Eyebrow pomades must be three things: pigmented, buildable and long-wearing.
They may come in the form of a pot, pencil or complete with an angled brush or spoolie – depending on what works better for you – but each of these creamy textures needs to impart their rich hue effortlessly to shade in your brows and fill in areas of sparsity.
What is brow pomade?
Brow pomades have become a makeup bag staple. Whether you favour 90s skinny brows or thicker styles to give Cara Delevingne a run for her money, pomades allow you to create tiny strokes to mimic hair, giving you a fuller appearance, providing depth and shaping impeccably groomed brows.
They come in a range of shades to suit all hair and skin tones, locking in place to last all day without smudging or flaking. This is all while feeling weightless on application. You can use the product to enhance your natural brows or make a statement with dramatic definition.
You may be wondering; can you use brow pomade as eyeliner? The short answer is yes.
To make your brow pomade work harder for you, you can easily use it as a multitasking product. Jess Hunt, founder of REFY Beauty is a fan of this hack. She explains, “It was actually the REFY community that put me on this! I haven't used anything since. We have designed our brow pomade to have a buildable formula, so you can create a smokey look or a more precise eyeliner look”.
She continues, “With our pomade being dual-ended, this makes life so much easier when it comes to packing my makeup bag - the less I have to pack and remember, the better!”
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REFY Brow Pomade
Giving her legion of fans what they want, Jess Hunt created this brow pomade as part of her REFY Beauty collection and it has quickly become a cult buy. To create the entrepreneur’s signature brushed-up look, this pomade is on hand to fill in areas of sparsity and bring more depth.
It’s dual-ended with the brush on one side and the pigment on the other so you can control the amount of colour you apply. There are three to choose from; light, medium and dark with a creamy texture that has all-day wear.
Buy now £13.99, REFY
Glossier Boy Brow
Perhaps the most well-known and beloved SKU in the Glossier range is Boy Brow, a product that has triggered a thousand dupes. The idea behind the brow pomade came from formulas used for taming moustaches and as such is flexible, providing definition all day without feeling stiff.
The brush was designed in such a way so that no hair – no matter short or fine – is left behind as you swipe it onto your brows. It comes in six shades as well as clear.
Buy now £18.00, Glossier
Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Pomade
Creating defined brows is the Anastasia Beverly Hills bread and butter. This pomade can be spotted in the makeup bags of professional artists around the world and the reason is simple. It’s highly pigmented, long-lasting, stays put and is available in no less than 11 shades.
But more than all the above, the DIPBROW Pomade does far more than simply shading in your brows. It’s a multitasker that can be used for outlining, setting and creating detail and thus will streamline your on-the-go essentials.
Buy now £19.00, Cult Beauty
Revolution Brow Pomade
Higher price points don’t always mean better products and if you’re looking for a bargain to rival that of the double-figure alternatives, Revolution is a brand you need on your radar. This pomade from the affordable cosmetics label has a creamy texture that boasts true staying power.
It’s the kind of formula you will find yourself removing at the end of the day completely intact – no smudges or flaking. A little goes a long way and it comes in three colours.
Buy now £4.99, Boots
KVD Beauty 24-Hour Super Brow Long-Wear Pomade
One thing you’ll find across the KVD Beauty collection are pigmented products that last and last. That’s why the Tattoo Liner is one of the bestselling liners on the market and why this pomade will be a workhorse in your makeup bag.
Promising 24 hours of wear, it has a cream texture and comes in a combination of brow-like colourways as well as bolder reds, pinks and blues. This is because it is not just a pomade but a liner and eyeshadow too. Start with a small amount on the brush and build it up as the hue is imparted thick and fast.
Buy now £17.20, lookfantastic
ICONIC London Sculpt and Boost Eyebrow Cushion
A pro product likely better suited to those who have used pomades in the past, this compact from ICONIC London will help you achieve fuller looking brows in an instant. The rich colour glides onto your hair, creating realistic brush strokes with the foldable spoolie provided.
You can customise the hue to create the shade to best suit your brows, while with every application, you are treating them to the nourishment of vitamin E. This is a luxury product, something that is instantly obvious from the exterior of the gold mirrored compact.
Buy now £20.00, lookfantastic
Merit Beauty Brow 1980
The makeup brand spearheading the minimalist revolution in the cosmetics space, MERIT Beauty is treating the hairs on your brows with the conditioning and strengthening benefits of vitamin B, as it leaves behind a subtle tint.
This pomade is made up of a mineral-based formula that was designed to enhance your natural brows, rather than create a statement look, and as such provides definition without overloading on product. It’s hard-working with pigment that doesn’t move or flake all day.
Buy now £26.00, Merit Beauty
NYX Professional Makeup Tame & Frame Tinted Brow Pomade
If it’s hard-wearing makeup you are looking for, few do it better than NYX Professional Makeup. The formula of its Tame & Frame Tinted Brow Pomade is smudge, sweat and waterproof and the colour is rich so you can create impeccable statement brow looks with just a few swipes – and it will stay put from work to gym.
It’s a value-for-money product that does the job and does it well.
Buy now £8.00, lookfantastic
Benefit POWmade Brow Pomade
Benefit is another brand that specialises in all things brows and so you would expect that it aces the brow pomade formulation – and it certainly does. The brand details that the formula will last for 36 hours, and while we never condone sleeping in your makeup, it’s a testament to the life-resistant nature of the product.
Paying attention to the finer details, there’s a built-in brush wiper so you can get precise with the amount of the pomade that you are applying and use it to create realistic hair-like strokes to enhance your natural brows.
Buy now £20.50, Benefit
Pink Honey Wonder Whip Pomade
With its striking exterior, get ready for a stream of questions when applying this Pink Honey product in public. True to the brand name, it resembles a honey pot in its aesthetic but inside you’ll find natural colourways.
The Wonder Whip Pomade has been dubbed transformational in the way in which the creamy, pigmented texture can create definition and immaculate arches. It’s easy to apply with a brush and very little is required for a fuller brow look.
Buy now £10.00, Beauty Bay
