make Me Brow and that is €2.59. This is nearly 4 times more expensive.

The Packaging

My Brow Artist Plumper has the older, silver colored packaging. By now this comes in a black tube. The tube looks very much like a mascara tube and that is inconvenient. This tube has the same shape and size as the L’Oreal Paradise Extatic/ Lash Paradise mascara and it happens to me when I grab one instead of the other when doing my makeup. Luckily, I haven’t made the mistake of putting mascara in my brows yet, but it is a bit of a nuisance.

The Applicator

What eventually made me cave was the size of the wand. The applicator is a very small spoolie that has a triangular shape to it. One end is more tapered than the other and I figured it would be the perfect size for a brow product. I mean, everyone hated on the ball shape of the Maybelline Brow Drama, but I actually like that. I just prefer brow gels that come with a precise wand.

The Swatch

The L’Oreal Brow Artist is a tinted brow gel. It also comes in clear, but I prefer my brow gels tinted. If I’m in a hurry, I can get away just wearing the brow gel and be done. However, I like adding a bit more tint to my brows and clear brow gels start looking gross after about 2 applications. So tinted it is.

Color wise I can’t complain. I find it perhaps a tad too warm toned: a pet peeve of mine when it comes to brow products. There aren’t many brands out that that nail a good tinted brow gel for light colored hair. In terms of color, my favorite has to be the Catrice Filler & Definer, but this works quite well. The color sheers out once applied and it doesn’t look crazy.

My main problem with this brow gel? The texture. Can you see in the swatch how wet this is? I figured the product would dry up a bit (like a regular mascara would), but no after weeks of use, this product is still as wet as the first day I started using it. And that wouldn’t be a big problem if it didn’t mean that this. stuff. goes. everywhere. The number of times I have to clean up after using this is ridiculous. The wet texture makes it easy to overapply this and if you weren’t aware: clumpy, spidery brows are a thing and it’s not a good look.

The Application

When keeping a separate spoolie at hand and some tissue paper, the issues can easily be resolved. I like the end result this gives. My brows definitely look fuller, it does NOT make my brows go crispy, and this stays put all day. Sadly, the faffing about with the application is just not worth my time. And to cap things off, I have been using this for close to 2 months and it is already going bad. By now, it is starting to develop a not so pleasant odor. This is an issue I have with many brow gels, but when one is this expensive, I was hoping it would stick around a little bit longer.

The Conclusion

While the L’Oreal Brow Artist Plumper gets the job done, this is not my favorite brow gel. It is expensive for what it is and it is messy to use. I would gladly revert back to my much cheaper Essence Make Me Brow. It is not only cheaper, it also lasts longer (didn’t expire until I used it up completely) and it gives the same effect, but without the mess. So no, I will not repurchase this when this runs out.

What is your favorite brow gel?