Shopper Challenge: Tinted Brow Gel

These are all mine.

I apparently don't have enough upper lip to get it to stay putsies by itself.

Do you ever get ridiculously picky pants about a product for no good reason? And then it becomes a challenge. You will Indiana Jones the crap out of your department stores, Target, drug stores, and anywhere that even smacks of possible cosmetic sales just to find some random item with all sorts of contingencies attached to it just so you can feel triumphant. Or is that just me? If it is don't tell me. I decided that I NEEDED tinted brow gel. NEEDED. I am generally pleased with the shape, thickness, ect, of my brows, but I feel like they need to be a touch darker whenever I wear more makeup or want to wear a brighter, bolder lip to balance my face out. Every time I try to use a pencil or powder the effect is just way too harsh for me. I already have bold brows. I don't want to look like the situation isn't all mine, ya know?

So in an effort to fix my brow woes in a way that was fast and fool proof early in the morning, I sought out some tinted brow gel. I thought for sure it wouldn't be that hard to find. I was so wrong. 

I immediately thought of Benefit's Brow Zing as a great solution and decided that it was a great option that I was going to tuck away in case I couldn't find a suitable drug store alternative. I searched high, I searched low, I found a lot of clear brow gel. I thought about getting some clear gel and putting some matte brown eye shadow or even some eyeliner in it to tint, but that was a cop out. I would not come so far to stoop so low. I was going to find it, it was going to work, and it was going to be at a drug store pricing. 

One day I was trying to spend my whole paycheck at Target and found it. Sonia Kashuk's Tinted Brow Gel is about $6 and perfect. I was scared that the color would be a bit too ashy for me, but it really isn't noticeable at all - it just makes my brows look naturally thicker and fuller. I put this stuff on after I've finished my face and powdered everything, so if any setting powder got into my brows it will make them look thicker. I have sleepily mistaken this for mascara before, realized what I was doing, and then put the real deal on. My eyeballs didn't fall off, so that's a great sign. If I sleepily slop a little bit of gel onto my skin it wipes off with a finger really easily.

After.

Before

I honestly have kind of been kicking myself for not thinking of Sonia Kashuk sooner, since they tend to have great products, UNIQUE products, that work and are nicely priced. I found a great Benefit's Watt's Up highlighting cream stick from them (the lighter color. The darker color is a great dupe for Nars Laguna) and a matte cream bronzer that is great for contouring, and I am plotting to get my hands on a liquid lip and cheek cream thing. 

SO have you ever gone on a crazy man hunt for a product? Did you find it? Was it everything you had hoped for and more? 

Colleen is on a mission on Twitter @bevilledeggs.