Brow gel: a product that I have had a firm favorite for for years, namely the Essence Make Me Brow in Blondie Brows. It’s a product I have loved for years and no other brow gel I’ve tried can trump it. I have tried many cult favorites, from Glossier to Benefit and from Colourpop to ELF. I have tried brow gels at so many different price points and I still come back to the super cheap Essence one all the time. Catrice is Essence’s sister brand and while I love many of their products, their brow products have always been good enough but nothing to really reach ‘favorite’ status. Will the new Volume & Lift brow gel change that?
Review: Catrice Volume & Lift Brow Mascara 020 Blonde
In terms of price point, Catrice is a little bit more expensive than Essence, but not by much. In the case of this brow gel, the Catrice version is just one euro more expensive at €3.59. It also comes in 4 different shades, while the Essence is available in just two. So it definitely has more to offer. I comes in a transparent, clear shade as well as three color shades ranging from blonde to medium to dark brown. So Catrice definitely offers more in being more perfect for more different people. It can therefore be worth it to be paying just a little bit more.
What does this brow gel have to offer?
The Volume & Lift brow gel is a brow gel that looks and feels very similar to the Essence Make Me Brow. We get a super small spoolie that helps apply the product and this also promises to be waterproof. It should therefore be longwearing, give your brows more body and a bit of hold, while be nourishing at the same time. From what I can find, I don’t think this will be one of those brow gels that glues down your brows and makes them crispy and super dry. This brow gel is formulated with hydrating ingredients such as oils, waxes and glycerin to help condition your brows at the same time.
How does this brow gel swatch?
So swatching a brow gel may seem like a futile endeavor as it usually doesn’t really show up much on the skin, but it can help with showing you the texture as well as the shade. I don’t like my brow gels to be too warm toned as my natural hair color is blonde and my brows are a naturally cool toned dark blonde shade. So I prefer it if my brows are a bit more on the cool toned side and many affordable brow products have a tonne of red to them, which just looks off against my complexion. This, as you can see, is nicely cool toned. I love a brow gel with a tint as I feel it really finishes off my brows and transparent brow gels end up looking gross when you wear this over a brow pencil like I do.
How does the brow gel apply?
Here you can see the before and after of my brows with and without the Catrice Volume & Lift brow gel. As you can see, the brow gel does exactly what i promises to do. It adds volume, makes my brow hairs more lifted and just makes my brows look a bit bushier and a little bit more present. I don’t like my brows too neat as I feel it doesn’t really go with my overall aesthetic, so I prefer it if my brow gel makes my brows look a little undone and really combed up. I really like the shade of the product, as well as the texture. This really reminds me of the Essence Make Me Brow and I think I may actually prefer this a little bit. The reason? The spoolie has a taper making it super easy to hit every single brow hair. But the formula? I feel that is pretty much identical to the Essence one.
My final thoughts
The Catrice Volume & Lift brow gel is one that really has been one that I love. I have tried so many brow gels over the years that I felt just didn’t hold a candle to my favorite Essence one. This one however is close, if not even better. To really make such a bold claim as to whether this brow gel dethroned my all time favorite brow gel, I can’t say yet. I have gone through 4 – 5 tubes of the Essence stuff and one thing I love about it is the fact it doesn’t start to smell weird after just a few weeks of use. I often find myself having to stop using brow gels before they run out as the texture and smell changes very quickly. The Essence I can actually genuinely use up. If the Catrice lasts as well and has that seem level of longevity in terms of how it keeps, then I think I would prefer spending a little bit more on my brow gel and keep this in my stash for as long as Catrice carries it.
Would I recommend the Catrice Volume & Lift brow gel?
The Volume & Lift brow gel is slowly but surely becoming my new favorite brow gel. It’s as easy to use as the Essence, only a little bit more expensive and it comes in more shades. I would therefore definitely recommend trying this product if you are in the market for a new brow gel. It just works really well and it is still super affordable and with brows I like to not spend too much time and money on it. I’m a whack it on and I’m done kind of person and that’s exactly what this brow gel gives me.
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