Comparison: Anastasia Ebony… stuff

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You’ll notice the title doesn’t list the exact products we’re comparing here. Sorry about that, but listing them all made the title crazy long! I’m a long-time fan of Anastasia brow products and I recently rounded out my collection by picking up the Dipbrow Pomade, meaning I now have enough brow stuff to last me for the rest of my natural life. In any given list of products I always want to know which one is the best. Operating on the theory that I’m not entirely weird and someone else would also have the same question, I thought I’d do a little comparison between the three.

For a while there Ebony was the darkest shade in the Anastasia line, and it’s a really nice match for my almost-black hair – so that’s what we’re looking at today. A quick google tells me that the Brow Wiz and Powder Duo now also come in an even darker shade called Granite, which looks like it would be perfect for very deep blue-black hair. There are a total of 9 shades in the Brow Wiz, 10 for the Powder Duo and 5 in Dipbrow, so it seems like a pretty safe bet there’s a color for most people.

L to R: Dipbrow, Powder Duo (light color), Powder Duo (dark color), Brow Wiz

As you can see, the color is impressively consistent between the different products. I tried to get a little variation in each swatch to give you an idea of how they can be used lightly or built up to get a lighter/darker shade. So which one is the best? There’s not really one single answer to that, but each one does have its own strengths that might make it better for certain situations.

Dipbrow: This is a cream product that basically looks exactly like a cream eyeliner; in fact, the product page even suggests that you can use it as one (I haven’t tried it). It’s a little bit tricky to apply since it’s really easy to over-do, but with a light hand and short brush strokes it looks the most natural of the three. The one caveat to that: in the completely bald patches on the inner parts of my eyebrows I have a little trouble getting the color to match evenly with my hair. To fix that I apply Dipbrow lightly there and then add a tiny bit of the lighter powder. It stays on really well; it doesn’t run if I sweat a lot, but it does fade a little bit in the bald spots over the course of an extra-long day or a tough workout.

• What it’s great for: Filling in sparse brows when you want a natural look and long wear
• Not my favorite for: Drawing in non-existent brows

Powder Duo: The Powder Duo is soooort of like an eyeshadow, but drier than most and more finely-milled than a lot. I like it for adding just a little bit of color – see above for how I use it together with the Dipbrow Pomade. You can build this one up a bit, but I’ve never really gotten the bare spots in my brows to match the actual hair with this. As a result, this is a thing I mostly use along with other products. The look is very natural, but it’s a lot more prone to fading than the other two. Used alone it can get a little uneven-looking on oily skin later in the day.

• What it’s great for: Lightly filling normal or thicker brows
• Not my favorite for: Drawing in large bare areas, very oily skin or any activities that might cause sweating

Brow Wiz: I did a full review of this here, if you want to really get down into the details. The fine tip is great for precision, so it’s perfect for a really defined brow. As an added bonus it has a spoolie on the end to blend the product into your hair, but I find it a tiny bit scratchy and prefer to use my MUFE 272 brush. It’s easy to build up in areas where I need more color, so I don’t have to use any other products with this. Of the three, this one gives me the best wear time, lasting all day with no trouble.

• What it’s great for: Defined brows and long wear, and drawing in bald patches
• Not my favorite for: Soft, very natural-looking brows

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow ($18), Powder Duo ($23) and Brow Wiz ($21) are available at nordstrom.com and sephora.com