Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade Medium Brown review & swatches

Anastasia Beverly Hills' new dipbrow pomade claims to be a pigmented, smudge proof, and waterproof product for brows and eyes. I am always on the prowl for long wearing versatile everyday products, so I had to pick it up to see if it is worth the hype. None of the original shades in the line appealed to me, but when I saw the shade medium brown as a new release, I couldn't resist. Anastasia's dipbrow pomade comes in a glass pot with a shiny black plastic lid and .14 oz (4 grams) of product. I picked mine up from Sephora for $18.

Product
Anastasia' dipbrow pomade has a cream texture that is softer and more emollient than a typical hard, waxy brow pencil, but is more stiff than a typical gel eyeliner. The pomade itself picks up easily on a brush and blends well as long as you work fast. The setting time is quick, but not unreasonably so. Medium brown is, refreshingly, exactly the shade it sounds like - a mid tone brown that doesn't pull too red, yellow, or grey. After years of picking up "brunette" eyebrow products and finding them to be too warm, I am celebrating this accurate shade name.

Price
At $18 for .14 oz of product, this comes out to $128.57 per ounce. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe, my previous everyday brow product, retails for $6.99 for the same .14 oz which compares at a reasonable $49.93 per ounce.

Packaging
I like that this product comes in a glass pot - it has a nice weight in your hand. I have found it to be easy to open and close (even early in the morning pre-caffeine!) and haven't experienced any issues with packaging quality. The pot itself is a little smaller in diameter than Maybelline Color Tattoos and MAC Paint Pots, but is a similar height and weight. As always with clear packaging, I like that you can see the color through the pot.

Swatches
Swatches were done over bare skin (no primer) two ways: the left swatch shows a heavy swatch that fades out to a more natural look and the right swatch shows the product at full opacity.

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade Medium Brown - light and heavy swatch

Swatches from left to right: Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Medium Brown, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe, Wet N Wild Color Icon Pencil in Taupe, NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Grey

The last photo is an older one, so apologies for the lower quality, but I wanted to show comparisons to other more affordable drugstore taupe brow products. I also have a comparison review between Dipbrow and the Perfect Brow Pencil here and swatches of all of the Anastasia brow products in Medium Brown here.

Performance

As with all products, this one isn't for everyone and has pros and cons.

Pros: Totally lives up to the claims and works as advertised! I have worn this on a daily basis through August and have come home sweaty with perfect brows. Even at the 12 hours of wear mark, my brows look fresh. I also use this for tightlining (in my upper lashline, not upper waterline) and it works like a charm. After a full 12+ hour day, I have no transferring to the lower lashline, fading, flaking, or smudging. I haven't used dipbrow as an eyeshadow base, but you could if you wanted to. This also comes in a good shade range, so I think most people could find a great match.

Cons: This isn't a slap on and run out the door product. It requires a brush and is so pigmented that you need to use a light hand. In order to get natural looking results, you should build the product up in layers with hair like brush strokes. Assuming you don't go for the opaque block brow look, you will need to spend a few minutes longer doing your brows with this compared to a tinted brow gel or pencil.

Overall, if you are looking for a long wearing versatile brow and eye product and don't mind fussing over your brows for an extra few minutes, give this a try.

The bottom line: I would happily buy this again

Edit: A little over 7 months later with regular use, my pot of Dipbrow pomade is starting to dry up. The product is just starting to pull away from the edges of the pot and the texture is noticeably more dry. The texture still works very well for eyebrows and so far hasn't impacted application or longevity in the brows, but I am liking it a little less for tightlining. I am definitely concerned that the product will dry up before I can finish it, but we'll see.