10 best eyebrow pencils for effortlessly enhancing and shaping your arches

Is it really that much of a surprise that the frontrunner for the best eyebrow pencil is from a brand called Blink Brow Bar? It’s an eyebrow haven which not only sells lovely pencils and gels but also does stellar brow threading. And the ultra-thin brow definer 2.0 does everything you would hope a brow pencil would do.

It has a thin nib which makes drawing hair-like strokes seriously easy and adding definition without overloading the hairs with product is a given. The spoolie on the other end easily brushes through and blends out the product so that if anyone were to see your brows, they would never think you had pencil in them. Five shining stars from us.

We’ve lost count of the number of viral e.l.f products on TikTok from the putty primer (£10, Elfcosmetics.co.uk) to the halo glow liquid filter (£15, Elfcosmetics.co.uk). This brow pencil isn’t viral, but it is good and unbelievably cheap at just £3. And yes, you did read that right!

It comes in five shades from black to blonde and has a retractable case which means no need to have a sharpener to hand every time you find you’re running a little low. It includes grapeseed oil and vitamin E for conditioning and nourishing and creates a your-brows-but-better finish. It does stay although we noticed a tiny bit of smudging after we’d been to the gym. But for such a low price, we’ll forgive.

Mac rarely misses the mark and the eyebrow styler doesn’t buck the trend. Coming in a huge 15 shades, the thin pencil is easy to use for defining and shaping while still looking super natural. The texture is on the harder end which helps to recreate those hair-like strokes and the spoolie blends out the product for an overall fuller brow. It’s long-wearing, claiming to last for 12 hours (which we can confirm it did) plus it held up its humidity and sweat resistant claims when we finished our gym session with our defined brows still very much in tact.

At this point, there’s rarely a makeup roundup without something from Charlotte Tilbury on the list, but that’s because the brand is really just that good. Honestly, the brow cheat isn’t one of its best products – those accolades go to the bronzers, setting spray and unrivalled lipsticks – but it’s still a beautiful pencil, both in terms of the packaging and the formula.

Another micro-pencil, the tip easily draws on natural-looking hair strokes and gives a strong colour payoff that blends into less intense definition with the spoolie. Be careful how far you wind this one up as if you go too far, you might find the pencil just falls out the end. Not ideal.

But when everything is intact, it creates strong but still natural brows and there are eight colours to choose from. Although it’s the most expensive on this list, it’s still only £24 so if you’re a Charlotte Tilbury fiend, add this to your basket.

3INA took a little hiatus from the UK market over the last year or two but it’s back now with a bang. Known for playing with colour, it bucks against the very natural, tonal makeup that’s everywhere right now with bold blues, yellows and greens across eyeliners, mascaras and more.

The eyebrow pencil however, isn’t quite that brash. Instead, it’s a soft, creamy texture, made from Carnauba and Japan wax that comes in four shades and glides effortlessly over the brows. If you do prefer a more defined edge but a softer overall finish, this blendable formula delicately creates shape and precision before blurring away with the spoolie on the other end. We’re glad this one’s back.

A sparkling new brand that wants everyone to enjoy all beauty whatever their age (from 19 to 99, get it?) its brow pencil is a regular pencil shape that can be used on eyes or brows. Who doesn’t love a multitasker?

The texture is like that of a graphite drawing pencil, giving this one seriously good colour payoff that transforms into a charcoal-like texture when it hits your skin. There are only two shades to choose from in light and dark but we found that dark suited our brunette brows well. As expected, there’s a spoolie on the other side which easily blends the product for natural or standout brows – with this one, the choice is yours.

Jones Road had a bit of a TikTok moment last year with its what the foundation (£42, Jonesroadbeauty.com), but away from the online drama, it has some lovely products. Created by Bobbi Brown, the founder of the eponymous brand before she sold it, this brow pencil is chubby. Clean and cruelty-free, the soft formula quickly defines brows and blends without any fuss. If you’re after extreme precision, this one isn’t for you, but for a quick on the go top up, this is perfect. It comes in five shades ranging from blonde to dark brunette and is all about definition over precision.

We challenge you to find a makeup wearer who doesn’t have only good things to say about NYX. An affordable brand, it produces products that not only make do in place of more expensive ones, but at times, even outdoes them.

The precision brow pencil is case in point. It comes in seven shades but, crucially, caters to those who are so often overlooked in the brow department: redheads. The auburn shade has a lovely warm tone that gives paler brows the light definition they need. A crayon-like formula makes this easy to blend and, true to form, this product only costs £9. We’re sold.

For an affordable slim brow pencil, look no further than Maybelline. Whether you love creating thicker, defined brows or a more natural look this pencil will do the job while only costing £8.99. It has quite a hard texture which means it doesn’t create too much of a smudged effect, although it is still very easy to blend with the spoolie on the other end. And although we do really like this pencil, we’ve had to drop a couple of points for the fact it only caters to brunettes – if you’re a blonde or redhead, this one won’t be for you.

Synonymous with perfectly structured brows, Benefit’s pencils help recreate salon-worthy definition at home. A new launch for 2024, the precisely brow detailer boasts an extra small tip (0.8mm to be precise) for fine strokes that mimic hairs. The mirco applicator results in a far more polished look which is easily built up for a bushy brow or used sparingly round the edges for a natural brow.

Benefit’s much-loved formula is creamy, smooth and smudge-proof for all-day wear, with a rich colour pay-off. Plus, it’s available in six shades and there’s a built-in spoolie to blend and refine your brow. Just make sure to not roll up the tip too much as it might break off.