Review: Ardell Stroke A Brow Feathering Pen - Medium Brown

I've never really been interested in these brow pens until I saw how natural, yet defined results can look. Glossier Brow Flick is one of the most popular eyebrow pens, but since Glossier is impossible to get in Europe, I heard the next best thing is Ardell Stroke A Brow Feathering Pen. I saw Katie Jane Hughes using both of these and loving, so I decided to try it out once I was placing my order for some other products.

Packaging

It comes in a matte black plastic packaging. Brush applicator is very thin, but longer than the ones on eyeliner brush tips. It can create very thin hair like strokes with it. 

In it is 1.2 grams of product and I got it for 11.19€ on Notino. 



Formula

After seeing the applicator I was so excited to try it out. It worked fine at first use, but after that it just didn't perform as it should. Formula is somewhat of a liquid - however not runny, but my tip is already dried up. I have really hard time getting tip saturated. It seems to come into the brush at the base, but doesn't go down to the tip. 

It's a sheerer formula which is a good thing for a brow product, because it looks much more natural and less harsh. 



Colors

I believe it's available in 4 colors. I got Medium Brown which is lighter medium brown with a bit of grey undertone. I really like the color, because it matches my natural brow hair so well, it's a bit darker in color, but the fact that it's sheerer works perfectly fine. 


Performance

Unsaturated tip is the biggest annoying thing about this product. You draw two lines and it's gone. There's no more color. I don't understand, if there is something wrong with my pen or do all from Ardell do that?! I've hard that sometimes you just have to shake it a bit or brush it against your palm and I did, but it didn't do much. I have to vigorously shake it and even then the tip isn't saturated, just the top. 

Apart from tip not being saturated and not transferring onto your skin, I dislike the fact that sometimes it applies too thick at first try. I guess that has to do with the learning curve of using such a product. You have to get used to drawing very thin strokes and not put too much pressure on it. 

Color doesn't bleed, but it shows up darker on textures parts - like pores or if it catches the hair, but that's minimal and from afar you can't notice it. You have to use this product before you apply any skin care, because it just won't stick to any surface that isn't completely dry. 

However the overall effect that it makes, I loved. You can create individual hair like strokes and you don't have to fill in entire brow, so it looks much more natural than with powders or thicker pencils. It definitely gives appearance of microbladed brows, but in a more natural way. Because the color is so close to my natural, it doesn't require me to fill in entire brow, I could just add some hair where I have bold spots. For the sake of the review, I filled in more. 

Once this is on, it doesn't move. It says to be waterproof, but it won't hold up you swimming with it. It doesn't transfer though and sweating doesn't remove it either. 





I am still not sure, if there is something wrong with just my pen, but it doesn't perform as it should. I love the color, finish on the skin, thin tip, but the application is a mess. Tip doesn't get saturated enough and there is a problem getting the product out and onto your skin. Once it's actually on, it looks so natural and stays in place for the whole day. I wish they would address saturation problem of this products, because everything else just works. If I have to spend 20 minutes on getting the product out and on my brows, I just won't do it. It takes too much time which none of us have. 

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