Seeing the Anastasia 7B Brow Brushin a video ad piqued my interest. I’ve simply gotten to that age where my brows are desperately hanging on.Below, I review the 7B brush, used with the Anastasia DIPBROW pomade.
In my search to redo my brows since they started to thin, I found the Anastasia 7B brow brush. The first few uses drew rather strong and sharp-looking brows. But the brush softened after a few uses, allowing me to draw in the natural-ish looking brows that I like. Sadly, I ultimately figured that I didn’t really need the somewhat pricey 7B brush, or the Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW pomade. This pomade is pigmented, but does have a very limited lifespan and dried up months before it was time to toss it out (1 year). I figured that for me, micro brow pencils, though quite expensive, are most convenient for drawing in “brow hairs.”
……….
Since we have hair thinning in our family
Past a certain age, the women in my family experience hair fallout, and hair thinning around the hairline. What this also means is thinning brows. I’m at that point where my brows are struggling to hang on, and it’s become important to use quality brow products now, more than ever.
me at home
When baby and I pick up brother from school, I feel the need to do this very basic, polished look .
The purpose of this is simple:so the kids at the school don’t get scared.
For the most part, this polished look means keeping my hair and brows neat.
Less brows = more freedom
With my brow hairs being barely there, I realized that I was free to recreate whatever brow shape I wanted. So now my brows can become whatever they want to be, depending on my mood.
I went through a period of experimentation where I was obsessed with finding the perfect brow shape for my face. Maybe there’s one that could look even better than my natural brow shape?
If #1 brows were my partner in some crime and the jig was up, I feel like… #1 wouldn’t just surrender without a real fight
#1 can obviously look great—on others. Including IMO two of the world’s most beautiful women that ever lived, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor.
When I tried #1, I feel like I looked really lost and angry. It was as if suddenly, my brows were this drill sergeant, and the rest of my features were terrified of the drill sergeant.
Maybe no part of my face should be much stronger than the rest, I thought.
Deciding on a brow look
After some experimentation with different brow looks, I figured I like brows that are natural-ish. Fuzzy as a whole, like powder brows, but the outline that would otherwise form the blocky brows look is blurred out and given definition. This is done by drawing in individual brow hairs that appear brushed diagonally upwards.
something like this?
No straight lines forming 1 big brow block, as with #1 up there—this is not a look that I like, personally.
And I figured, the best brush for this would likely be a thin, stiff brow brush that could draw “brows.”
how strong, overpowering brows frame a face
Seeing the 7B brow brush at work in a video ad
This was probably a targeted ad, as my smart phone knew what I was looking for.
I saw the girl in the ad using the dual-ended Anastasia 7B brow brush to draw in each brow hair. The drawn brows looked so good on the girl. Granted, beauty brands will hire a beautiful model.
And as these things go, the video suggested that maybe I—I mean my brows—could look like that, too.
So I ended up buying the brush. At the time, it was $18 online. It’s $20 now at the official Anastasia Beverly Hills site, and around $27 at Sephora.
PROS / What I LIKE about the Anastasia 7B brow brush
The #1 thing that attracted me to the brush was the thinness of the strokes it could draw.
As mentioned, I wanted to draw in hair strokes that would look just like my real brow hairs. Because thin lines, obviously, look closest to real brow hairs.
Picks up product well
Whether that product is brow powder, or brow pomade. Is it the brush’s synthetic material or the bristles’ firmness? Whichever one it is, it’s easy to love the 7B’s perfectly even bristles. Which applies product in a controlled manner. Pigment is applied where you want it to go.
weeeee
The bristles are firm
With this, the Anastasia 7B brow brush appears to get pigment a bit deeper into the skin, and I assume this makes the product stay put more somewhat, compared to a brush with softer bristles that don’t really get the product in there.
The other end has a spoolie
Though far from unique, it’s nice to have a spoolie for brushing brow hairs into place. Or blurring out any unwanted harsh lines that start to form the blocky brows look. At least I use it for that purpose, too.
Paper and skin are not exactly the same, but here I illustrate how the 7B brush works compared to my other brow brushes. See the clean line it drew? Some of the brow brushes were downright sloppy and messy.
Above, the Anastasia 7B brow brush showed strength and consistency by drawing a sharp, clean line, compared to the other brow brushes. See how the one on the far right created the messiest stroke. Some of those other eyebrow brushes were cheap. Maybe sometimes, you really do get what you pay for? 🤔
The 7B brow brush clearly knows its purpose & what it was crafted for: precision
It’s also hard not to value the fact that the synthetic Anastasia 7B brow brush is ‘cruelty-free.’
Works great with the ABH DIPBROW pomade
the brush made me do it
The taupe shade that I got the Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW pomade in seems to be 1 of the rare taupe shades that shows on my olive or tan complexion.
