Tools of The Trade: The Benefits of a Brow Pencil + Product Picks for Cosmetic Artistry

Whether you are a professional brow stylist or a client looking to keep your results looking fresh between touch-ups, one tool no makeup artist’s arsenal should be without is a quality brow pencil. These days there are so many options available, and at an affordable price. There’s really no excuse not to pick up one–or a dozen. Here is what we recommend:

Best Practices for Choosing a Brow Pencil

When shopping for a brow pencil, we suggest looking for something that is high quality but also user friendly. Self-sharpening pencils work well to ensure that your technique is always on point and that your pencil does not dull out mid-application–a problem that can create uneven strokes or imprecise lines. Additionally, you will want to choose a pigment that is close to the hair natural colour of the brows, if not a bit darker for added definition and shading.

Four Benefits of Using A Brow Pencil

Benefit #1: Precision Artistry
Using a freshly sharpened brow pencil, you can do a lot to enhance the brows in a variety of ways. A pencil can be used to create finely tuned, hyper-realistic, hairlike strokes, as well as to fill and colour the entire area. The options are really quite endless, allowing for more creativity, flexibility, and curated artistry.

Benefit #2: Define Before You Fill
Amongst professional stylists and cosmetic tattoo artists, brow pencil is commonly used as a technique to map out or measure a design, decide which hairs to remove, and make any tweaks before committing to a more permanent look. This is also a trick that can be utilised by clients at home before filling the brows with powder or other makeup, as it leads to a more professional and well-groomed final finish.

Benefit #3: Easy Colour-Matching
When working with sparse or lighter coloured brows, a brow pencil is an easy way to darken or add definition, creating a more youthful appearance. The level of pigment applied can be tailored to just about all hair colours, and adjusted to be as subtle or dramatic as you desire for a truly custom end result.

Benefit #4: Contamination-Proof
Besides keeping your pencil point consistently sharp, a self-sharpening tool is ideal for making sure makeup application is always perfectly safe and sanitary. After each use, you need only to re-sharpen to rid your pencil of any debris or bacteria that may have accumulated–a must for professional stylists working on multiple clients, and for any product used near the delicate eye area.

Our Top Product Picks

All of our fabulous products can be purchased on our online beauty store

The EI Brown Eyebrow Pencil 

Great for dark blonde to dark brown brows, our proprietary specialised eyebrow pencil has a built in self sharpening system, making it easy to apply and refresh after each use.

The EI Black Eyebrow Pencil 

Designed to use on black brows and great for the eyeliner pre draw, the black pencil features our same high-end quality formula and self-sharpening design, making it an amazing go-to for any brow stylist’s kit.

The EI Red Cosmetic Tattoo Drawing Pencil

For cosmetic tattoo artists who provide permanent makeup, our red cosmetic tattoo drawing pencil offers all the benefits of a brow pencil for lip blushing, and other permanent makeup for the lips. It’s perfect for mapping out and measuring before treatment.