Some of my favourite cosmetics are also the cheapest in my makeup bag. My everyday brow gel has long been Natural Collection’s £2.49 tube, and there’s a Boots own concealer for £2 that’s as good as high end brands.
It’s not necessarily a matter of ‘you get what you pay for’ with makeup, there are some products on the market that are phenomenal for their price tag.
I’ve been searching for some of the best bargain beauty products that won’t break the bank, trying and testing them to sift out the duds from the gems.
READ MORE: I tried laser hair removal at home and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be
So far I’ve discovered that, while Aldi’s bronzer isn’t the best dupe of Benefit, their primer is a dead ringer for Smashbox. Meanwhile, there’s a £3.30 mascara from Wilko you could buy seven times over instead of one luxury lash lengthener.
This week I’ve been looking at dual-ended brow pencils from Aldi, 17 cosmetics and Boohoo, which range from £2.49 up to £14 in price, and it’s safe to say that I’ll never pay more than a fiver for a brow product again.
Here’s what I found when I pitted all three products against each other:
Aldi’s Lacura eyebrow pencil
The Lacura eyebrow pencil costs £2.49 and has a very small wind up pencil that’s ideal for creating precise hair strokes to make brows appear fuller.
The cruelty free beauty product comes in three shades and had the creamiest consistency. This meant that while it did apply easily, it was also fairly quick to smudge - but it was good for blending.
On the other end is a thin spoolie for brushing through the brow hairs. It’s great that it’s so slim as it really captures the hairs, but as it’s white in colour it looks dirty after just one use.
READ MORE: Aldi primer ‘identical to Smashbox’ that could save you more than £20
READ MORE: I tried a £2 concealer that shoppers say is 'as good as Estée Lauder'
I also found that if I wound the product too high, it snapped very easily, so for me, I needed a more robust product that wouldn’t break and would be longer lasting throughout the day.
Not only that, but it’s not currently available online, with shoppers saying they have to buy in bulk when they do see it.
One said: “This is a brilliant eyebrow pencil, the colour is great and goes well with my fair skin and hair. I buy in bulk when I see it in store or online.”
Another added: “The best brow pencil I have used, I have tried several other “high end” brands and nothing compares to this one. Such a massive shame they are unavailable.”
17. Full Definition Brow Pencil
Seventeen makeup is back at boots after a four year hiatus, revamp and rebrand to 17. The affordable brand doesn’t stock a single product that costs more than £5, with 170 vegan beauty staples on the books.
The 17 Full Definition Brow Pencil costs £3.50, or £2.50 if you’re an Advantage Card holder as part of their new Price Advantage scheme and comes in five shades ranging from Blonde Ash to Dark Brown.
The product itself - also wind up - is slightly, but only fractionally, wider than the Aldi product, meaning it can still create realistic brow hair strokes to fill in any sparse areas.
However, the formula was slightly harder, meaning you need to press slightly harder, or go over the same area a few times for depth. That said, once applied it stays put and doesn’t need to be topped up throughout the day.
Being slightly chunkier too, it also wasn’t as flimsy, and the thicker packaging was more comfortable to hold.
Boohoo Beauty brow pencil
Furstratingly the Boohoo Beauty brow pencil is only available as part of a set with their brow soap and brow brush for £14. If I had to guess how much this would retail for alone if Boohoo decided to do so, it would probably be around £4.50, making it the priciest product on the list.
Their Brow Sculpt pencil comes in three shades, light, medium and dark brown, and I struggled to find the best shade, so opted for dark brown.
READ MORE: I tried natural vegan deodorant for a month - but went straight back to aerosols
READ MORE: I tried five products from the Superdrug Vitamin E skincare range and they were all under £5
The shape of the product isn’t small and circular like the previous two products, but more of a tapered, triangular shape which can be used to fill in denser areas, as well as be angled for smaller brush strokes.
It worked well, but was a little too dark for me, though I think medium would have been too light. The formula was nice though, and the trio of products worked well together to define my eyebrows.
Verdict
Hands down the winning product for me was from 17 . They offered the best shade range making it more likely to find a match, and it had the best formula and consistency for easy application and long lasting eyebrows.
The packaging is very cute, but what’s more is that it’s easily available online and I’ve yet to see it out of stock, unlike Aldi’s which is difficult to get hold of.
In terms of price, the 17 product sits in the middle of the other two products, but if you sign up for a free Advantage Card, it’s actually only 1p more expensive than the Lacura pencil this April.