That said, the ABH DIPBROW pomade is heavily pigmented, and has a good, creamy consistency that is easy to work with. It also has 4 grams of product, which should last a while. This is a gram less than 2 comparable brow pomades, which are the Tarte Big Ego Frameworker and Benefit’s POWmade.
CONS / What I DON’T LIKE about the Anastasia 7B brow brush
The Anastasia 7B brow brush and DIPBROW pomade may be less expensive when cost per use ($0.06 x 1 year) and cost per gram ($5.25) are factored in, but all in all, I feel like I compromise my time and convenience when I use these 2.
This is the process of using the Anastasia 7B brow brush and DIPBROW pomade:
dip, draw, dip, draw, dip, draw
It’s like writing with a quill. Which is an old timey thing. As are pomades.
Now if you’re drawing in like 3 brow hairs per brow every time, that’s probably fine.
But if you need to draw in like 60% of your brows strand by strand x 2 brows every time, then it is a pain.
So then it comes down to this one question: how much time do you have?
Not time-friendly
As with the Mr Perfect brush, you also need to clean the 7B brow brush at least once every couple of weeks. Granted, it is a small brush and will clean and dry fast. But cleaning is necessary, to avoid bacteria and product buildup.
“Well dog my cats, it requires cleaning?! Ugsome.“
The Anastasia 7B brow brush drew sharper lines at first
But after some use and with more product ending up between the bristles, the brush somehow started drawing slightly more blurred out ‘hairs.’ For a sharper line, it needs to be cleaned more regularly.
It’s a bit expensive
The 7B brush seems to be upper mid range in price, when it comes to highly rated angled brow brushes. But maybe the precision is worth it, as it seems to be the thinnest brow brush available for drawing in “brow hairs.”
For reference, I own the Morphe M165 angled “boy brows” brush ($5), is around a quarter of the price of the 7B. There’s also the Sonia Kashuk™ Professional Angled Brow Makeup Brushwith Spoolie No. 301 ($7) from Target.
There are also more expensive designer brow brushes, like the NARS #27 Brow Defining Brush costs $22, and the Dior Backstage Double Ended Brow Brush No. 25 is $32.
I didn’t end up looking like the girl in the ad
Not that I expected to. Or idk. Maybe I kind of did. 😉
The butterfly logo
the butterfly logo
I’m being petty here, but I can’t say I’m a fan of the Anastasia Beverly Hills butterfly logo. The rose gold does add that pop of oomph, consistent with designer/luxury branding.
But I feel that the shape of the butterfly could be updated.
Comparing the 7B brush and DIPBROW pomade with another brow product
When I’m pressed for time, which is a lot of times (I’ve said about 100x now that I have 2 kids and a night job), using the 7B brow brush and DIPBROW pomade is not my best option.
In fact, these 2 ultimately pushed me towards alternatives: micro brow pencils.
Yes, those are an entirely different product, and in many ways not a fair comparison. But drawing in “brow hairs” being my main goal, it seems micro brow pencils and similar products give me “brow hairs” with less fuss, compared to the ABH duo.
Although for what it’s worth, micro brow pencils are shockingly more expensive. Take the 0.08 gram Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil, for example. At $27, the cost per gram of product would be an astounding $337.50. That’s 64+ times more expensive than DIPBROW at $5.25 per gram.
And with such a small amount of product, it’s easy to go through a few micro brow pencils per year. But they don’t need maintenance, and you just draw, draw, draw. No dipping or sharpening required, either. This seems to offer the path of least resistance in getting “brow hairs.”
But maybe the 7B that will likely last a decade and DIPBROW pomade ultimately mean less waste.
And the DIPBROW pomade, if you can use that much product within months. Unless they’ve reformulated it, the product, it seems, will dry up fast.
Despite my issues with the 7B, it’s impossible not to appreciate its relative precision, and the fact that it will very likely last a long time. I think I still have some makeup brushes in good form, from over 10 years ago.
Is the 7B the thinnest angled brow brush available?
It seems to be, but I think I have smaller angled brushes that are possibly the same or similar in thinness.
Is the 7B brush rare, or a rip-off?
Rare? It seems. A rip-off? The comparative price is not bad. And the Anastasia 7B brow brush does seem like a quality brush.
And I always welcome the opportunity to add a quality brush to my arsenal.
It’s almost as if the 7B has been on Ozempic 🤔
Do I still use the 7B brush?
Sometimes. I use it with my other random brow brushes, and I don’t specifically look for the Anastasia 7B brow brush every time.
For definition, I now use a liquid eyeliner or ink eyeliner with a fine point, in a light shade, or applied with a light hand. This is most convenient for me.
What brow look do you prefer? Is there a brow brush that you swear by? Any must-try brow products you’d recommend? Share your experience in the comments.
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